There is a simple reason Carolina football is building back better.

Mack Brown gives credit to Larry Fedora, where it is deserved, but it’s becoming more apparent with every win that Fedora’s stamp is still all over this program with the recruits he left behind.

Brown arrived with a better coaching staff and championship pedigree which allowed him to win over those players he inherited from a program that turned out to be far better than the loser he took over in 1988, his first stint in Chapel Hill.

That was not readily apparent, after Fedora’s last two Tar Heel teams won a total of five games. But under Brown, UNC won seven last season and now has a six-game winning streak with a No. 5-ranked 2020 team that has great balance of experience and depth.

That depth mostly belongs to Fedora, who signed the likes of Michael Carter, Javonte Williams, Dazz Newsome, Dyami Brown, Beau Corrales, Garrett Walston and 3 current starting offensive linemen.

On defense, the Tar Heels are led by Fedora holdovers Jeremiah Gemmel, Trey Morrison and Chazz Surratt. So combine the returning talent with Brown’s ability to coach them up to be better players and added depth from 16 red-shirt freshmen eligible this season.

The change in culture obviously has had a lot to do with it. Coming off two dreadful seasons, the players Brown found waiting only needed to build or rebuild their confidence. And having experienced the dregs of losing, they now put winning over all other priorities. “A very unselfish group,” says offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

Brown points to the bullet train of Carter and Javonte, who are much better runners – quicker, more explosive and faster than they were in prior seasons. And one of the best offensive lines Mack says he has ever had creates holes and creases that set up Sam Howell as a lethal play-action passer to a bevy of speedy receivers, led by Dazz and Dyami, complemented by the bigger Corrales and Walston, all upperclassmen.

A younger defense is a work in progress, hit by mounting injuries, but if the offense keeps clicking, victory is always at hand.

 

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