Advertisement
football Edit

Commitment Breakdown: Four-star Kaleb Cost picks North Carolina

Kaleb Cost is going back to his roots.

The four-star defensive back from Georgia originally hails from Charlotte, N.C. Cost is now heading home as the newest member of North Carolina's 2023 class.

"North Carolina, they set the standard. They’ve been loving me since the first day they recruited me," Cost said. "Everybody, the whole coaching staff hit me up the first day. I felt the love. That’s really what I was looking for in the recruiting process, where the love was at. They said I have the opportunity of playing day one with a lot of DBs leaving and everything this year, going to the draft, doing their own thing. That’s a big thing."

CLASS OF 2023 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

CLASS OF 2024 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Team | Position | State

TRANSFER PORTAL: Stories/coverage | Message board

RIVALS CAMP SERIES: Info for 2022 series

Cost's journey with the Tar Heels dates back to last summer when he camped in Chapel Hill. At the time, the staff didn't show much interest.

That changed earlier this year. North Carolina began recruiting Cost harder and offered him on Feb. 8.

Multiple coaches have gone about building strong relationships with Cost. At the top of the list is head coach Mack Brown.

"He’s all about family," Cost said. "Obviously, he’s been in this game so long. He knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t even really coach, but he puts coaches in the position to coach his players at the highest level. He knows what he’s doing. He might be on the older side, but he has a good mindset of what needs to be done to win games."

The defensive back staff is one of the best in the nation. It starts with Dré Bly, an NFL veteran who Cost knows can teach him the finer points of the game.

There's also defensive backs coach Charlton Warren, who Cost called one of the "masterminds" of the Tar Heel defense along with Gene Chizik.

"Coach Warren has been in this game for about 17 years," Cost said. "He’s been at the highest level, Georgia, Florida, Indiana. He’s been a lot of places. I think he was originally at UNC. He knows what he’s doing with the defense. He likes to mix things up. He knows what he’s doing with the defense, him and coach Chizik."

All that coaching talent adds up to an incredible development opportunity that proved too much for Cost to pass up.

"Nobody’s going to develop me like these guys are," Cost said. "They have so much knowledge behind this game. They can teach me so much, make me the best player I can be."

Cost took his official visit to Chapel Hill on the first weekend in June. He knew for sure on that visit that North Carolina is where he wanted to call home.

He told his mother during the visit, 'I'm ready.' Cost waited to tell the North Carolina coaches until a meeting with Brown and Warren on the last day of his visit.

"(Brown's) reaction was great," Cost said. "I was excited, my family was excited, they were excited. It was a great time."

Cost is also planning to play baseball for North Carolina. From the gridiron to the diamond, Cost can't wait to get back home.

"They’re getting all of me," Cost said. "I’m going to give my all for North Carolina. North Carolina is home. They’re going to get all of me. I’m going to play to the best of my ability on the football side and the baseball side and give my all for North Carolina."

Advertisement