Ohio State Transfer Beau Atkinson Appears to Take Shot at UNC

Beau Atkinson, one of North Carolina’s top defensive players from last season, raised eyebrows with recent comments about his transfer to Ohio State—remarks that many interpreted as a subtle jab at his former program.

Atkinson was one of the many players who hit the portal when Mack Brown was let go by UNC. It was expected that he would leave because that's what usually happens when the previous head coach gets fired and on top of the fact that he was going to have many suitors based off the year he had for the Tar Heels.

Atkinson was one of the better defensive linemen in the ACC last season as he tallied 35 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks for the Tar Heels. He has two seasons remaining.

Despite six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Bill Belichick coming to Chapel Hill with a coaching staff that has plenty of NFL experience, Atkinson felt like he had to leave UNC because he felt like it wasn't what he needed from a competition standpoint.

“I think it was just time for me to go,”Atkinson told Eleven Warriors. “I think I just wanted to play at the highest level that I could.”

Not only did North Carolina lose one of its best pass rushers from last season but Atkinson's transfer continues to burn even more after his comments.

“It's been awesome,” Atkinson added. “It's a whole 'nother level of football. Got a bunch of great guys and yeah, it's been great competition trying to become the best we can be.”

Everyone agrees that Ohio State is a behemoth of a college football program as the Buckeyes are the defending national champions and have won nine national titles throughout their history.

Yes, Ohio State's competition is among the stiffest in the country with Michigan, Oregon and Penn State being in the same conference. The competition has also increased as well with Illinois and Indiana joining the fold. You can't forget about Iowa, USC and Washington who have been fairly conistent in the last 10-15 years.

Although the ACC is not nearly as strong as the Big Ten at the moment, it is still a comoetitive league. Sure, it's a dog-eat-dog conference, but the conference also had five teams ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll and two teams - Clemson and SMU - in the College Football Playoff.

Although it is a non-football member, a decent chunk of Notre Dame's schedule are against ACC teams due to a special scheduling agreement with the conference to have play a rotation of five ACC teams each season. Its schedule did not affect the Fighting Irish one bit and they went on to the national championship game where they ironically lost against Ohio State.

Moreover, the ACC has produced top-five NFL Draft picks in back-to-back years, with Miami's Cam Ward going No. 1 overall in 2025 and North Carolina's Drake Maye selected third in 2024.

For UNC, the Tar Heels have had had a player selected in the first round in consecutive years - Omarion Hampton in 2025 and Maye in 2024.

While Atkinson is enjoying his time at Ohio State, he would still likely have gone on to the NFL if he had stayed at UNC.

Belichick is one of the best defensive-minded coaches in the history of the sport and has a great eye for talent. After all, he was the one who drafted Pro FOotball Hall of Faer along with All-Pro defensive linemen Chandler Jones and Vince Wilfork.

Had Atkinson continued his development under Belichick, he may have ended up with the same NFL buzz—regardless of conference affiliation.

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