Former Western Carolina quarterback Taron Dickens, one of the most electrifying players in NCAA FCS football last season, is expected to make the jump to the ACC and join Bill Belichick’s UNC Tar Heels, according to multiple national reports Sunday.
As of Sunday afternoon, neither Dickens nor UNC had made a public announcement through official channels or social media.
Dickens, who entered the transfer portal after a record-setting 2025 campaign in Cullowhee, was one of the last prominent in-state portal names still uncommitted this cycle.
His recruitment generated speculation for weeks after the portal opened Jan. 2, with reported interest from programs including Syracuse, Tennessee and Duke (after Darian Mensah departed). Earlier this week, reports also linked him to Tarleton State, an FCS program from Texas, before momentum shifted toward Chapel Hill.
Record-Setting Season Put Dickens on National Radar
Despite missing Western Carolina’s first three games, Dickens produced one of the most remarkable statistical seasons in school, FCS and state of North Carolina history.
The 5-foot-11, 180-pound quarterback completed 271 of 365 passes (74.2 percent) for a WCU-record 3,508 yards and 38 touchdowns, throwing just two interceptions. His completion percentage led the FCS and ranked among the best ever recorded in Southern Conference history.
Dickens set NCAA records for:
- Most consecutive completions (50)
- Most completions in a single game (46)
He surpassed 300 passing yards seven times in nine starts, topped 400 yards four times and delivered two 500-yard performances, including a 551-yard outing against nationally ranked Mercer. His completions record came against Wofford in early October.
The breakout campaign earned Dickens:
- 2025 Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year
- First-team All-SoCon honors
- Recognition on five postseason All-America teams
- Runner-up finish for the Walter Payton Award, the highest individual honor in FCS football
From Backup to Star in Two Seasons
Dickens’ rise at Western Carolina came quickly.
After appearing in just two games as a true freshman in 2023, he stepped into the spotlight late in 2024 following an injury to All-SoCon quarterback Cole Gonzales. Dickens started the final four games that season, guiding the Catamounts to a 3-1 record while completing nearly 74 percent of his passes.
That late-season audition carried directly into his historic 2025 campaign after Gonzales transferred out.
A Crowded Quarterback Room Awaits in Chapel Hill
If finalized, Dickens will enter a significantly reshaped North Carolina quarterback room that has undergone extensive turnover.
The Tar Heels have already added:
- Miles O’Neill, a former Texas A&M quarterback and 2023 New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year
- Billy Edwards Jr., a sixth-year transfer who started 11 games at Maryland in 2024
- Travis Burgess, a four-star dual-threat quarterback in the 2026 recruiting class
- Returner Au’Tori Newkirk, who signed in 2025
UNC is replacing starter Gio Lopez, who departed after one mostly disappointing season, landing at Wake Forest.
Taron will be everything they hoped Gio Lopez would be — Isaac Miller⚜️ (@isaac_millr) February 15, 2026
New Offensive Direction Under Bobby Petrino
North Carolina’s offensive reset includes the arrival of veteran coordinator Bobby Petrino, one of college football’s most prolific — and polarizing — offensive minds.
Petrino has developed multiple NFL quarterbacks, including Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, and has built a reputation for dramatically improving passing attacks. His arrival follows a difficult 2025 season in which UNC ranked:
- 119th nationally in scoring (19.3 points per game)
- 129th in total offense (288.8 yards per game)
Former offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens was dismissed following the season.
Dickens’ accuracy and quick-release style could align with Petrino’s historically aggressive passing schemes, though questions about size and durability — along with an early-season academic absence in 2025 — have followed the quarterback throughout his career.
Another Example of the FCS-to-FBS Pathway
Dickens’ move reflects a growing trend of highly productive quarterbacks using success at the FCS and Division II levels as a springboard to Power Four opportunities — a path increasingly visible among North Carolina programs in the transfer-portal era. Elon quarterback Landen Clark, for example, parlayed a strong 2025 season into an opportunity to compete in the SEC at LSU.
For Western Carolina, Dickens leaves behind one of the most efficient seasons ever produced by a Catamount quarterback and a performance that placed the program squarely in the national spotlight.
