North Carolina's ACC football programs outlook for 2026 

MATT LACZKO | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Darian Mensah, who quarterbacked Duke to the 2025 ACC tittle, transferred to conference rival Miami, leaving an unexpected hole behind center for 2026.

The 2026 college football season is around the corner.

North Carolina is home to four ACC programs that all have set lofty goals for the upcoming season. Here are their outlook on 2026.

Duke (2025 record 9-5; 6-2 ACC)

The Blue Devils won the 2025 ACC title but were hit by a mass exodus to the transfer portal. Third-year coach Manny Diaz is excited about the players he has and is ready to repeat.

“I do think in an era of the game becoming transactional, you can be very cynical about the state of college affairs,” Diaz said. “I think these three guys represent the connection that we have in our locker room that no matter if the names change, that the culture – and I know coaches throw that word around too much – that the culture is so strong that when we bring in new transfers, they become us.”

Former quarterback Darian Mensah left in the offseason for Miami and that left questions about whether Duke is becoming a steppingstone program. Diaz didn’t mince words.

“Listen, if people want our players, that means we’re doing something well,” he said. “If we stunk, nobody would want any of our guys. So, this is kind of a champagne problem when you win a lot of games and have a lot of guys perform at a high level, ideally the whole idea is that they’ll have the opportunity to go straight from Durham to the NFL draft, right? We’ve had guys that have done that, that developed, and all got drafted this past spring. That’s going to become a recurring theme at our program.”

Duke will likely have to win a lot of games with defense. After losing Mensah and other key offensive weapons, the explosiveness on that side of the ball will likely not be there. Diaz didn’t try to avoid the subject. Rather, he plans to embrace getting the defense back to a high level.

“I think the word that surrounds our defense this year is urgency,” he said. “Somehow last year we just didn’t – the sum of the parts wasn’t quite there. I think we lost urgency. I think we had a little bit of entitlement that might have crept in. I don’t know that we have a guy right now that knows for sure that he’s a starter, and I think that's fantastic. That’s not because we don't have good enough players. I think we have a two-deep that's as talented as anything we’ve had in the time that I’ve been there.”

N.C. State (8-5, 4-4)

Wolfpack coach Dave Doeren enters year 15 with the program and he said he feels like he and his staff have built a consistent winning program.

“As the media, a lot of times your job is to talk about what we don’t do well,” he said. “Today I get to talk about what we do well. I think having staying power, being a consistent winner. We won the second-most number of games in the ACC in the last six years. We’ve won the second-most number of conference games and non-conference games. With that being said, I’m sick of being second. These guys know that. We’re here to do more. That’s what drives us. It's the competitive spirit of winning, the brotherhood that comes along with that that's so special.”

The Wolfpack return 6-6 quarterback C.J. Bailey, who threw for over 3,000 yards in 2025 as a sophomore and looks to build upon it as a junior.

“I feel like a lot has improved since I first got into college, my first season in college,” Bailey said. “I can honestly say in my first year I was winging it, I was just out there making plays, being an athlete. I really didn't know much about the game, to be honest with you. Going into that next off-season I learned a lot. It changed my whole perspective on everything about football, defense and everything like that. I learned a lot. Everything is slow for me right now. … Everybody believes in me and I am just ready to make some plays for N.C. State.”

N.C. State lost running back Daylan Smothers to the transfer portal in the offseason, but Doeren quickly gave running back Duke Scott the No. 1 jersey. 
“[No. 1] obviously has to be a great player, which we all know Duke is,” Doeren said. “It really wasn't hard, to be honest. I sat down and thought about a lot of guys on the team. It’s really obvious when you get to know Duke. Duke doesn't talk a lot. Getting to know Duke is hard sometimes. He's a special young man. I know he’s going to wear the number well.”

North Carolina (4-8, 2-6)

The Tar Heels enter year two of the Bill Belichick era. 

There was an enormous amount of hype surrounding the Tar Heels last offseason with the arrival of Belichick and despite the hype, the team never really found its rhythm winning just two games in conference and four overall. But it is a new year and a new team and even at 74 years of age, Belichick is ready to get started.

“We have a lot of new players here,” he said. “We have about 60 new players, so over half our team from last year. Excited to see how that comes along. It was a big freshman class because we kind of didn’t have much of a freshman class in the ‘25 group. So, we kind of combined those two and brought in a lot of young players that are going to be good, but it's going to take a little bit of time. They’re certainly working hard.”

One key returner is receiver Jordan Shipp. The Providence Day graduate said it never entered his mind to enter the transfer portal. In the modern era of college football where players are always looking for the next best option or paycheck, Shipp stayed loyal to North Carolina.

MATT LACZKO | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Gio Lopez, who quarterbacked North Carolina to a 4-8 season in coach Bill Belichick's debut season in Chapel Hill, transferred to Wake Forest, which went 9-4 in Jake Dickert's first campaign in Winston-Salem.

“Carolina was loyal to me,” he said. “Coach Belichick could have told me to leave, but he didn’t. Also, I am Carolina through and through. There is nowhere else I would rather be. I was able to graduate this past semester, so there is just a lot Carolina sets you up for after football, like it wouldn’t have made sense to leave. Then when people talk about the money, all the money will come at the next level. That is where real generational wealth is. If you are talented enough, you will make the pros from anywhere, so leaving was never an option for me.” 

Belichick said 2025 was a learning experience and the difference between coaching in the NFL and college is very different. He plans on using the lessons learned from year one to have a much better year two.

“I think the biggest thing is just the relationships and building with all the people that are involved in the school,” he said, “whether it's academics, compliance, or different training things that we have to go through. … We brought in some people that I was familiar with, but also, again, multiple other people in the university. Great people, people who have really done a great job of supporting us, but you just need to build that working relationship with. So, that’s been good. It’s been fun, and I appreciate the work that they’ve done.”

Wake Forest (9-4, 4-4)

The Demon Deacons took a lot of people by surprise last year — the first under coach Jake Dickert – by going 9-4 after winning just four games the prior year. Dickert said he wants his team to have is about shutting out the noise. 

“We have a new team,” Dickert said. “We believe in the same standard. It’s no secret our program is once again built in the dark. Built in the dark, to us, is a style of play that no one wants to face and a process that few can handle. On our team we have 105 different players, 105 different personalities, skill sets, and backgrounds. But we share one mentality, and that is built in the dark. … At Wake Forest we don’t believe in building robots. We invest daily into the best version of each individual and teach them that everyone’s role on our team is vitally important.”

Dickert said that while it is impossible to re-create last year’s hunger, staying rooted in the process is key for 2026 success. 

“The biggest thing that we need to be is be humble to the process,” he said. “Take the habits, the energy, the connection of that football team, the way they showed up each and every day and prepared to go out there and win, right? Belief is powerful in our program. Last year we were selling belief of concept. Now we're telling our guys the belief of action, and it's driven through these guys.”

Dickert and his staff hit the ground running and in-part were a bit of a sleeper team in 2025 with few media expectations. He is hoping it will help propel Wake Forest football long into the future.

“Everyone says, ‘Coach, you won too fast,’” Dickert said. “There’s no such thing in this game. It’s allowed us to recruit better, retain better, and provide our team more resources. We’re excited about the future of Wake Forest football.”

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