UNC Football Collective’s campaign raises $1 million
The Heels4Life organization has reached its goal 15 days after launching its ‘Hold The Line’ campaign and wishes to continue the fundraising momentum.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Consider it mission accomplished in the short term for Heels4Life, the nonprofit organization responsible for arranging Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals for North Carolina football players.
The collective kicked off a new campaign this month on Jan. 15, aiming to raise $1 million in donations across the ensuing two weeks, and setting $5 million as its minimum fundraising target for the 2024 calendar year. Fifteen days later, Heels4Life hit the $1 million mark on Tuesday.
“The success of the ‘Hold The Line’ campaign is an expression of this fan base’s support of our athletes,” Heels4Life executive director Graham Boone told Inside Carolina. “Every contribution mattered and every donor is greatly appreciated.
“We aren’t done. This is a wonderful breakthrough and it will be immediately impactful on our work, but we aren’t done. We still need businesses and new donors to help us continue this momentum.”
To that end, Boone and chief operating officer Colleen Minton have used “the most significant public outreach and request that Heels4Life has made since we founded the company,” in describing the distinct sense of urgency and gravity fueling this particular effort in the ever-competitive off-the-field race that’s being waged among college football collectives in the NCAA transfer portal.
The quest of any NIL collective is to protect and retain a team’s roster, while working aggressively and effectively in recruiting the transfer portal. Another goal for 2024, and it’s an ambitious one, Boone and Minton have said, is to increase Heels4Life’s membership number to 5,000 people. The organization’s website can be accessed by clicking here.
“As I have said publicly, collectives are community-reliant organizations,” Boone said. “That may change in the future, but as it stands no program can exist without a strong collective. This campaign showcases our ability to build and make that growth sustainable.
“We aimed to reach every Tar Heel fan, alumni and non-alumni. If you bleed Carolina blue we tried to reach you. And thanks to individuals who shared our posts and voiced their support, we were able to receive a mixture of monthly subscriptions, one-time gifts, and new major donors.”
UNC has picked up seven transfer additions on the free agent market thus far this offseason in quarterback Max Johnson and tight end Jake Johnson (from Texas A&M), running back Darwin Barlow (Southern California), defensive back Jakeen Harris (NC State), and offensive linemen Austin Blaske (Georgia), Howard Sampson (North Texas) and Zach Greenberg (Muhlenberg). The Tar Heels figure to be active shoppers during the spring transfer period, a window that opens from April 15-30.
Fourteen players from UNC’s 2023 roster have entered the transfer portal since Nov. 27, including one starter — offensive lineman Diego Pounds.
The massive 6-foot-5, 330-pound Pounds, a local product from Raleigh (N.C.) Millbrook High School, made eight starts as a sophomore this past season, and had been considered the Tar Heels’ left tackle of the future. Sources have said Pounds went back and forth with his decision before eventually committing to transfer to Ole Miss, an SEC program known for ponying up substantial money for recruits.
Last offseason, Heels4Life’s efforts behind the scenes helped UNC keep star quarterback Drake Maye and stud linebacker Cedric Gray in the fold. Maye reportedly was targeted by name-brand powerhouses floating enormous offers, while Gray could’ve departed for the NFL Draft. Heels4Life also helped support Tez Walker during the NCAA eligibility turmoil that cost the transfer receiver the first four games of the 2023 season.
Brian Simmons Returning to UNC to Join Football Staff
The former standout linebacker is replacing the retiring Darrell Moody as senior advisor to the head coach and pro liaison.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Former North Carolina standout linebacker Brian Simmons is joining the Tar Heels’ football staff as a senior advisor to the head coach and pro liaison, Mack Brown announced on Tuesday. Simmons, a 10-year NFL veteran and later a scout in the NFL for eight years, will take over senior advisor duties for Darrell Moody, who’s retiring.
“I want to congratulate Darrell Moody on an outstanding career as a coach, scout and staff member,” Brown said in a statement. “Darrell has been around the game a long time and took great pride in developing young men as a coach. He then used that experience to transition to the scouting and evaluation world, again, playing a huge role in helping young football players reach the NFL. We’re grateful for his contributions to the program and wish him nothing but the best in retirement.
“When we found out we were going to need to replace Darrell, we went through an exhaustive search to find the best possible replacement, and Brian Simmons kept jumping out as the perfect candidate. Obviously, Carolina fans know Brian well as he is one of the greatest players in program history. But he’s uniquely qualified to fill this role as he has extensive experience both as an NFL player and long-time scout. He’s also been heavily involved at the high school football level, so he’s going to be able to come in, relate to our players, and give them the guidance and feedback they need to prepare properly for the NFL. We can’t wait for Brian to get back to Chapel Hill and get to work.”
