North Carolina starting cornerback enters transfer portal

North Carolina cornerback Tony Grimes is entering the transfer portal.

Grimes made that announcement via On3’s Hayes Fawcett on Monday evening:

BREAKING: UNC CB Tony Grimes tells me he has entered the transfer portal.

The 6’0 195 CB from Virginia Beach, VA was ranked as the No. 1 CB in the ‘21 Class before reclassifying to 2020.

Has a 97 career tackles, 1 FF, and 1 INT in his three years at UNChttps://t.co/U7u1XDAH6V pic.twitter.com/ZaAESmG17v

— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) December 5, 2022

“Lastly, thank you Tar Heel family for all the love and support these past three years,” Grimes wrote. “After many prayers and further discussion with my family and friends, I have decided to enter the transfer portal to further pursue my football career and goals.”

This is a huge loss for North Carolina, as Grimes was a bright spot on an otherwise-underwhelming defense this season. Grimes had 36 tackles, 7 pass deflections and 1 forced fumble this season.

North Carolina has also already lost linebacker RaRa Dillworth and other key players to the portal. The Tar Heels are expected to be aggressive in adding players via the portal as well this offseason.

UNC will play Oregon in the Holiday Bowl later this month. The Tar Heels need a win in order to get to 10 victories for the first time since 2015.