The ACC Coastal Division has flipped in two years.

A friend of mine from NC State asked the other night who he thinks will last longer, Wolfpack football coach Dave Doeren or basketball coach Kevin Keatts. I said, “That’s easy, Keatts.”

He asked me why, and I said Doeren has gone from one of the hottest coaches in the country to unanimously sitting on the hot seat, according to the latest preseason rankings released by well-respected Athlon Sports.

I told him that Mack Brown has done to Doeren what Doeren did to Larry Fedora, taking over the state of North Carolina in recruiting. State has not beaten Carolina for a top football commitment since Hillsborough linebacker Payton Wilson changed colors from light blue to State red. And Wilson has been plagued by injuries ever since.

Athlon picked Doeren’s Pack to finish fifth in the ACC Atlantic, which is generous considering that No. 6 Syracuse and No. 7 Boston College are coming off better seasons than 4-8 State, and Doeren still doesn’t have a proven quarterback on the roster.

Athlon has Carolina winning the Coastal over Virginia Tech (that game is scheduled for Chapel Hill this season) with Miami, Pitt, Virginia, Duke and Georgia Tech to follow. The Tar Heels have the highest-rated receiving corps to catch balls from Sam Howell, and Brown is a unanimous pick for ACC Coach of the Year.

The ACC champion? Athlon has Clemson over UNC in Charlotte, if the COVID-plagued season gets that far. The projected Player of the Year is Trevor Lawrence, who is entering his last season in Death Valley, so whatever happens in 2020, the fall of 2021 looks like the one all Carolina fans should be pointing to with great confidence.

As for State and Duke, against which UNC broke losing streaks in Brown’s return to Chapel Hill, Doeren may well be gone from Raleigh at that point and retirement rumors about David Cutcliffe have been picking up steam. That’s why, whatever happens in the near future, longer-term local prospects are looking very sweet to be a Tar Heel.

Featured image via NC State Athletics

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