Sam Howell has yet to play his first snap for North Carolina, but his teammates have already gravitated towards his leadership.
“You’ve really seen him grow up throughout camp since he’s got here,” offensive tackle Charlie Heck said of Howell following UNC’s open practice on Monday evening. “Coming in as an early enrollee, he was quiet, he was shy.
“But he’s really kind of stepped into his role as a commander of the offense and he’s done a great job this camp running and passing.”
Howell was named first-team quarterback by Mack Brown on Sunday, earning the spot over fellow freshmen Cade Fortin and Jace Ruder. While Brown has yet to bestow the title of “starter” on Howell, the true freshman received reps with Carolina’s Blue team — or first-team — offense in the open practice.
“[Howell] came in ready to play,” Heck said. “He competed every day and that gains the respect of the room, and so I respect the heck out of him and he’s been doing a great job for us.”
“You’ve really seen him grow up throughout camp since he’s got here.”#UNC OT Charlie Heck talked about new first-team QB Sam Howell following Monday’s open practice: pic.twitter.com/EBlUeQQH9M
— WCHL & Chapelboro (@WCHLChapelboro) August 20, 2019
Fortin and Ruder enrolled as part of the 2018 recruiting class and both received playing time as true freshmen. Fortin has the most experience out of any of the quarterbacks on the roster, starting two games for UNC last season.
Brown emphasized in his Sunday press conference that the quarterback battle is far from over and Howell’s title as first-team quarterback is subject to change.
Tight end Carl Tucker said he has confidence in any of the three quarterbacks under center.
“I feel comfortable with any of the quarterbacks,” Tucker said. “All three of them are ready to play, ready to compete.”
When discussing Howell, Tucker said he was impressed by the poise of the true freshman quarterback.
“He’s very relaxed in the backfield, he doesn’t show a lot of emotion.”
A four-star recruit, Howell was the highest-rated player in North Carolina in last year’s recruiting cycle. A longtime Florida State commit, Howell flipped to UNC after Brown was announced as the new head coach.
Heck said that while the role of leader falls upon the quarterback, the rest of the offense needs to pick up the slack as well.
“He’s young, so the offense needs to pick him up every day. We all have to come out excited and ready to go and pick him up when he’s down.”
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