Unfriendly foes are singing a swoon song for UNC Athletics.
Carolina has arguably one of the best athletic programs in all of collegiate sports, a regular high-finisher in the annual Learfield Directors Cup.
The Tar Heels have long been representative in football and a powerhouse in basketball. But their highest regard comes mostly from dominating Olympic sports with more ACC and national championships than any other ACC school. Not even close.
But these things tend to go in cycles and right now critics are claiming UNC is on a downward trend.
For example, field hockey won three straight NCAA titles, and that couldn’t possibly go on forever. It didn’t as those Tar Heels won another ACC tournament but dropped their first NCAA game.
While women and men’s soccer continue to be national contenders, both also had ignominious ousters from the 2021 NCAA tournaments, the women losing at home to unranked South Carolina and the men dropping their second-round game at New Hampshire.
Football did not come close to meeting its preseason expectations and ended the regular season with a shocking loss at NC State after apparently having the game won.
Men’s basketball is coached by a non-Hall of Famer for only the second time since 1952. The team is not necessarily in a rebuilding mode, but is still trying to blend a new roster together after six games.
This, of course, is only the fall and early winter sports report.
Lesser marquee teams like cross-country, fencing, swimming and volleyball (which capped its regular season with a five-set win at Duke) are doing well. And the conclusion of the winter sport seasons (incuding a 6-0 start for women’s basketball) and the spring, with perennial powers in lacrosse, may turn the tide back in UNC’s usual direction.
Carolina has had head coaches well into their senior years, three currently who are Hall of Famers with national championships. Someday they will all be succeeded by younger coaches with steep climbs to match the results of their legendary predecessors.
Time will tell if this is merely a temporary swoon or a more accurate indication of what lies ahead.
Photo via ACC Media.
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