In head coach Larry Fedora’s third year at the helm of the North Carolina football team, the Tar Heels finished with a 6-7 record – the first losing campaign for UNC since 2007. Following a lethargic bowl loss to Rutgers, where is the football program headed?

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It would take a beaming optimist to project much success for the Tar Heels in 2015. Things don’t look good.

Coach Fedora will have some soul searching to do in the offseason for a number of reasons other than the disappointing finish to the season that saw the Tar Heels get outscored 75-28 in their final two games.

Quinshad Davis was loaded on a stretcher in the bowl game - will miss spring practice (UNC Athletics)

Quinshad Davis was loaded on a stretcher in the bowl game – will miss spring practice (UNC Athletics)

“We’ll pick everything apart. We’ll pick every player apart. We’ll look at every player we’ve got. We’ll look at every play that they played and what their problems were and what their mistakes were. We’ll do it with offense, defense and special teams. We’ll do it with each and every unit and then we will determine what was good, what wasn’t good, why it wasn’t good, how we get corrected. It’s what you do each and every year,” Coach Fedora says.

The most concerning issue for Carolina may be the penalties. UNC was one of the most penalized teams in the nation, collecting 93 penalties in the regular season alone. It’s tough to point to one glaring issue either. The yellow flags have come from everywhere on the field for a multitude of infractions.

Not to mention, it was a historically awful year for a Carolina defense that routinely surrendered north of 40 points per contest and was gashed in every way possible, including a whopping five yards per opponent rushing attempt. Yikes!

Many players have voiced their frustration with the complexity of learning the 4-2-5 system scheme employed by recently fired defensive coordinator Vic Koenning. But yet the Tar Heels didn’t change anything for the bowl game in Koenning’s absence.

Photo courtesy of The Daily Tar Heel

Photo courtesy of The Daily Tar Heel

Will Coach Fedora and whoever the new defensive coordinator ends up being see fit to move over to a more comfortable 4-3 formation moving forward?

An even better question may be how will the coaching staff build excitement and energy heading into spring ball with no momentum and a team that seems more divided than ever? (Just take a look at some of the honest, but pointed comments from senior safety Tim Scott, junior QB Marquise Williams and sophomore receiver Ryan Switzer in the locker room in Detroit last week!)

Luckily for Carolina, there may be a glimmer of hope. A majority of the team will be returning next fall, including an infusion of a few highly-touted recruits like talented New Bern cornerback Mike Hughes.

But for now, it’s clear the Tar Heels have hit close to rock bottom. The question is…can they pick themselves back up?