On August 7, 2020, Fox retired as the head baseball coach of the Tar Heels, and Forbes was named his successor.
[2] Forbes' tenure as the Tar Heels head coach got off to a hot start, going 6–0 before suffering their first loss to the Virginia Cavaliers on February 28, 2021.
[3] On April 12, against rival Duke, Forbes' Tar Heels routed the Blue Devils by scoring 21 runs, the most in a game since a win against Virginia Tech in 2013.
The team made it to the Lubbock Regional of the NCAA tournament (hosted by Texas Tech University) where they upset UCLA before ultimately being eliminated in the double-elimination bracket.
Centerfielder Vance Honeycutt, the Tar Heels' freshman phenom, excelled early, hitting two home runs in his collegiate debut.
[6] The month of May saw a dramatic upswing in the Tar Heels' fortunes, and put Forbes' team back in the hunt for a potential NCAA tournament bid.