The Tar Heels concluded their 2021 season on Thursday afternoon and now just one day later, the team has their first transfer of the offseason.
Just a short time ago, senior safety Trey Morrison announced his intent to enter the transfer portal for his final season of eligibility after a four-year career in Chapel Hill. Thursday’s Duke Mayo Bowl was Morrison’s final in a Tar Heel uniform, finishing the game with three total tackles, 0.5 a tackle for loss and one pass defended.
In his four years in Chapel Hill, Morrison had 163 total tackles, 11.0 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, two interceptions and 15 passes defended. Morrison played his first two seasons at the nickelback position, including a true freshman season where he exploded onto the scene with 46 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and four pass deflections. He spent the final two seasons mostly at safety with some decent success but moved back to the nickel spot for the final two games of this season after Ja’Qurious Conley went down with a season-ending knee injury.
This is the tenth Tar Heel to enter the 2022 transfer portal, but similar to most of the rest of the moves, this one isn’t that shocking. In terms of what it means for the secondary, this makes it more important for this staff to find a veteran transfer to team up with Ja’Qurious Conely at the safety spots next year. This team is expecting to bring back Cam’Ron Kelly, Don Chapman and Giovanni Biggers next season and there are some younger guys deeper on the depth chart that will have a chance to earn bigger roles next season, but it wouldn’t hurt for them to try to find a play holder that can be an upgrade from that returning veteran trio that wasn’t anywhere near as consistent as they needed to be.