Tyler Pritchett and Caleb Rozar are leaving the Tar Heel football program as transfers
With all of the storylines that have been coming out surrounding the football team this offseason, some recent transfer news may have flown under the radar. As every college football fan has seen, this has been a wild offseason of transfers and while tight end Brandon Fritts announced his intentions to return to the team for the 2019 season, there will be two names have entered the transfer portal and depart for new destinations this offseason.
As some may have seen on Sunday, offensive guard Tyler Pritchett will transfer from Carolina for his senior season. As he announced in his Twitter post, the Auburn, AL product will be heading to FCS Jacksonville State and will be eligible immediately. This past year, as a depth player on the interior of the offensive line, Pritchett played 79 snaps, which was split between center and guard. That was the most significant playing time that Pritchett had seen of his career, as he was almost exclusively a reserve in his first two seasons in Chapel Hill. Jacksonville State will be getting a flexible offensive lineman that showed he has some potential this past season.
The other player who is transferring did not make a formal announcement, but will not return to Chapel Hill. Junior safety Caleb Rozar will transfer from Carolina this offseason after failing to play a single defensive snap this past season. Rozar, who committed to Carolina back in the 2017 recruiting cycle, will be joining Pritchett in the FCS ranks, but will be taking his services to Alabama State next season. Rozar will have two years of eligibity left when he joins the Hornets.
Both transfers will hurt the depth chart in different. In Pritchett’s case, the offensive line has the numbers to be able survive his departure, but will lose an experienced option that had the ability to play at three different spots along the offensive line. In Rozar’s case, the Heels simply lack the numbers needed at the position. With his departure, the Heels will now return just three scholarship players who were listed as safeites on the initial depth chart from a year ago. Players like Javon Terry and Bryson Rischardson may now be forced to convert to the safety position this season and landing 2019 target Don Chapman has become an important task for this staff.
While there may be some concerning things about these two transfers, it shouldn’t be completely unexpected following a coaching change. The team should be able to mask these losses without much difficulty, but injuries could changes the narrative of these transfers very quickly.