UNC Quarterbacks Remain Neck and Neck as Football Season Approaches

The quarterback battle was one of the main storylines surrounding UNC football heading into fall camp — and the competition appears to be far from over.

“It’s awesome,” said Cade Fortin, one of the three quarterbacks competing for the starting job in Chapel Hill, following Tuesday’s practice. “I think it brings out the best in everyone. Whether or not somebody becomes a starter, you’re getting the best out of yourself competing at the highest level you can.”

Fortin, along with Jace Ruder and Sam Howell, is gunning for the role of starting quarterback in Mack Brown’s 2019 Tar Heel squad. All three are freshmen; Fortin and Ruder redshirted last year while Howell enrolled in January.

A Georgia native, Fortin played in four games last year for the Tar Heels. He started the season finale against NC State and threw for 276 yards and a touchdown. Ruder also played sparingly, completing four of his five passes for 80 t0tal yards and a touchdown against Georgia Tech.

But now all three players find themselves with the slate wiped clean under new head coach Mack Brown.

The Hall of Fame head coach has remained adamant that the competition is still ongoing. After spring practice and halfway through fall camp, Brown says a leader has not emerged so far at quarterback — a sentiment shared by other coaches on staff.

“To be honest with you, I would have hoped maybe we were starting to have a little bit of a pecking order,” said offensive coordinator Phil Longo while speaking to reporters earlier this week, “But they’re competing their tails off right now.”

Despite the stakes of the competition, all three players said that they remained close. Fortin and Ruder were a part of the same recruiting class and Howell followed just one year later

“It’s a friendly competition,” Howell said. “At the end of the day, we’re all trying to do what’s best for the team.”

Fortin echoed that statement, saying that the quarterbacks have been able to encourage each other throughout practice.

“I feel like we’ve come a lot closer through fall camp,” he said. “Although we’re competing and everyone wants to be the guy, I feel like at the same time we’re really bonding.”

The quarterback competition features higher-ranked talent than UNC is normally used to.

Ruder and Howell were four-star recruits, with Howell ranked as the top recruit within the state of North Carolina in 2019. Fortin was a three-star recruit and was heavily recruited by Texas A&M before eventually flipping to the Tar Heels.

With three talented players competing for the job, the deciding factor might consist of other variables besides their play on the field.

Despite being held out of Saturday’s scrimmage with an injury, Ruder said he took mental reps while his opponents took live snaps.

“Every play, I’m back there going through it in my head,” Ruder told reporters. “No plays off, that’s my motto.”

Brown has said that leadership both on and off the field will also factor into the quarterback decision.

“I’ve really focused on taking guys away and getting to know them off the field,” Fortin said, “And really giving attention to guys who lack the knowledge of the offense.”

With three quarterbacks competing for one job, Brown has acknowledged publicly that the coaching staff expects to lose players to the transfer portal. However, the guys vying for the job remain adamant that the possibility of transferring is not on their minds.

“I’m definitely 100 percent a Carolina football player,” Howell said when asked about the possibility of entering the transfer portal. “This is the football team in my state and I came here to play for the school in my state. I’m 100 percent a Tar Heel.”