Who’s the Next Mack Hollins? UNC Spring Practice Provides Springboard

Spring football practice can serve as a springboard to fall success. Carolina football saw that last season when unheralded walk-on receiver Mack Hollins took advantage of his offseason opportunities to transform into a difference-maker on game days. Who will be this year’s Mack Hollins?

***Listen to the story***

“You’re seeing them get better and better each day as a unit. They’ve played together. They know each other. I don’t have the same concerns that I had last year,” UNC head coach Larry Fedora says.

A year older and a year wiser, the UNC offensive line is shaping up to provide better protection to quarterbacks Marquise Williams and Mitch Trubisky this fall.

Marquise WIlliams breaks free with the ball (Keepingitheel.com)

That’s welcome news to Williams, who’s still nursing a hip injury and hopes to be afforded more time to find one of his talented receivers downfield.

The most glaring weakness for the Tar Heels in 2014 was the bruised and battered defense. Armed with new defensive coordinator Gene Chizik, all eyes will be on the much-maligned UNC unit.

But Coach Fedora says he likes the improvements he’s been seeing out on Navy Field.

“[Dajuan] Drennon’s doing a really nice job. [Jeff] Shoettmer has picked up right where he left off. He’s a very intelligent guy. Shakeel Rashad has taken a lot of pressure off himself. He’s slid back to linebacker and has done a really nice job adjusting there. Donnie Miles has done a nice job adjusting from the Ram back to a safety,” Coach Fedora says.

With fresh defensive schemes being applied by Coach Chizik, veterans and rookies alike are embracing the learning process, soaking up a new philosophy from a national championship-winning coach. But that’s not always an easy process.

“Right now, they’re learning new techniques, new philosophy and new schemes. There’s a little bit of thought process involved with them,” Coach Fedora says.

Part of the intrigue to this time of the year is the unknown. Who will be the next star performer to step up and emerge out of the shadows and into the spotlight in Kenan Stadium on Saturdays?

Coach Fedora takes a crack at a few guys who have the potential to step out of obscurity and into the vocabulary of Carolina fans everywhere.

Kenan Stadium game day (Daily Tar Heel)

“Damien Washington is getting a ton of reps right now which is helping him. Thomas Jackson, who’s a walk-on kid, is doing a great job and making a lot of plays out there. The young kids that we’re redshirting are getting a bunch of reps. Juval Mollette, who’s one of the early enrollees, is getting a bunch of reps. They are all getting valuable reps that are going to pay off for them next fall,” Coach Fedora says.

But it’s not just coaches and players who’ve been hitting the practice fields in Chapel Hill. Upon invitation from Coach Fedora, UNC professors are turning up in droves to check out their students’ ‘other classroom.’

“The professors see them in a different classroom. This is our classroom out here. They get to see how we teach them. It’s a little bit different than the way they teach in the classroom. We can just keep repping it until we get it right. They don’t get that opportunity,” Coach Fedora says.

If the football field is the classroom, then it’s lecture and study time right now. And who knows, if the teachers and students dole out and absorb the material, those fall exams might just become a breeze.

‹

UNC Football Single Game Tickets Go On Sale Monday

Beginning on Monday at 9 a.m., single-game UNC football tickets for the 2021 season will be available to the general public. Season tickets have already sold out according to the school, as the Tar Heels look to meet the high expectations awaiting them for the upcoming campaign. Limited quantities are available, with pricing starting at […]

Sam Howell Selected to Davey O'Brien Award Watch List

Preseason accolades continue to roll in for UNC junior quarterback Sam Howell, who was named earlier this week to the watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award. Howell was one of 30 players on this year’s watch list for an award which has been presented annually to the top quarterback in the country since 1981. […]

Ty Chandler Selected to Watch List for Doak Walker Award

Ahead of his first year with the Tar Heels, Tennessee running back transfer Ty Chandler was named Wednesday to the watch list for the Doak Walker Award. The award is presented the top running back in college football. Chandler arrives in Chapel Hill ranked fifth in Tennessee history with 3,245 all-purpose yards — 2,015 of […]

Former UNC Kicker Noah Ruggles Transferring to Ohio State

Through a post on Instagram earlier this week, former UNC kicker Noah Ruggles announced he has accepted a scholarship offer to take over the kicking position at Ohio State. Ruggles will join the Buckeyes as a graduate transfer with two years of eligibility remaining — filling a desperate need on special teams for one of […]

Kick-Off Times and TV Info Revealed for Five UNC Football Games

The UNC football program revealed Thursday that it has received the game times and TV information for five games in the upcoming 2021 season. First is the season opener in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech, which will kick off at 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 3 and air on ESPN. The Tar Heels then move on […]

UNC Agrees to Home-and-Home Football Series With South Carolina

UNC announced Monday that it has agreed to a home-and-home football series against South Carolina, with the games set to take place during the 2028 and 2029 seasons. The first of the two games will happen in Columbia, SC on Sept. 2, 2028. South Carolina will then make the return trip to Kenan Stadium for […]

New York Jets Select Michael Carter In Fourth Round of NFL Draft

Day Three of this year’s NFL Draft began very similar to Day Two, with a Tar Heel running back taken off the board early–as the New York Jets selected Michael Carter with the second pick of the afternoon and 107th overall. Carter’s partner in the UNC backfield last season, Javonte Williams, was taken with the […]

Javonte Williams Selected No. 35 in NFL Draft by Denver

UNC junior running back Javonte Williams became the first Tar Heel off the board in this year’s NFL Draft on Friday night, as the Denver Broncos selected him in the second round with the No. 35 overall pick. Williams ran for 2,297 yards and 29 touchdowns during his three years at UNC, including setting a […]

Washington Football Team Selects Dyami Brown in Third Round of NFL Draft

In the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft, the Washington Football Team used the 82nd overall pick on UNC junior wide receiver Dyami Brown. Brown spent each of the last two seasons as the top deep threat for UNC quarterback Sam Howell, and became the first UNC receiver to ever post back-to-back seasons of […]

UNC Football Game at Notre Dame to be Nationally Televised in Prime Time

The UNC football program announced Thursday that its game at Notre Dame on Oct. 30 will be nationally televised on NBC in prime time at 7:30 p.m. It is likely to be one of the toughest games of the season for the Tar Heels, who are expected to begin the year among the top 15 […]

›