North Carolina will have another visit in store as former Syracuse linebacker Derek McDonald will visit Chapel Hill.
McDonald, who announced his decision to enter the transferportal on Dec. 9, 2025, will visit UNC on Monday and Tuesday. He has played in over 1,800 snaps over his four-year career at Syracuse, logging 173 tackles, seven tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and four pass breakups.
𝙋𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙉𝙚𝙬𝙨: Syracuse linebacker Derek McDonald has set a visit to North Carolina per @mzenitz (via his agent @AJ_Calabro)
📊 Career Stats (Syracuse):
• 173 career tacklesGeorgia native with proven ACC experience. pic.twitter.com/l00EGpYPiN
— Tar Pit Podcast (@TarPitPod) January 2, 2026
The 6-foot-4, 230-pound linebacker only appeared in four games last year and sat out the rest of the season due to injury. In 2024, he recorded 55 tackles, a forced fumble and 17 stops. His best season came the year before that as he recorded 67 tacklesm four tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and a pass breakup.
Going into the transfer portal window, North Carolina must add bodies to its linebacker corps after losing Khmori House (transfer portal) and Andrew Simpson and Mikai Gbayor, who have exhausted their eligibility.
Bill Belichick and North Carolina have made that a priority, and they already have targets on campus. Two players visited Chapel Hill this weekend: Oumar Diomande from UConn and Peyton Seelman from Richmond. Diomande visited on Friday, while Seelman visited UNC on Sunday and will stay through Monday.
Make sure to follow Tar Heels Wire for more transfer portal updates as the portal period ramps up.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Football: Former Syracuse LB makes stop in Chapel Hill for visit
