This weekend marks the arrival of Senior Day for UNC Football, as the Tar Heels prepare to host Western Carolina in what will be the final home game for a group of seniors that have truly experienced college football from all angles.
Players like Chazz Surratt, Michael Carter, and Dazz Newsome won’t get to be with their parents on the field Saturday due to COVID-19. But they do headline a senior class that arrived in Chapel Hill to play for a program on the rise under head coach Larry Fedora.
A rash of injuries and some key departures for the NFL saw the Tar Heels end up winning just five games over their next two seasons. Fedora was fired by the school in 2018 despite the massive buyout clause in his contract, then quickly replaced by Mack Brown — who had given advice to Fedora while spending the previous five seasons working as a TV analyst at ESPN.
These players who found themselves in a situation nothing like the one they were promised, now needed to learn how to become leaders as Brown got to work on the recruiting trail.
Fast forward two years and the Tar Heels have won their first bowl game since 2013, been ranked in the top five and put together one of the most explosive offenses in the country.
“You look at the senior class, they’ve been really, really important to us,” Brown told reporters after practice on Wednesday. “It’s very, very difficult in a transition for them, when coach Fedora and his staff brought them in. And then they had certain offense, certain defense and special teams coaches that they dealt with. Maybe even two or three different ones in some cases, like [redshirt senior cornerback] Patrice Rene. And these guys have really stepped up and done well.”
There was plenty of skepticism when Brown was hired due to his advanced age and having been away from the sidelines for half a decade.
What some did not account for was his intelligence and ability to connect with people. Whether it be recruits and their families, current or former players, the media or the fans, Brown quickly proved he could connect with anybody.
Not only has that charisma helped the Tar Heels attract top flight talent like quarterback Sam Howell, it has also given the fans and the returning players confidence the program is moving back in the right direction.
Senior outside linebacker Tomon Fox — who is now just one sack behind Lawrence Taylor for fifth on the school’s all-time list — said Brown’s infusion of energy has been one of the driving forces behind the quick turnaround.
“Since I’ve been here, the culture has changed a lot,” Fox said. “What stayed the same is just the family atmosphere here. All the players, we play for each other. The same thing with the coaches. Even when the new coach came in, he’s here for us and we’re there for him. As long as we stay together, we know we can overcome any adversity, which we have.
“In two years, we won five games,” he added. “We just had to hunker down and stick to ourselves and then we were able to get wins.”
This weekend’s game against Western Carolina will not count in the ACC standings, but it could be a dominant UNC victory where this senior class can end their Kenan Stadium careers on a high note.
The Tar Heels would move to seven wins on the year with one game remaining, and have already clinched bowl eligibility — an improvement over last season. Close losses to Clemson and Notre Dame over each of the last two years also show the program isn’t too far off from where it wants to be.
The efforts of this senior class are a big reason why.
“The biggest thing that I’ve told them is the opportunities are out there,” Brown said. “Last year, we were sitting here and had to win all the last two games to get to a bowl and they did that. So, we’re in a much different position right now than we were last year and it shows the tremendous progress that we’ve made over a short period of time.”
Photo via ACC Media
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