As it’s starting-quarterback-naming season, this is the first of what could be a handful of these types of developments.
Over the weekend, it was confirmed that true freshman quarterback Sam Howell would get the initial starting nod at quarterback for North Carolina, beating out a pair of redshirt freshmen -- Cade Fortin and Jace Ruder. Less than a week later, it’s now being reported that Fortin will enter his name into the NCAA transfer database.
It has not yet been confirmed by the university that Fortin is in the portal, and it should also be noted that the quarterback has the option to return to the Tar Heels.
Even before the reports of Fortin’s impending move, first-year second-time UNC head coach Mack Brown was fully aware that at least one of the non-winners in the competition could decide to take his leave of the football program.
“The negative is they’re all the same age — either freshmen or redshirt freshmen,” Brown told 247Sports.com earlier this offseason. “We know modern-day with the transfer portal, not everybody’s going to stay, so we’re going to wait until the fall and let the guys compete in the preseason.”
Fortin was a three-star member of the Tar Heels’ 2018 recruiting class. He appeared in four games for UNC as a true freshman, starting two of those contests while completing under 50 percent of his 63 passes for 388 yards, one touchdown and one interception. On the ground, he totaled 76 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries.
Because of the newly-implemented NCAA rule, he was able to take a redshirt for that season.