Six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick is working through substantial roster changes as the new head coach at North Carolina. That process includes a pair of pickups from Penn State in former Nittany Lions defensive linemen Joseph Mupoyi and Smith Vilbert.
Penn State recently landed North Carolina transfer linebacker Amare Campbell, who brings starting experience to Happy Valley. Campbell was one of two defensive standouts who left Chapel Hill after spring camp, along with edge rusher Bo Atkinson (Ohio State), continuing an unpredictable offseason for UNC.
“First of all, North Carolina has had just a massive amount of roster churn,” 247Sports North Carolina analyst Jason Staples told Lions247. “I think right now, if I was doing the number count correctly, they’re going to have something like 63 new players for next season. A lot of that has been on the line of scrimmage. They’ve got four offensive linemen of the 15 that they had on last year’s roster who are returning. And on the defensive line, it’s similar. … They’ve needed bodies, if nothing else.”
Mupoyi and Vilbert are among UNC’s many additions in the trenches. They arrive on campus via starkly different paths at Penn State.
