North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick. Rodd Baxley/The Fayetteville Observer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Bill Belichick, North Carolina land another former Penn State recruit

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Nov 26, 2025 7:25 PM ET

The North Carolina Tar Heels are developing a pipeline of sorts at the expense of the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Penn State's 2026 class was thrown into turmoil when James Franklin was fired. Bill Belichick and North Carolina, in the meantime, took advantage of that turmoil and started targeting members of Penn State's 2026 recruiting class.

The Tar Heels had previously added commitments from three-star cornerback Jaziel Hart and four-star athlete David Davis, both of whom had been committed to Penn State before Franklin's firing.

The Tar Heels have now added a third former Nittany Lion pledge, with the announcement that three-star cornerback Julian Peterson from Atco, New Jersey.

Peterson committed to Penn State back in January 2025, so he seemed to be one of the "ride or die" members of PSU's recruiting class. Not surprisingly, he decommitted when Franklin was fired, though, and he started looking around.

He received offers from Clemson, North Carolina and Wisconsin when he opened things back up and took official visits to all three schools.

Ultimately, it was Belichick and the Tar Heels who won out, and the legendary, Super Bowl-winning head coach was a major reason why.

: Class of 2026 CB Julian Peterson has committed to UNC.

Welcome to Carolina, Julian! @Julian_athlete pic.twitter.com/CpVK7cIFwq
— Tar Pit Podcast (@TarPitPod) November 26, 2025

Bill Belichick plays massive role in bringing Julian Peterson to North Carolina

"I feel like he was real genuine," Peterson said of Belichick, according to Brian Dohn of 247Sports. "He explained to me how I was going to be used on the defensive side of the ball if that is where I decided to go. He was a real genuine, down-to-earth person. He was real easy to talk to."

According to the 247Sports Composite, Peterson is the No. 46 cornerback in the 2026 class. He joins a UNC class that's literally stacked. He's Belichick's 37th 2026 commitment in a class that's ranked No. 17 nationally.

"They seem real confident that they're going to change the program," he said of the Belichick regime at UNC. "They are very, very confident. They have no type of worry. They are going to become a winning team very soon."

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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