Marblehead native Miles O’Neill has signed with the University of North Carolina Tarheels and will play for UNC coach Bill Belichick, according to several national reports. O’Neill grew up watching Belichick coach the New England Patriots.
O’Neill saw limited playing time as a backup quarterback with Texas A&M in 2025. The Aggies’ season ended Dec. 20 when they lost to the Miami Hurricanes in a first-round playoff game.
On Jan. 2, the transfer portal opened up for college football players, and O’Neill wasted no time to sign on with the Tar Heels four days later. The former Magician has a solid football background to give him the confidence that it takes to go from one Division 1 school to another. He played three years in the MHS football program. During his junior campaign, he led the Magicians to an 8-2 record, completing 152-of-210 passes (72.3%) for 2,181 yards and 23 touchdowns to earn All-Northeastern Conference honors. With that self-assurance now brewing, he was ready to bet on himself to transfer to the prestigious Hun School of Princeton, New Jersey, where he was chosen the 2023 New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year after leading the Raiders to the Mid-Atlantic Prep School championship.
It all led him to Texas A&M, where he played in seven games in 2025, completing seven passes out of 14 attempts for 120 yards and one touchdown. It’s now onto the Tar Heels. UNC ended up 4-8 in Belichick’s first year along the collegiate sidelines, while the Aggies were 7-1 in the SEC, and 11-2 overall this year.
As anybody can see, O’Neill is certainly not afraid to move in order to put himself in the best position possible to succeed, and one of his former Marblehead teammates understands what drives him in his athletic pursuits.
Crew Monaco was one year behind him in the Magicians program, when O’Neill turned in those impressive statistics as a junior. Monaco, now at the Kent School in Connecticut hoping for his own opportunity to play college football, said of his former teammate: “I think this is a great opportunity for him to play under one of the best coaches all-time, especially at a phenomenal school like UNC. I think he’ll definitely succeed there, for sure.”
Monaco was a pass-catching threat in coach Jim Rudloff’s system during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Both he and Colt Wales were captains of the team in their senior year. But he admits he learned a lot from O’Neill as a first-year sophomore varsity player.
“Although I only played with Miles for a year, I saw that he was a hardworking leader. He’d push us to be our best, and was definitely passionate about his craft, which has obviously paid off for him tremendously. He’s definitely doing great things now,” said Monaco. “We had only wished that he would have stayed at MHS for his senior year, but he ended up having an unbelievable year at the Hun School. I’m happy that everything has worked out for him, and am excited to see what lies ahead for him in the future.”
Nobody can ever say that Miles O’Neill is afraid of challenges. He’s willing to go wherever he needs to be to get to that final destination. In the meantime, it’s that journey along the way that’s only adding to his experiences to make that dream come true, no doubt in professional football.
