“Proud of what we’ve succeeded, and frustrated we haven’t finished better”: UNC Football Stuck in a Stage of Mediocrity

When championship coach Mack Brown began his second stint as head coach in Chapel Hill after a five-year hiatus from coaching in 2018, the football program was in a state of disarray. Head coach Larry Fedora, Brown’s predecessor, had gone 5-18 in the team’s final two seasons. For a team who hadn’t won a conference championship in almost 40 years, there was a desperate need for change.

Hopes were high for a coach who not only had won a national championship with Texas in 2005, but had already accomplished reviving the UNC football program once back in the early ‘90s. However, it’s been a lot of same-old same-old with Brown being unable to attain a 10-win season in his first five years back at the helm.

What’s worse, the Tar Heels started off the last two years 9-1 and 6-0, respectively, before experiencing unexplainable meltdowns in both seasons.

“For a person that’s half empty, you say, ‘What’s happened, we’ve been awful at the end,’” Coach Brown said in a press conference on Wednesday. “For a person that’s got that glass half full… Let’s look at how close we are.”

Brown’s primary objective for the coaching staff this offseason is to find a solution to the recurring problem that has plagued the Tar Heels as of late. To the public eye, fatigue down the stretch seems to be the obvious issue. Brown acknowledged as much.

“The other thing we’ve got to do is play more players,” said Brown. “I’ve said that for five years, and we haven't done it. So it’s time to do it. So, I want us to play 44 players, instead of sitting there with 22. And that should keep us healthier and fresh at the end of the season.”

Brown’s premise has been backed by UNC players themselves. Veteran junior wide receiver J.J. Jones was met by reporters at the conclusion of Brown’s press conference.

“I think we should have finished way better. Watching the games back, you can tell towards the end of the season, we were just fatigued,” said Jones. “I think the coaching staff should have played a lot more players than they did.”

Outside of fatigue, Brown has emphasized three particular hurdles he believes the team needs to overcome next season in order to get to the much desired next level. 

UNC football was ranked 121st out of 133 Division I FCS teams for special teams efficiency last year. For a program that is striving to get into the expanded 12-team college football playoff next season, that ranking is alarming. Brown touched on how the team is planning on improving in this area of the game.

“We’re really focused on the kicking game. So, we’re actually taking parts of our kicking game and putting it into our team periods now,” said Brown.

In an effort to kill two birds with one stone, Brown expounded on this strategy with a potential solution to not only the team’s kicking problem, but also with their difficulty of putting too few players on the field.

“We’re trying to get the best players on the team to be on special teams,” said Brown. “And that’s why we've got to play more depth in the regular rotation of players.” 

In addition to improving physically, Brown also wants his team to improve mentally, specifically limiting the amount of pre-snap and post-whistle penalties. UNC averaged 6.9 penalties per game last year, which ranked 110th in FCS. 

“You can cut those out,” said Brown. “We shouldn’t line up wrong on defense, we shouldn’t be offsides, we need to get rid of all those. We shouldn’t have people pushing after the play, and then get a 15-yard penalty.”

The third and final obstacle that Brown wants the coaching staff to at the very least try to mitigate is the issue with the amount of soft tissue injuries they have encountered across their roster. 

In football, injuries are part of the game. However, the Tar Heels suffered a prolific amount of non-contact injuries last season that can be easily avoided if coached properly.

“We’re looking at if we’re running too much,” said Brown. “Are we not stretching enough? Are we practicing too long?”

Brown recognized that the one setback off the field the program needs to focus their attention on as well is the evolving landscape of name, image, and likeness (NIL). Since 2021, student-athletes have been able to profit off their athletic abilities, which has resulted in football programs recruiting players to their school through NIL deals and booster money.

“We have been behind with NIL, and I’ve really been trying to catch up,” said Brown.

Jones, on the other hand, doesn’t fully agree with how NIL has been structured, and believes it is taking away from the game on the field.

 “I don’t think NIL is everything,” said Jones. “For athletes, you need to enjoy the experience. We’re coming to school for free and playing football. I feel like that’s enough NIL as it is.”

UNC will have the next four months to address the range of barriers that have caused them to stumble toward the end of seasons. With All-ACC quarterback Drake Maye headed to the NFL draft, a quarterback competition for the starting spot currently seems to be the least of North Carolina’s worries. 

If the Tar Heels are able to fix the glaring problems, build their offense around returning star running back Omarion Hampton, and revamp their defense under newly hired defensive coordinator Geoff Collins, then maybe, just maybe, UNC football will be able to put the accusations of mediocrity to bed.