Perhaps the biggest storyline going into the Battle of the Carolinas is a player who may or may not be on the field: UNC wide receiver Tez Walker’s situation has become a national story as the Tar Heels seek the Kent State transfer’s immediate eligibility.
But for the players who will definitely be suiting up in Carolina blue, UNC’s coaches say the theme during fall camp has been unselfishness. It starts with three players: two of them major stars, and one of them willingly making a major change.
Quarterback Drake Maye enters his second and almost-certainly final season as the UNC starter as one of the faces of college football, the preseason ACC Player of the Year and a favorite for the Heisman Trophy. But there were times when theories, founded or unfounded, claimed Maye would hit the transfer portal and land at Alabama, Ohio State or another college football powerhouse.
Maye quickly put those theories to rest, and since then has impressed head coach Mack Brown with his willingness to spread the considerable wealth he’s earned through his name, image and likeness.
“With NIL, he’s taken it and tried to help every other player on the team,” Brown said. “That’s what he is. I look up, and he’s out on the field doing a commercial with the offensive linemen. He’s trying to get a seafood deal for the receivers. It’s not about him; it’s about everyone else on this team. He makes it fun.”
While Maye will have to wait a few more months before hearing his name called at the NFL Draft, linebacker Cedric Gray had the opportunity to do so after last season ended. Gray was coming off a career year which saw him lead the conference in tackles and be named first team All-ACC and second team All-America. He wouldn’t have been a first-round pick, but Brown estimated a team likely would’ve taken a chance on Gray soon after.
Instead, Gray elected to come back to Chapel Hill for his fourth season, anchoring a UNC linebacker corps that would have been somewhere between a rock and a hard place without him. Defensive coordinator Gene Chizik, who is entering his second season with the Tar Heels, said Gray’s reasons for coming back were team-oriented.
“Probably about a month ago I sat down with him and I said, ‘Why are you back?’” Chizik remembered. “Just me and him. And he said, ‘Unfinished business, coach.’ That, and he wants to graduate.
“He feels like he has more out there to grow. That’s what you love about him. He could’ve came out, and he could’ve made a lot of money. He feels as a player, as a team, that we left some out there on the table.”
Another one of Chizik’s charges has been getting attention this offseason, but for an entirely different reason. D.J. Jones spent last season as one of six UNC running backs to see playing time, but was never able to earn the starting role. Now, Jones is likely to see significant snaps for the Tar Heels in 2023… on the other side of the ball. Jones is lining up in Carolina’s depleted defensive backfield. And thanks to several injuries there during the offseason, Jones may see more playing time than anyone expected.
Having a former running back as the last line of the Carolina defense likely isn’t what fans hoping for an improved unit want to see, but Chizik said Jones has earned his trust.
“Making the transition to safety, and then all of a sudden making the transition to nickel or star, and then having the possibility of having to play both, requires a lot of studying,” Chizik said. “It requires a lot of watching film. There’s a lot of moving parts to those, and he has really handled it like a champ. And I’m really excited that he’s with us. He’s a guy that you’re gonna see play Saturday night.”
Maye, Gray and Jones have each made personal sacrifices with one goal in mind: leaping past the nine wins the Tar Heels plateaued at last season. Their actions have impressed their Hall of Fame head coach.
“You can see why I like this team so much,” said Brown. “There are the Ced Grays, the D.J. Joneses, the Drake Mayes. Those are guys that make up this team. There are so many of them like that. It’s probably the most unselfish team I’ve been around.
“They understand who we are and where we want to be. And they understand the progress. We’ve still got some guys that were on the team that won two [games]. They understand the difference in where we are.”
That two-win campaign led to Brown’s hiring the following offseason. His first game back as head coach in Chapel Hill? A Week 1 victory over South Carolina in Charlotte.
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