QB Byrd discusses UNC pledge

Since decommitting from Virginia Tech earlier this year, four-star Kathleen (Ga.) Veteran's quarterback Logan Byrd has been taking visits and exploring his options. But after a week that saw him take trips to Arkansas, Florida and North Carolina, he sat down and weighed his options. It turns out, it wasn't much of a contest and Byrd made the call for the Tar Heels on Wednesday night.

"On each of the visits I wrote down some notes from each school that were positive and I just felt like I couldn't go anywhere but North Carolina," he said. "I think that was a big factor for me. I knew it was the place for me."

The Tar Heels were one of the first schools that noticed Byrd and offered him early in his career and the persistence from the staff ended up paying off in the end.

"I just felt like building a relationship with the coaches over two years or so really was a factor," Byrd said. "Me and Coach Heckendorf go way back. He's always kept up with me, even when I committed, he told me he was going to still recruit me and that was a big thing. He was persistent and that was a big thing, just the relationships I've been able to build really helped me feel more comfortable."

Byrd said he also has a level of familiarity with the Tar Heels players that couldn't be duplicated by any other program.

"I've been up there so many times and getting to hang out with the players and mesh with them has been fun," he said. "I've felt like they're really welcoming and I'll fit in well with the culture they have there."

The 6-foot-3, 232-pound Byrd is a dual-threat quarterback and said he feels like he will be able to transition nicely into UNC's offense.

"I think and they think that it's a great fit," he said. "It's a quarterback friendly offense, so my strength is what they're doing right now. So it was just a perfect fit and that was what I was looking for. They finished No. 2 passing in the ACC last year and that speaks volumes, their offensive coordinator has been able to put up numbers everywhere he's been and I hope to be a part of that at North Carolina."

The combination of offense and culture as well as the chance to enroll early and compete for time on the field in 2016 also factored into Byrd's decision.

"Getting there early will give me an opportunity to come in and compete," he said. "I'll have a shot to compete for the starting job and that was definitely a big thing. Anywhere I would have went I wanted to compete but that was a good thing, knowing that they would consider me able to do that."

Now that he's officially in the mix, Byrd said it's his job to help fill the Tar Heels class, which now has three players committed.

"I've got to get back up there on campus soon so I can help get my class some big-time players," Byrd said. "I'm done taking visits elsewhere and I'm shutting it down. I'm a Tar Heel."