It’s a very sad day in Chapel Hill.

Following the UNC football program’s heartbreaking loss to Georgia Tech, head coach Mack Brown announced that Tylee Craft passed away Saturday morning following his battle with stage 4 lung cancer.

Since March 2022, Tylee Craft has been battling stage 4 lung cancer. Although his struggles have been challenging, Craft has never lost his love for the UNC football program as he has been involved with the program as much as possible.

On Saturday, Craft’s teammate, JJ Jones, wore his jersey and scored a touchdown in his honor. The CW broadcast shows Jones pointing to the sky toward the sideline. During the break between the first and second quarters, Craft’s family was honored on the Kenan Stadium field as Mack Brown and Craft’s mother, September, embraced for a long, emotional hug.

Now we fully understand why there were many heavy hearts on the field this afternoon for the UNC football program.

Whenever Tylee Craft was around you could always see him with a smile on his face as he truly loved being a Tar Heel and being a part of the UNC football program. You can see how much his teammates love him just by how much they supported him in this tough battle, a battle he fought with everything he had.

Needless to say, Tylee Craft will be terribly missed, but we will always be #TyleeStrong.

The Keeping It Heel team sends our thoughts and prayers to Tylee Craft’s family, including his UNC football family.