Nick Saban welcomed Mack Brown back to college football by stealing away one of his top quarterback recruits.

Four-star quarterback Drake Maye plays his high school ball at Myers Park High School in Charlotte. He is the son of former UNC quarterback Mark Maye and the younger brother of former UNC basketball star Luke Maye.

So it’s a lock that Drake would attend UNC, right? Wrong.

On Wednesday, Drake Maye announced his commitment to Alabama over offers from UNC, Clemson and Georgia.

While most recruiting services and fans thought that Drake was a lock for Carolina, it seems his recruitment was more open than previous thought. He told the Charlotte Observer earlier this year that UNC was not his leader as he continued to rack up offers from elite schools like Alabama, Clemson, and Georgia.

In the end, it’s hard to fault anyone for choosing Alabama. After all, Saban’s program is the benchmark for what college football programs should aspire to.

But Drake’s decision doesn’t mean UNC fans should panic.

After all, Drake Maye is a rising junior and 2021 recruit. UNC already has a commitment from three-star quarterback Jacolby Criswell for this latest recruiting class and they signed four-star quarterback Sam Howell in the last cycle.

UNC has three freshmen quarterbacks on the roster heading into 2019 and assuming Criswell signs with Carolina, they’ll have four young quarterbacks on the roster heading into 2020.

There’s always a chance one or two transfer away, but more young bodies on the roster will give Carolina a better chance to figure out a starter.

As a 2021 recruit, it’s hard to get worked up about Drake Maye’s decision. He’s still two years away from signing and a lot can change between now and then.

For now, it’s a great sign that Brown is making moves on the recruiting trail. UNC has the 15th ranked recruiting class in the nation per 247 Sports and expectations are low heading into the 2019 season. If Brown can get Carolina to a bowl game, that will do wonders for recruiting efforts.

And who knows, maybe there’s another Maye sibling that can play at Carolina? After all, that’s worked out well before.

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