Mack Brown is caught between a rock and a hard place.
He was already losing three of his very best players for the Orange Bowl appearance that should be respected far more than it is. But this is the COVID season and nothing is quite the same.
Then, over the weekend, junior Javonte Williams told Brown that he, too, was opting out of the trip to Miami and entering the NFL draft. Mack said Williams and his family made the decision, but we know other people and opinions were also involved.
Part of Brown’s conundrum is that he has rebuilt the UNC program faster than he expected, thanks to three good recruiting classes. And he doesn’t dare try to sway a player into staying for the bowl game.
“It will probably hurt us Saturday night,” he said of losing future NFL draft picks, “but it will help us in the long run. It will pay dividends although it doesn’t seem like that right now.”
Brown’s been in college coaching for 45 years and seen a lot ebb and flow. He’s not in the position of, say, Nick Saban because Carolina is still climbing the mountain and could slip back with a wrong move that hurts recruiting. So he knows agents are involved in decisions for players to opt out, but won’t say it.
His resolve to “not take losses as hard” as he used to could be put to the test in Miami, where without any running game left the Tar Heels might very well get blown out by fifth-ranked Texas A&M. If so, it would seem futile to work hard to qualify for a game they can’t win.
Brown favors expanding the College Football Playoff to six or eight, because no one from the final four football teams has opted out. Guess playing in a New Year’s 6 bowl doesn’t mean that much.
Here is one idea he could suggest to juniors who are eligible for the NFL draft and deciding whether to turn pro early. Ask them to wait until after the bowl game; if they play well in the biggest spotlight, they could end their college careers and command more money.
Should they get hurt, they still have the option to come back for their senior seasons and further improve their draft rank.
It’s telling that an A&M player offered during an interview that he didn’t think any of his teammates were going to quit (opt out of OB) on the team.