UNC Football: Discussing Gene Chizik’s departure, the transfer portal, and what comes next for the Tar Heels.
With staff upheaval and fresh faces on the horizon, where are the Tar Heels headed?
The college football season has nearly come and gone. Most programs are focused on 2024 and what lies ahead when the National Championship takes place on Monday. North Carolina is among that overwhelming majority, and the current state of collegiate athletics generates more buzz in the offseason than we have ever seen. The transfer portal, NFL Draft, NIL, and conference realignment are just a few of the events that keep everyone, even some players, on their toes.
I will refrain from telling the Tar Heels’ narrative in 2023. What I will eat, however, is what may be in front of Mack Brown and UNC. I’d like to wrap up a year filled with both exhilarating successes and disheartening defeats. To do so, consider North Carolina’s excellent and negative points to get a sense of what lies ahead, and, more significantly, what should come next.
Staff
The Tar Heels released defensive coordinator Gene Chizik and defensive line coach Tim Cross Friday, so this train has already left the station. Ted Monachino, a veteran defensive analyst, has already been appointed as the DL replacement. Regardless, North will have a new defensive mindset.
The seat is obviously hot for other position coaches, but even if no one else is let go, I would want to see some staff reshuffling. Mack must place a high priority on the special teams room this offseason, and whatever approach he takes, I propose he do something radically different than we saw last season.
The continued success of some employees, despite the fact that other employees demonstrate the polar opposite, is astounding. It goes without saying, but there should be a focus on keeping certain coaching weapons in-house rather than looking elsewhere.
Transfer Portal
North Carolina has lost seventeen players through the transfer portal and eight in the NFL Draft. As of today, they have only received five commitments from the portal for next season. It’s still early in the transfer season, but the Tar Heels must be very active if they want to be competitive in 2024.
In my opinion, a great offseason does not include bringing in twenty or more new players. It ensures that those brought in are critical components for the future. UNC currently has 26 signees in its incoming freshmen class, so body count isn’t necessarily a concern. However, experience and talent may be.
If Mack Brown can go out and recruit more players like Alijah Huzzie, Tez Walker, and others from the transfer site, there will be less anxiety about the major losses in 2023. Proven impact players are scarce at Chapel Hill, and given the way college football works, that is how you get them.
Culture
When it comes to North Carolina football, I am a spectator and analyst, not a player or a member of the team. That said, I can’t ignore the antics and constant messages I receive from people on the inside. Back-to-back late-season disasters with a wealth of skill aren’t necessarily about numbers; they can also be about drive and culture.
We already know that the Tar Heels will crush our hearts in dramatic fashion. I can live with that. What I can’t get over is the continuous patterns, difficulties, and trajectory of a program that requires many components to be effective. When Sam Howell and UNC defeated Clemson as four-touchdown underdogs on the final play in 2019, something hinted a message to ‘look out’ because North Carolina football was on its way.
That vibe appears extinct. You don’t get punked by your rivals three years in a row with that mindset. You don’t apologize at news conferences for making comments with that mindset. You don’t settle for eight-win seasons with that mindset. With that mindset, you don’t keep admitting that you were unprepared for losses. You do something.
