From fishing to the football field, tight end Bryson Nesbit brings consistency to UNC

Before summer football meetings begin at 6:30 a.m., Bryson Nesbit often treks outside with a fishing pole in hand to reach his happy place. 

During the offseason, the senior tight end turned to fishing as an outlet to find an escape from the constant grind of college football. 

“I just love being out there,” he said. “Love going by myself — just me and my thoughts.”

Nesbit is coming off his best season yet at UNC, finishing with the most receiving yards by a tight end in the conference. While he only started two games, he ended last year with 585 yards and five touchdowns on 41 receptions, earning first-team All-ACC honors. On Aug. 9, Nesbit was named to the John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List for the second year in a row, an award given to the top collegiate tight end, along with John Copenhaver. With preseason training and those mindful fishing trips behind him, the tight end is looking to build on those stats during his highly-anticipated senior campaign. 

Nesbit has been fishing longer than he has been playing the sport of football. In fact, his parents wouldn’t allow him to compete in the one sport he plays at UNC for most of his childhood. Even though his dad played football at the collegiate and NFL level, Nesbit mostly stuck to basketball until the later part of high school. 

“For me, my family was just super big into CT and head injuries and just trying to prevent that for as long as we could,” Nesbit said. “With my dad, he did the same thing — he started playing his sophomore and junior year and it saved him a lot of hits.”

Once he started, he didn't look back, and it didn’t take long for him to get acclimated to the sport. Tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens said Nesbit's football IQ is off the charts.

“It's the ability to put the ball in the end zone,” Kitchens said. “There’s not many people in the field that can do that, and he’s definitely one of them. [He has] the ability to do a little bit of everything really well.”

But heading into his fourth season at North Carolina, Nesbit will have a new challenge: getting used to a new offense and a new quarterback — possibly three — under center. 

However, head coach Mack Brown knows what type of a player he has in Nesbit, emphasizing the need to get him the ball despite the plethora of offensive weapons at UNC's disposal.

“Bryson Nesbit is a different type [of player],” Brown said. “So he needs a certain amount of touches during the game.”

Not only is he prioritizing being one of the top tight ends in college football, but Nesbit is also stepping into a new leadership role this year with the absence of graduated stars. 

As one of the most experienced in a tight end room filled with talented younger guys — ranking third best in college football, according to On3 — Nesbit will have to step up and take a different leadership role in 2024 compared to years past.

“I think the past couple of years I’ve been trying to lead through my actions,” Nesbit said before starting this senior season. “I think the big jump this year for me is to turn that more vocally with me being one of the oldest guys in the tight end room this year.”

Now, he is not only focused on adjusting to his new role as a leader, but also on his own consistency on the field, just like his routine mornings by the water with his fishing rod.

“What I would like, and [what] he will do, is continue to be the guy — the same guy — every day,” Kitchens said. “That’s one thing we stress in our rooms: be the same guy every day. I think that’s what you get. He’s the epitome of that.”

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