In his role on the UNC staff, Simmons will serve as the program’s liaison to NFL scouts, working with them to assist their player evaluations of the Tar Heels. He will organize and oversee UNC’s annual pro day event and work directly with Carolina players to provide feedback and assessments as they pursue playing in the NFL.
Most recently, Simmons was the head coach at Windermere Prep in Florida, after having worked as co-defensive coordinator and special assistant to the head coach there. In total, he picked up eight years of coaching experience at the high school level to go along with his scouting and playing career. Simmons also has handled color analyst duties for UNC football radio broadcasts on the Tar Heel Sports Network.
Simmons spent eight years as an NFL scout, working for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2009-16. He was named the AFC Scout of the Year in 2014. Simmons got into scouting after spending 10 years in the NFL with the Cincinnati Bengals and New Orleans Saints. The Bengals made him a first-round draft choice in 1998 with the 17th overall pick, and he went on to be named to Cincinnati’s 50th Anniversary team in 2017. Simmons finished his NFL career having compiled 753 tackles, 24 sacks, 55 tackles for losses, 11 interceptions, 13 forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries.
While starring at UNC from 1994-97, Simmons earned consensus First-Team All-America honors, first-team All-ACC recognition, and was a two-time team captain. His total of 340 tackles ranks ninth all-time in Carolina history. He also piled up 11 sacks and 34 tackles for losses during his college career. Simmons was inducted to the UNC football ring of honor in 1998.
“That was the best time of my adult life — obviously not including having kids and being married — but just that time frame was great,” Simmons said, reflecting on his Tar Heel days in an interview with Inside Carolina, while he was working as a Jacksonville Jaguars scout. “We played on some good football teams there, met a lot of good friends that I’m still friends with now. I wouldn’t change it for the world, especially being a North Carolina kid, being able to play for the home state team and to have the success that we did on the field, it was great.”
Bracketology: Duke-UNC showdown holds major implications after latest CBS Sports projections
The projected NCAA Tournament field is in flux ahead of a massive weekend.
The ACC is in the midst of another down year, but its two perennial powers rank inside the top 10 in this week’s AP Top 25 Poll and meet Saturday in a massive rivalry showdown. Duke and North Carolina are in a race not only for league supremacy but also for No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament, and while there is plenty of season remaining, this weekend’s clash would go a long way in helping the winner achieve those goals.
While the Blue Devils and Tar Heels headline the upcoming slate, they are far from the only prominent teams going head-to-head in the coming days. Four of the six power conferences boast a top-10 showdown over the weekend, creating the potential for a shakeup near the top of the national pecking order. The results could trigger further alterations to CBS Sports bracketologist Jerry Palm’s projected NCAA Tournament bracket.
In Palm’s latest outlook, Purdue retained the No. 1 overall seed with UConn, Houston and North Carolina making a run at the coveted top spot.
Oregon remains on the bubble as the lone holdover from last week’s First Four Out, but the Ducks slipped a few spots after dropping a home game to Arizona. With the defeat, Dana Altman and his squad are losers of three of their last four games.
Meanwhile, Seton Hall is among the biggest fallers in this week’s update, slipping all the way from the No. 7 line out of the field altogether after dropping three-straight contests, including two to ranked opponents.
Houston has the best defense in college basketball, per KenPom, and squeezed the life out of nearly every Big 12 team it faced through the first month of conference play. Senior point guard Jamal Shead is on an absolute tear and was instrumental in the Cougars’ overtime escape Monday night at Texas, racking up 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the 76-72 win. He will easily be among the best players in the NCAA Tournament and might be the favorite to win the Big 12 Player of the Year award.
The upcoming installment in the longstanding UNC-Duke rivalry series gives the Tar Heels an opportunity to not only separate themselves even further from the pack in the ACC standings but also to bolster their resume with one of the very few ranked matchups left on their schedule.
A potential second-round battle between the ACC frontrunners and South Carolina would undoubtedly be a potential upset spot, though, with the Gamecocks playing outstanding basketball under second-year coach Lamont Paris and already toppling Kentucky.
There may not be a more vulnerable top-three seed than Arizona. The Wildcats posted an impressive road win at Oregon in their last time out, but conference play up to that point had not been kind to Tommy Lloyd and Co. Following stunning losses at conference realignment castaways Washington State and Oregon State, and a head-scratching performance at home versus struggling UCLA, Arizona looks like the same team that lost in the first round of last year’s Big Dance.
Leave a Reply