Virginia Tech defensive tackle Ricky Walker (8) and defensive end Trevon Hill (94) sack UNC quarterback Chazz Surratt (12). (AP Photo/Don Petersen)
Carolina football is officially in early spring practice.
Only one, very small positive exists about a season like the Tar Heels are having. If the inexperienced players on their roster are any good, they are getting ready to make an impact ahead of schedule. So with a fifth straight bowl bid off the table, Larry Fedora is obviously looking to make sure this disaster never happens again.
Look, it wasn’t going to be pretty even if the list of injuries was not unprecedented. Carolina lost players a year early, like Elijah Hood and Mitch Trubisky, along with a solid senor class. So it loomed a rebuilding job anyway. How the season began with close losses to Cal and Louisville and scoring 65 points was something to build on.
Then the injury list grew out of control and Fedora was left with young guys and a few graduate student transfers, not exactly the core of a winning football program. In the next five ACC losses, Carolina managed to score a total of 55 points, ten fewer than in the first two games.
So at 1-7 and with four games to go, the final record really doesn’t matter now. What matters is how the 2018 Heels do, and now is the time to start building for that turnaround. The attitude toward the players is that you are all now competing for jobs next season. The attitude toward recruits is, obviously, we need your help right away. The attitude towards the fan base and ticket holders is an assurance that next year will be much different.
That is Fedora’s sales pitch, along with shoring up his staff, because winning any of the last three ACC games against Miami, at Pitt and at N.C. State is unlikely. But if his anemic offense can start protecting the quarterback and improve run blocking and his defense can continue building the confidence it has shown in recent weeks, the last month of the season could be a great run-up toward spring practice.
These kinds of seasons are tough on everyone, but they can be overcome. Michigan State went 3-9 last year, and the Spartans are back in contention for the Big Ten title, as usual. That can happen here, too, if 2018 becomes the priority now for everyone.
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