Very early in his UNC tenure, before Bill Belichick had ever coached a game at Carolina, he made a recruiting trip to Rolesville High School in the Raleigh suburbs. The trip was purportedly to check out edge rusher Zavion Griffin-Haynes, a highly-touted prospect with his eye on the Tar Heels.
Belichick joined Rolesville head coach Ranier Rackley – known as “Coach Rack” – and defensive coordinator Kevin Reddick in the meeting room. Reddick, a former UNC linebacker, knew of Belichick’s interest in Griffin-Haynes. But there was another player with hardly any recruiting momentum who he wanted to endorse.
“Me and Rack is in the meeting with him,” Reddick told Chapelboro, “and we’re telling him, ‘Hey, I know you came to see this guy, but Coach, we’ve got a dawg that a lot of people haven’t seen.’”
That player was an undersized defensive lineman who had zero recruiting stars on his online profile. To that point, his only FBS scholarship offer was from Temple, and he was close to committing to FCS Austin Peay. But Reddick and Coach Rack were convinced that Xavier Lewis had bigger and brighter things ahead. They would know; Lewis had left many a flummoxed offensive lineman – and many a torn jersey – in his wake.
“We probably had to provide [him] with at least three different jerseys,” Reddick remembered, “because they would get ripped every so often from him being so relentless and guys pulling and tugging and holding him, and him not stopping. But that’s who [he] is.”
Intrigued, Belichick got a look at the film. The defensive mastermind wasted little time after that. Needing to create some recruiting wins for his program, Belichick made Lewis a scholarship offer. Lewis quickly committed.
“That was a great tip,” Belichick said of Reddick and Coach Rack’s recommendation. “[Lewis] didn’t have a whole lot going on. And when we came into the picture, we didn’t have a whole lot going on either.”
Roughly 18 months after that initial meeting at Rolesville, Xavier Lewis ranks fourth in the nation in sacks, is barreling toward an All-ACC nod by season’s end and was named by the Associated Press as a first team midseason All-American Thursday. But his commitment to UNC in 2025 did not immediately generate buzz. In fact, Lewis arrived in Chapel Hill that summer as a walk on. He appeared in 11 of Carolina’s 12 games that season, but only totaled eight tackles.
Regardless of that quiet first year, those around the program saw greatness in Lewis.
“I noticed it when I first got here, last fall camp,” said linebacker Jonathan Agumadu, a transfer from Oklahoma State who arrived in Chapel Hill at the same time as Lewis. “Xavier was a walk on, and then he got thrown out there with the twos [second team]. It was a third down rep and he had a crazy pass rush move, and everybody was like, ‘Wow. Kid’s gonna be good.’”
Pittsburgh quarterback Holden Geriner is tackled by North Carolina defensive lineman Xavier Lewis and linebacker Timir Hickman-Collins during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
After the 2025 season ended, numerous Tar Heels tried their luck in the transfer portal. From conversations with his former charge, Reddick said schools did reach out to Lewis’ agent to gauge interest. But the Raleigh native decided to buck the trend of modern college football and stick it out. Reddick, who despite his UNC background does not try to push his players toward one school or another, came away impressed.
“He’ll probably be a four-year guy at Carolina,” Reddick said. “We talked in the offseason, and I’m like, ‘What are you thinking?’ He’s like, ‘I kinda wanna stay, Coach. I kinda wanna build something.’”
Through five games in 2026, Lewis has already more than tripled his tackle total from last season. He recorded two sacks in each of the Tar Heels’ first three games and had 4.5 tackles for loss in a breakout performance against TCU in the season opener. Last weekend at Pittsburgh, Lewis set a new career high with 11 tackles. Not bad for someone who Belichick once thought about moving to linebacker.
“He’s explosive, he’s quick, he’s got a good motor,” Belichick said. “Very instinctive, finds the ball. Strong tackler. He’s been one of our best players.”
His performance at Pittsburgh earned Lewis his second ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week honor. He earned the first after the TCU game, during which many Tar Heel fans were likely wondering who exactly No. 90 in white was.
But those in the Rolesville community, like Reddick and Coach Rack – who now serves on staff at Duke and will coach against Lewis this weekend – were not surprised. This was simply Xavier Lewis doing what he does.
“People here in Raleigh, they know about him,” Reddick said. “But he put the world on notice with that one.”
Featured image via Associated Press/Jacon Kupferman
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‘Coach, We’ve Got a Dawg’: Xavier Lewis’ Unlikely Journey from Unheralded Recruit to UNC Star Chapelboro.com.
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