Heel Tough Blog: Tar Heels Set to Lose DB to Portal

Matt Krohn- USA Today Sports

After a quiet week of portal entries last week, the Tar Heels are starting to see more defections roll in. The most recent comes from a member of the defensive back who played a key role on special teams the past couple of seasons.

As first reported by Inside Carolina, Tar Heel defensive back Malcolm Ziglar is entering the transfer portal when it opens on January 2nd after two seasons in Chapel Hill. He will have two years of eligibility remaining wherever he lands.

Ziglar, a former 4✮ prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, spent the majority of his time on special teams in his two years with the program. In his freshman season, he finished with eight total tackles while playing 20 snaps on defense and 125 on special teams. This year, as a sophomore, he compiled five tackles and an interception while playing nine snaps on defense and 146 on special teams.

His departure is one that stings a little bit because it felt like there was an opportunity for him to play a bigger role on defense in 2026 with both starting safeties departing this offseason. He would have been battling with guys like Javion Butts and Coleman Bryson, who were ahead of him on the depth chart this season, but it feels like there is some potential here that will be discovered wherever he lands. That being said, this is a position where there are some promising true freshmen who were just signed in the 2026 recruiting class and the team should be fairly active at the position when the portal officially opens.