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If confidence means good execution, the Tar Heel defense should be very good this fall.
Despite being picked eighth in the preseason poll following the ACC Media Kickoff, the sixth UNC team for Mack Brown 2.0 is talking a mighty big game. At first, Brown went into training camp quelling expectations, but he can’t seem to help himself. He maintains “we’ve been this close,” but eighth is in the middle of an average league.
Carolina is on its third defensive coordinator in six seasons. Jay Bateman lasted three years and Brown’s old friend Gene Chizik stayed two during which UNC started fast but lost four games at the end of both seasons.
Their newest defensive coordinator, Geoff Collins, has received quite the build-up from Brown.
“He’s coached some of the best defenses that we’ve ever had in college football,” the 72-year-old head coach said on July 25. The best ever? He introduced Bateman and Chizik with lofty platitudes but nothing like that.
For the record, Collins was fired after four years as head coach at Georgia Tech with a 10-28 record and, presumably, was in charge of the Yellow Jackets defense. As for the “best ever” comments, Collins was the DC for two seasons at Mississippi State and two at Florida before he got the head job in Atlanta.
In 2013, the Bulldogs were fifth in the SEC with 350 yards per game allowed and the following year were eighth with 424 yards per game. In 2015 and ’16, Collins’ Gator “D” finished fourth and third in the SEC, not bad but far from a “best ever” defense.”
At Georgia Tech, Collins’ Yellow Jackets defense finished 10th, 14th, 12th and 12th in the ACC. Brown is a great promoter and salesman, but whoever looks up stats for him needs a new pair of glasses or a new job.
“In my entire career it has just been consistent. Success, success, success, success,” Collins said this week. “And then you go through that, and you become very reflective, self-reflective.”
Collins was soundly criticized by his predecessor at Tech Paul Johnson, who in 11 years led the Yellow Jackets to four ACC Coastal Division titles and two 11-win seasons and was named ACC Coach of the Year three times.
Of Collins, Johnson said last February, “He wanted to reinvent history. He just distorted everything when he got there. I will just call a spade a spade. I got no respect from the guy, he acted like we had not won a game and lied about who he inherited.”
At Carolina, the 53-year-old Collins inherited what Brown considers one of his deepest and most talented defenses. His third DC in six years needs to do better than Bateman and Chizik, or he too won’t last very long. “He hopes to be a head coach again,” Brown said, “so he’s got a lot to prove.”
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
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.
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