UNC Football: Payton Wilson announces he’s decommitted

Payton Wilson provides a crucial update on his recruitment and it’s not good for UNC

The North Carolina Tar Heels football program received some bad news on Wednesday afternoon, just a day before Thanksgiving.

Four-star linebacker Payton Wilson broke the news via Twitter that he is decommitting from North Carolina and opening up his recruitment.

That means the Tar Heels lost another one of their top recruits in their 2018 class.

Wilson posted this message via his Twitter account thanking head coach Larry Fedora for everything he’s done.

The writing was on the wall for a decommitment from Wilson. He took visits to NC State and Notre Dame within the last month. He committed to UNC on May 1, giving the Tar Heels one of the top linebackers in the nation.

In an interview with Scout, Wilson said he wanted to “reassure” himself of his decision to go to UNC by taking other visits.

That’s a big red flag.

Now the Tar Heels find themselves without one of the best linebackers in the 2018 class just a few months after losing four-star quarterback Tyler Shough.

Wilson is the No. 68 overall ranked player in the 2018 class and now the Fighting Irish are considered the favorites to land him after he took a visit there on Nov. 4.

NC State has put the full court press on him, as coaches have visited him several times over the last few weeks.

Clemson and Ohio State are also in the mix and could get an official visit. Wilson has said he’s wanted to take all five of his official visits.

For the Tar Heels, this is a major loss.

Fedora is attempting to rebuild a program that went to the ACC Championship Game in 2015 but is just 3-8 overall this year. The struggles are likely a big reason for two of their top recruits to decommit and it’s not easy rebuilding when that happens.

Next: Simi Shittu picks Vandy over UNC

The Tar Heels still have Jordyn Adams committed and he now becomes their most important recruit in years.