Expectations have never been higher for the UNC football program heading into the third year of head coach Mack Brown’s second tenure.
This Saturday at Kenan Stadium marks the annual spring game, which will deliver the first look at this year’s Tar Heels–a group confident they can live up to the hype.
With attendance limited to just more than 11,000 fans, or 22 percent capacity, for Saturday, tickets sold out quickly for what will be the first spring game UNC has held since 2019 due to the pandemic.
The Tar Heels are coming off of a season in which they went 8-4 and made the program’s first major bowl appearance since 1950— a thrilling Orange Bowl loss to No. 5 Texas A&M.
Of the 22 players who started that game against the Aggies, only wide receiver Dazz Newsome is not back for 2021.
Junior quarterback Sam Howell has even received preseason Heisman Trophy buzz, an award no UNC player has ever won. Another highly-touted recruiting class has also mostly arrived on campus already, as Brown seeks to create the kind of elite-level depth needed to compete at the sport’s highest levels.
Because so many of last year’s starters are returning, the Hall-of-Famer told reporters after practice on Tuesday the focus of the spring game is to evaluate the newcomers and the rest of the roster.
“More than anything else, we’re not looking at schemes right now as much as we’re looking at personnel,” Brown said. “And even in the spring game, we will not have game plans. We’re not going to sit there and [offensive coordinator] Phil [Longo] and [defensive coordinator] Jay [Bateman] aren’t going to work against each other to figure out how they can move the ball or stop it. We are totally looking at people.”
Notably missing from the field this spring are the running back duo of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter, deep threat receiver Dyami Brown and linebacker Chazz Surratt. Each of those players are expected to be selected in next week’s NFL Draft.
Linebacker Eugene Asante, however, turned in a strong performance in place of Surratt at the Orange Bowl, while receiver Josh Downs did the same in place of Brown. Both are expected to make a huge leap into bigger roles this season.
Carolina may have a solution at running back too. The Tar Heels have added Tennessee transfer Ty Chandler to fill the gaping hole left by Williams and Carter.
With that in mind, the Carolina program is still widely expected to be among the top 15 teams in the country to begin the season.
As for where the team’s focus lies, Brown said Tuesday that he’s never seen the energy for 12 straight practices that he has with this group so far during the spring.
He also said he was impressed with what he heard from Howell and senior linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel when he asked them to address the team after practice—as they gave insight into the mindset the Tar Heels are looking to carry into the fall.
“They talked more about confidence than the Orange Bowl,” Brown said. “People are still talking about all the people we’ve lost. They’re talking about, that gives them a little bit of a chip on the shoulder moving forward because they shouldn’t be talking about what we’ve lost. They should be talking about how good this team’s going to be next year.”
Photo via Matthew Fedder (UNC Athletics)
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