Tar Heels Add Linebacker Transfer Peyton Seelmann

North Carolina has received a commitment from Richmond transfer linebacker Peyton Seelmann, who finished the regular season ranked Top 10 nationally in total tackles.

Seelmann, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound sophomore, is coming off a season in which he totaled 120 tackles, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions, five pass breakups, four quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery for the Spiders. His season high was a 20-tackle game against Bucknell in October.

Seelmann, a Mechanicsville, Va. native, was named First Team All-Patriot League.

Richmond played at North Carolina this past season — a 41-6 Tar Heel win — and Seelmann led the Spiders with nine tackles and a QB hurry.

The three main rotation players for the Tar Heels at linebacker from last season will not return, as Andrew Simpson and Mikai Gbayor graduated, and Khmori House entered the transfer portal. The trio accounted for 177 tackles for UNC in 2025 and comprised 93% of the total snaps by all Tar Heel linebackers.

“This year we have a better understanding of what’s in the portal — what could be in the portal — what kind of players we want from the portal that fit what we have to do here at North Carolina,” UNC general manager Michael Lombardi said after the season. “And so we have to be ready to be able to fill the spots that we have to, and that’s why it’s really important to have a grading system, to have a personnel department so that we can sit there and honestly say … we need to get a better player.”

This offseason cycle features a single transfer portal window, which was moved back to Jan. 2 and will remain open through Jan. 16. Once in the portal, a player may directly communicate with and visit other programs.

The window restricts entering the portal, but it does not dictate when a player must choose his next school, so at least from a retention standpoint, UNC will know who isn’t leaving by the end of the window.

“The good thing about this year is, is when the portal ends on the 16th, we will have our team,” Lombardi said. “We’ll have a team meeting on the 17th, and there’ll be no changes to that team. We’ll be able to build the culture. We’ll be able to build continuity within the team.”