Amari Gainer

Senior linebacker for North Carolina. 2023: 27 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks.

LB · North Carolina · Sr. · #3

6′4″ · 235 lb · Tallahassee, FL

CFB Index 49 · #295 of 577 LBsHigh confidenceNorth Carolina 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

OLB recruit

No. 239 nationally · Signed with Florida State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for North Carolina. 2023: 27 tackles, 6 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Florida State in 2018.
Transferred from Florida State to North Carolina in 2023.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at North Carolina, 237 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2018

Signed with Florida State4-star out of Lawton Chiles

202311 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#239 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2019–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2019–2023

1 coach

2019–2023

Mack Brown

North Carolina

Played his entire career under Mack Brown.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Florida State6-7HC: Willie Taggart · Balanced

2020Florida State3-6HC: Mike Norvell · Run-leaning

2021Florida State5-7HC: Mike Norvell · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2022Florida State10-3HC: Mike Norvell · Run-leaning

2023North Carolina8-5HC: Mack Brown · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

49Rotational starter #295 of 577?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (85th percentile). Strength: sacks (84th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#397 / 2842 · 85th pct

6.0

Sacks#421 / 2842 · 84th pct

2.5

Passes defended#744 / 2842 · 67th pct

QB hurries#902 / 2842 · 58th pct

Solo tackles#1244 / 2842 · 55th pct

Tackles#1465 / 2842 · 47th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2023 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	2.3	0.7	0.3	0.3
Road5g	2.6	0.4	0.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.8	0.6	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	2.2	0.5	0.1	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bill Belichick

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

49 · #295 of 577 LBs

Former four-star. Now #295 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	North Carolina	27	17	6.0	2.5	2	--	--
2022	Florida State	17	7	1.5	1.0	--	--	--
2021	Florida State	59	24	5.5	1.0	2	--	--
2020	Florida State	65	36	5.0	0.5	--	--	--
2019	Florida State	69	31	7.0	3.5	--	--	--
Career		237	115	25.0	8.5	4	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2023

W 41–31

vs Miami

4 TOT · 4 SOLO · 1 TFL

Edged out Miami at home in a shootout.

With D. Maye — 273 yds · 4 TD · 0 INT · QBR 70.4 · 10 rush yds (10 car) · O. Hampton — 197 rush yds (24 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 31-17vs South Carolina	2	2	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 3	W 31-13vs Minnesota	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 41-24@ Pittsburgh	3	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 41-31vs Miami	4	4	1.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 8	L 27-31vs Virginia	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	L 42-46@ Georgia Tech	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 59-7vs Campbell	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 11	W 47-45vs Duke	1	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 20-31@ Clemson	4	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 20-39@ NC State	2	0	1.0	0.5	—	0
Bowl	L 10-30@ West Virginia	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		27	17	6.0	2.5	—	2

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology