The Spire

Aiden Konold ’26

Chief Sports Editor

Nearly a year removed from snapping the football to Joe Pesansky, Christo Kelly lines up across from Peter Pesansky, Joe’s younger brother. Peter is a defensive lineman at Christo’s newest destination, the University of North Carolina. Christo, who spent the first five years of his collegiate football career at Holy Cross, was the first player that North Carolina’s new head coach, Bill Belichick, signed out of the transfer portal. 

Now, in late April, as the temperatures in Chapel Hill remain in the high 70s and low 80s, Christo wakes up every day and laughs to himself because of how grateful he is to have the opportunity to play for the Tar Heels. But when he first entered the transfer portal on November 25, 2024, Christo was uncertain where his path would lead. 

Shortly after he signed the necessary paperwork to enter the portal, but before he had the chance to post anything to his various social media accounts, Christo headed to the Holy Cross football coaches’ offices from his Figge dorm room to return the Patriot League co-champions trophy. After Christo and his teammates defeated the Georgetown Hoyas in DC on Nov. 23 by a score of 34-0, Holy Cross earned at least a share of the Patriot League title for the fifth time in Christo’s five years here and Christo and his roommates brought the trophy back with them to their Figge dorm room. 

At Holy Cross, whether it be on the field, in the weight room, or in the classroom, Christo was always pushed beyond what he may have thought his limitations were. 

“If you want to get better, if you want to be the person you want to be, you have to face challenges, you have to face adversity in some shape or form,” Christo reflects of his time at Holy Cross. “Leaning into that and using that as a tool, as a kind of superpower, is what was ingrained in us at Holy Cross.” 

Even as Christo was kept off the field in the COVID-shortened spring season of 2021 during his freshman year and as he appeared in just four games as a reserve offensive lineman in his sophomore season, his coaches told him that he had to earn everything. 

“Every day you wake up, you haven’t earned anything, so you have to go out every day and earn it,” the Holy Cross coaches continually told Christo. “You can’t get caught up in the future, you just have to keep stacking days.” 

Each day, Christo woke up with a fire in his belly, ready to maximize everything that he did. In his lifts, no matter the visible gains he made each day, Christo knew that the work he put in would eventually lead him to the level he wanted to reach. 

In his junior season, Christo saw the field 10 times, including a start against South Dakota State in the FCS playoffs. Christo’s efforts earned him the team’s Unsung Hero award. 

A year later, Christo earned 10 starts at center, all the while he explored opportunities to develop as a leader on and off the field. During practices, lifts, and games, Christo implored his teammates to give everything they had and push beyond what they originally thought was possible. Off the field, Christo represented his teammates in his role as the vice president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

“As student-athletes, we have such a unique platform to be able to do good for others and really just be role models within the community and the communities that surround it,” Christo says. “And I’ve been fortunate to work with so many great organizations and so many great people at Holy Cross.” 

Christo’s service inspired his teammates to do much of the same, particularly sophomores Will Robinson and Cam Jones, who bumped into Christo earlier this year at the 2025 Uplifting Athletes Leadership Development Conference in Philadelphia, Pa. Even this past year, as Christo cemented himself as a cornerstone of the Holy Cross football program, serving as a team captain and starting at center in all 12 games, he continued to give back through groups such as Uplifting Athletes, Be the Match, and Cures for Kids. 

His efforts landed him a spot on Allstate’s AFCA Good Works Team. Christo was one of just 22 student-athletes nationwide who earned this honor. 

In the classroom, Christo’s attention to detail landed him a spot on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll from 2020-2023, and in his fifth year in 2024, he earned Academic All-Patriot League honors. Christo, who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in dance last year, was a hot commodity as soon as he entered the transfer portal. Not only does Christo have the athleticism and work ethic to play center at the highest of levels, but his commitment to his studies and the greater community offered programs a stand-up citizen. 

After he returned the Patriot League Championship Trophy to the Holy Cross coaches’ offices back in November, Christo caught up with some of his coaches, including first-year head coach Dan Curran and first-year offensive line coach Patrick Denecke. But as soon as Christo headed out to return to his dorm room about an hour later, he checked his phone and noticed a flurry of notifications. Now that Christo was officially in the portal, college coaches from all across the country sent him texts and messages imploring him to check out their program. 

It was the first time in over five years that Christo had to figure out where to go next. But no matter how overwhelming the process was, Christo remained focused on what he really wanted out of his next destination: a place where he could develop his talents as an athlete, but also a school where he could develop into the fully rounded person that he desired to become. 

“Overall, I was pretty diligent with who I was spending my time with,” Christo says. “And in terms of taking visits, where I was going, I wanted to make sure that we weren’t wasting each other’s time.” 

Christo visited the University of Buffalo, an FBS team that the Crusaders beat in the fall of 2022. He loved the coaches there, especially the offensive line coach, Matt Stansfield, who is friends with Coach Deneke. He also talked to James Madison’s head coach Bob Chesney, who was Christo’s coach at Holy Cross for four years. Chris Smith, the offensive line coach at James Madison, coached Christo his first three years on the Hill. 

“Coach Smith has made one of the largest impacts on my life,” Christo reflects. “Both on the football field, in the classroom, as a person, Coach Smith is a person that I wouldn’t be where I am today without him, I can say that with 100% certainty. I mean, he’s really made such an impact on my life and I’m so grateful for that.” 

But Christo didn’t let the personal connections he had to Buffalo and James Madison distract him from the perfect destination. Just as he had at Holy Cross, Christo remained focused on the tasks ahead of him. 

“Finding a team, finding a program that could both help me develop as a football player, but not only that, but as a person on and off the field,” Christo says of the type of school he wanted his next destination to be. “So [those were] kind of my parameters. Honestly, as I kind of got more and more into conversations with coaches, with teams, the vision for me became pretty clear in terms of what I was looking for.” 

Nearly a week after the University of North Carolina announced that Bill Belichick would take over as the program’s next head coach, a representative from the Tar Heels’ football program reached out to Christo expressing their interest in having him join their program. 

When North Carolina first contacted Christo, he was on his way from Holy Cross to his home in Wilmette, Ill. one last time, but he soon visited Chapel Hill with his dad, Brendan. 

“It just had everything that you could possibly want,” Christo says of what he thought of UNC after he first visited. “Coaches who were committed to building a winning program and having a winning culture. And obviously, there’s no one better than Coach Belichick. And when I got the opportunity, it was perfect. You know, there’s no other way to explain it, sort of like love at first sight in a way.” 

Christo committed on the spot. A short while later, he posted his decision to commit to UNC on his Instagram and X accounts with pictures of him signing his letter of intent as Coach Belichick stood behind him. Christo’s unwavering commitment to the process led him to a place where he will have the opportunity to earn two master’s degrees: one in winning courtesy of Coach Belichick, the other in business administration (MBA) from the Kenan-Flagler Business School, where Christo will begin classes in August. 

But Christo has already started working towards his master’s degree in winning. Starting on March 4 and culminating on Saturday, April 12, the final day of 2025 spring practices, Christo practiced with his teammates on Tuesday and Saturday mornings and in the late afternoon on Wednesdays with four lifts scheduled in between. 

“He coaches everybody the same, he holds everybody to the same standard no matter who you are,” Christo says of Coach Belichick. “The standard’s the standard. If you’re not doing it right, you’re not doing it right.” 

And after each team meeting, Christo returns to his room with a notebook full of detailed notes, ranging from where his inside foot should be when pass protecting to where he should be positioned so that he can redirect himself quickly. 

As far as the games this fall against ACC opponents go? Christo can’t help but echo his new head coach, and the approach that has led him to where he’s at now. 

“There’ll be a time to think about that stuff, you know, as we’re game planning and prepping and whatnot,” Christo says. “But we’re just taking it one day at a time.”

Featured image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics