UNC keeps pumping out Tidewater recruits, thanks to football players like Cam’Ron Kelly
Athletes from the Hampton Roads area of Virginia typically are quick to let you know where they’re from, specifically by calling out their area code: the 757. Or, if you’re really hip, it’s shortened to the 7-5.
Roughly 10 cities in the region — including Norfolk, Hampton, Virginia Beach and Newport News — have produced some of the best players in North Carolina football history, from Lawrence Taylor (Williamsburg) to current cornerbacks coach Dre Bly (Chesapeake).
Cam’Ron Kelly is well aware of that pipeline to Chapel Hill.
The 6-foot-1 junior defensive back from Chesapeake, Va., is trying to add to the list of Tar Heel success stories from the 757.
“Being from the 757, regardless of what area, you just feel like you got a chip on your shoulder because you know it’s just seven cities, you don’t really claim the rest of the state,” Kelly said. “When you’re from the 757 you’ve got to talk the talk and walk the walk for sure. Doing that and bringing that to the next level is just just natural for us because that’s the way we were bred to be.”
When he decided that he couldn’t stay at Auburn with his mother and sister at home dealing with health issues, Kelly transferred after spending just the spring semester in 2019 on the Plains. Carolina was at the top of his list of considerations.
“North Carolina tried to swoop in and try to flip me from Auburn my senior year toward the end when coach Mack (Brown) and everybody got hired,” Kelly said. “One of those phone calls I got was from Dre Bly. Dre Bly is a legend in the 7-5. Just being coached by Dre Bly and coach (Jay) Bateman was a dream come true.”
Kelly was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA after his transfer, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury just five games into his freshman season in 2019.
Bateman, UNC’s co-defensive coordinator, said Kelly showed flashes of just how good he could be last season. This year, he appears to be putting it all together.
Bateman said Kelly was playing so well after the Georgia Tech game that he had to find a way to get him in the lineup more. Bateman moved Ja’Qurious Conley, who started the first four games at strong safety, over to nickel back and inserted Kelly into the starting lineup at strong safety against Duke.
“Cam Kelly was playing really well and I wasn’t playing him enough,” Bateman said. “After the Georgia Tech game, I just said I got to play him. He deserves to play, he’s one of our best players.”
Kelly showed why against the Blue Devils, putting up his best game as a Tar Heel in his first start this season. He had a team-high seven tackles — after entering the game with just 10 — and grabbed his first career interception when he jumped a crossing route and tipped the ball to himself.
After the win, senior linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel proclaimed it was one of the best games in terms of defensive communication of his entire career at UNC. Kelly was a big part of that in the secondary.
“The other thing about Cam is he is really, really bright,” Bateman said. “He can organize us and get us into the right calls and help get everything ironed out out there. And I think that really helped us Saturday too.”
Kelly, who was an All-ACC Academic team selection last season, is also one of their biggest talkers. He had an instant bond with sophomore cornerback Tony Grimes last season, when the Virginia Beach native reclassified from the class of 2021 to join the team.
“Me and TG, we’re pretty tight so definitely like having that sound for somebody you know, we always we always talk our talk to the receivers,” Kelly said. “We always bring up the 757 in practice and you could tell some guys get a little tired of it, but you know, they gotta love it because the energy we bring to the table.”
Mack Brown loves the energy, which is why he continues to recruit the region hard. Three of the Tar Heels’ commitments from the Class of 2022 are from the 757, including running back George Pettaway, who is the second highest ranked player in their class.
Brown said when he was initially hired in 1988 he looked at where Carolina typically got its best recruits under coaches Bill Dooley and Dick Crum. The answer was resoundingly from within the state, and the 757.
“There’s so many great players from the 757 that came here,” Brown said. “That we just felt like that was really, really important for us to count the 757 as an in state recruiting area.”
Before Kelly is done at UNC, he aims to add his name to that list of Tar Heel greats that call 757 home.