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Max Johnson was at the beginning of everything.
When Johnson transferred to UNC from Texas A&M after spending two seasons at LSU, he thought he had found his permanent home. His father, former NFL quarterback Brad Johnson, liked Mack Brown who was Max’s new coach.
Brown needed a capable quarterback after having NFL Draft choices Sam Howell and Drake Maye leading his program. Though both started as freshmen (Maye as a redshirt), Max had the experience and talent to win the starting job.
He did and took the field for UNC’s first possession of the 2024 season at Minnesota. Carolina won the game on the Gophers’ missed field goal as time expired, but Johnson had left early in the third quarter with what looked like serious leg injury.
It turned out to be more than serious.
Johnson had broken two bones, one the femur that kept him in a Minneapolis hospital for more than two weeks through two surgeries. You could have said accurately that the Tar Heels’ season, against a soft schedule, was pretty much over.
Brown had two other quarterbacks who could and would play. But neither Conner Harrell nor Jacolby Criswell was major-college caliber, and the Tar Heels finished 6-7 for the second time in Brown’s second tenure in Chapel Hill.
Who knows what would have happened had Johnson not been injured and missed the season. The groan from alumni and fans grew as Brown’s team lost its last three games, including a fourth straight to N.C. State. He was ousted unceremoniously and the search for a new coach began.
Athletic director Bubba Cunningham talked to young candidates who might see coming to Chapel Hill as an upgrade. He got little interest, perhaps because Brown was fired before the State game when he deserved a departure more worthy of a coach who had resurrected Carolina football twice over the last 20 years.
Brown is a Hall of Famer and highly respected mentor to dozens of coaches around the country. It is fair speculation that the way he was treated – while both he and UNC deserve equal blame – turned off some coaches Cunningham was trying to engage.
On the road, Bubba learned that Bill Belichick was serious about the job and, ironically, he may have been the only realistic candidate when the search ended suddenly.
Meanwhile, Johnson had returned to Chapel Hill to heal and begin his rehabilitation, which would take another year and include the possibility and fear of amputation. Fortunately, doctors and trainers saved the leg and today Max is back in the quarterback room competing to play under a new coach.
Belichick told Johnson to get better and compete for the job, which now seems to favor fellow lefthander and transfer Gio Lopez.
“Max has made tremendous progress, but it’s the last 20 percent between not being able to play and really being ready, which is where he is right now,” Belichick said over the weekend as the story continues.
Featured image via Associated Press/Abbie Parr
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.
