Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Make Top Five for 2026 4✮ LB Target

On3 Sports

Last week, the Tar Heels hosted 2026 4✮ LB Calvin Thomas for an official visit and earlier this week, they landed in his top schools list.

As he posted on his social media accounts on Thursday afternoon, Thomas is down to five schools in the quest to find his college home. The Tar Heels are joined by Michigan, Nebraska, SMU and Texas as the teams that are still alive in the race for him.

Thomas, the No. 255 overall prospect and No. 18 linebacker in the 2026 class according to 247Sports Composite Player Rankings, hails from Cypress Ranch High School in Cypress, TX. This past season, as a junior, he finished with 69 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, an interception, a pass defensed and a fumble recovery on his way to earning first team All-District honors. The previous year, Thomas played in just five games, racking up eight total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 0.5 a sack and one quarterback hurry.

So far, the Tar Heels and SMU have gotten their shots to host him for an official visit and he is currently in the midst of his official visit to Michigan. Thomas will close down his official visit schedule with trips to Nebraska (June 13th) and Texas (June 20th) in the next two weeks before what could be a pretty quick decision afterwards.

Thomas seemed to have a solid visit to Chapel Hill, but it wasn’t one that seemed to blow him away, meaning the door is still wide open for other teams. In-state SMU and Texas seem to be the favorites still in this race.