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The new special teams coach needs to be special.
Mike Priefer is the only member of the new football program who has a connection to Carolina’s last ACC championship and is more familiar with Chapel Hill than anyone else on the staff, including the head coach who lived here as a toddler.
Priefer’s father was an assistant coach for Dick Crum from 1978 to 1983, including the 1980 team that went 11-1 and took home the ACC title, which has eluded the six head coaches since then.
Priefer attended St. Thomas More, Phillips Junior High and Chapel Hill High School, sold game programs around the Bell Tower and then went on the field as a ball boy. He never met Belichick before his official interview but spent 21 seasons with six NFL teams and played against the Hoodie about 10 times, winning one of those games.
Priefer, 59, was named the NFL 2011 Special Teams Coach of the Year with the Vikings, preaching toughness, technique and desire that he is doing here.
“It was not only the chance to work for Coach Belichick but also to come back to Chapel Hill, which is a special place,” he said. “It was a great combination that I couldn’t pass up.”
New UNC special teams coordinator Mike Priefer. (Image via UNC Athletic Communications)
Priefer attended a lettermen’s dinner in the spring and visited with some of those immortal players who 45 years ago finished first in the ACC and won the Bluebonnet Bowl over Texas, 16-7.
After watching tape, he knows the Tar Heel special teams under Mack Brown did some things well but has to make the kickoff, field goal and punting units better and help the so-called 33rd NFL franchise look a lot like they all do on Sundays.
“We talked about the successes we’ve had with special teams in the NFL and trying to bring that to the collegiate environment,” Priefer said. “The schemes will be a little different, and the players are much younger, so we have to cover the fundamentals and techniques more often.”
He said player development is the most important aspect of special teams on the college and pro level, and the almost all-new 2025 Tar Heels “understand that and are buying in.”
Priefer explains to his players that if they want more time on the field they can do it on special teams and then get the same chance on offense or defense. As Belichick says, nothing will be given and everything has to be earned.
He said that conversation starts with recruits that if they come to Carolina they are going to be developed as a player and a person. Belichick “wanted to bring that to special teams, and that’s what I can provide.”
Priefer says there are some good special team players already here who give good effort and did have some success. “I don’t think they were terrible, but there are some things they can do better,” Priefer said. “And I love teaching football.”
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
