After Injury-Marred Season, UNC's Christo Kelly Enjoying Spring Practice With Renewed Purpose

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Perhaps no one is enjoying North Carolina’s spring football practices more than graduate center Christo Kelly. After the 6-foot-4, 305-pound offensive lineman was sidelined with a left ankle injury that limited him to two games last season, Kelly’s return to the gridiron — as UNC’s projected starting center this fall — has brought him a renewed sense of energy ahead of the summer. 

“I don’t know if I’ve ever had more fun playing football than these past six practices,” Kelly said last Tuesday. 

Though the lingering nature of his ankle injury had its painful moments, the worst of it for Kelly was the emotional agony from not being able to play last season. Transferring from Holy Cross, where he spent five seasons, Kelly had hoped for an opportunity to play at the FBS level and gain valuable experience under Bill Belichick. 

Though a full season of experience was put on hold, he didn’t let the setback take away from the effort he put in to learn and develop despite the injury. Still, given how things went, and UNC’s thin depth at center after Austin Blaske missed the early part of last year, Kelly remembered it as a hard daily battle.

“It was tough,” Kelly said.  “Waking up every day, wanting to give everything that I have to this team, to this program, seeing how much guys put in, seeing how much the coaches put in, seeing the daily grind of everything, and just not being able to go.” 

But thanks to a trio of North Carolina football staffers, Kelly now says he feels “100 percent” and looks forward to his final season of collegiate football come the fall. He credited Catherine Miller, UNC’s athletic trainer, for her work in both helping his body heal from the injury and being an encouraging voice throughout the process. He also praised Moses Cabrera, his strength and conditioning coach, who helped get Kelly’s body back to a baseline before spring ball.

The person who may have had the biggest impact on Kelly’s recovery and peak physical form, however, was Amber Rhinestine-Ressa, the team’s head nutritionist. Rhinestine-Ressa implemented a full dietary overhaul to accelerate the lineman’s recovery and get him back on the field.

“It was kind of that three-headed approach with the training staff, the strength and conditioning and nutrition,” Kelly said. “We have a world-class program here.” 

Throughout the process, Kelly was able to not just physically recover ahead of next season, but also grow in his leadership and approach to the game. Without a way to contribute on the field, Kelly assumed a player-coach role that stretched him personally and has since positioned him as a crucial leader of a young roster in Belichick’s second year.

Forced to watch the game from a new perspective, last season’s struggles also deepened his love for the sport. Kelly expressed his appreciation several times throughout the press conference last week, and continued to return to a theme of appreciating the opportunity before him, in whatever form that may be next season. 

“There’s a deeper sense of gratitude,” Kelly said. “Not just playing here at North Carolina, but just playing this game of football.”