UNC Football: Tar Heels 18th in Sports Illustrated Class of 2023 Rankings

The UNC Football program comes in at No. 18 in the most recent update to Sports Illustrated’s class of 2023 rankings. 

The UNC football program is holding steady in Sports Illustrated’s top 25 football recruiting classes for the 2023 cycle. SI’s Director of Football Recruiting, John Garcia, Jr., released the updated list on Wednesday on behalf of the publications “All-American team”.

The new rankings reflect what happened in the month of August, including the high school season commencing, the release of the preseason SI99 rankings, and other factors.

In the August rankings, the Tar Heels’ “Jordan Class” (the in-house nickname for the football class of 2023) came in at 18th in the rankings. That’s exactly where the class sits in the updated September rankings.

In that span, Carolina lost Zachary Tobe but picked up commitments from Amare Campbell (LB), Paul Billups (WR), Joshua Horton (DT), and, most recently, Kaveion Keys (LB).

Including Keys, the Jordan Class currently sits at 18 verbal commits, headlined by defensive ends Jaybron Harvey and Rico Walker, defensive tackle Joel Starlings, quarterback Tad Hudson, and wide receivers Christian Hamilton and Chris Culliver.

After pulling in at least one five-star player in each of the previous three cycles, it’s likely that Mack Brown and company are not yet finished as they look to land the crown jewel of their class.

While not a five-star, Daevin Hobbs (DL) is still on the board. It looked for quite some time like he was certainly leaning towards North Carolina, but that certainly is no longer in the picture.

As proof of the lack of top-flight talent thus far for the Tar Heels in the Jordan Class, take a peek at the most recent SI99 list for 2023. Not one player on that list is currently connected to Carolina as a verbal commit.

By way of comparison, Alabama, Texas, Notre Dame, and Ohio State each have seven SI99 recruits committed in the class. The defending champion Georgia Bulldogs have six of their own.

Alabama is ranked No. 1, while Texas, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Georgia round out the top five.

Other ACC schools in SI’s ranking include No. 7 Clemson, and No. 9 Miami, while Pitt (No. 23), Duke (No. 24), and Florida State (No. 25) round out the bottom of the list.

We’ll continue to keep tabs on where UNC’s Jordan Class is ranked in SI’s 2023 class rankings. Stay tuned to Keeping It Heel for more intel.

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