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The UNC football program loses another Class of 2025 commit

Having lost two prior commitments from the Class of 2025, the latest starts to bring even more attention to the UNC football program's recruiting class.

ByNick Delahanty|
Oct 26, 2024; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown walks off the field after the Tar Heels' game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Oct 26, 2024; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown walks off the field after the Tar Heels' game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The UNC football program has struggled in the 2025 recruiting cycle, and those struggles continue to get worse over time.

After two commits backed off their pledge to North Carolina a few weeks back (within 24 hours of each other), the Tar Heels have lost yet another former commit.

This one is a massive one.

To no surprise, Alex Payne, a four-star offensive lineman, has flipped his commitment to USC. There has been specultation that Payne was trending in this direction and made the decision official on Friday night.

Payne is a big loss, considering he was the best-ranked offensive lineman that the UNC football program's 2025 class had to offer. With Payne flipping his commitment, the UNC football program now just has 10 players committed from this recruiting cycle.

Yikes.

Of the 10 commits, only one (Bryce Baker) is a four-star recruit. The rest are three-star talents.

Now, there's been plenty of lower-ranked prospects that have turned into great college football players, but based on how this recruiting cycle is going, it's easy for the fanbase to start questioning whether or not Mack Brown and his staff are the right fit for the job.

Remember: Brown says he has every intention of staying as the head coach of the Tar Heels following the 2024 season, but is it the right decision overall for the UNC football program?

The recent trend of recruiting is really starting to give vibes of the end of the Larry Fedora era. As we know, that didn't end very well.

If this staff is going to struggle on the recruiting trail, it may be time for the University of North Carolina to step in and make a change before things get drastically worse.

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