Mikai Gbayor of the UNC football program earns ACC Linebacker of the Week honors

The grad transfer surely made his mark in the UNC football program's victory over Richmond.
Richmond v North Carolina
Richmond v North Carolina | Lance King/GettyImages

Mikai Gbayor put together a dominant effort for the UNC football program on Saturday afternoon against Richmond, earning him ACC Linebacker of the Week honors.

The 6-foot-2 graduate student from Irvington, New Jersey recorded six total tackles, recording a forced fumble and fumble recovery, one that resulted in a score for the guys in Carolina Blue.

A transfer from Nebraska, Gbayor has been a steady force on the defensive side of the football during his early stint with the UNC football program. Prior to his strong outing against Richmond, Gbayor recorded 10 solo tackles (5 solo) over the Tar Heels' first two games of the 2025 season.

The linebacker unit is reloaded from the group we saw a season ago, and Gbayor is certainly a major part of that rebuilding process. His strong start to the season is one of the more encouraging things we've seen from North Carolina on the defensive side of the football, as the hope is that he can continue to produce at a high level as the regular season schedule continues to roll on.

Gbayor and the UNC football program are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Orlando, Florida to take on the undefeated UCF Knights at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

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