Was Phil Longo looking, hired away or asked to leave?

Yesterday, we talked about the Carolina defense and how it could be weakened moving forward by losses to the transfer portal. That unit has been shredded for years, including the four in Mack Brown’s return.

Today, it is the offense. Coordinator Phil Longo has taken the same position at Wisconsin under new head coach Luke Fickell, who will get the perfunctory grace period while rebuilding that Big Ten program.

Longo has developed a great reputation for his so-called air-raid offense, run by star quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye in his four years in Chapel Hill. But a look under the hood tells more than the massive yardage numbers and points the Tar Heels have put up.

The Heels were certainly explosive between the 20-yard lines, but their red zone efficiency fell off dramatically over the last few games, all losses. Sure, some commentators will tell you how much harder it is to turn possessions inside the 20 and especially inside the 10 into touchdowns because the field shrinks so much.

That is where Longo and offensive line coach Jack Bicknell, who is going along to Madison, have taken the most heat among the fans and especially inside the walls of the Kenan Football Center. Maye’s poor pass from the Clemson 5, which turned into the game-deciding pick 6, is the most memorable failure, but there were three other trips to the shadow of the Tigers’ goal line that resulted in no points.

For the last two seasons, UNC hasn’t had a running game close to what Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, both in the NFL, produced. But, like Ty Chandler last year, Elijah Green is not chopped liver. A good OC with a dual threat QB figures out how to score down there.

The poor play of the offensive line, especially on the right side, was a continuing problem for Bicknell, who has coached in both college and the NFL. Notre Dame was the first team to blow up Carolina’s blocking schemes. That was also the formula for Georgia Tech and NC State to sack Maye eight times and hold UNC to 9 for 34 on third downs during upsets in Kenan Stadium.

So Brown has lost his coordinators in successive seasons who both had guaranteed, high six-figure contracts that are mitigated by Bateman moving to Florida and Longo to Wisconsin.

Four days from the last game and 3 weeks to the bowl, Mack must figure out how to get enough points to beat high-scoring Oregon.

 

Featured image via Inside Carolina/Jim Hawkins

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