Since Mack Brown has been at North Carolina, they’ve had a slew of NFL and All-ACC players – Javonte Williams, Josh Downs, Sam Howell etc.
In three years Brown barely has a .500 record (21 – 17, 14 – 12), back-to-back seasons with bowl losses, and a pre-season top 10 team that was one of the country’s most disappointing teams in 2021. North Carolina got boat-raced by 3 win Georgia Tech and Geoff Collins to give further indication of Brown’s missed opportunities at UNC.
Certainly, North Carolina is better than what Brown inherited from Larry Fedora who won 5 games in his last two years, but 2021 was supposed to be the year the Tar Heels started to turn the corner. They did turn corner but in the wrong direction.
Against a bad South Carolina team in the bowl game, the Tar Heels were the same team they’ve been all year. A fair amount of flash, but no substance. Defensively this team was consistently terrible ranking 103rd in the country in scoring defense.
It’s fair to ask three seasons in, can Mack Brown get over the hump from mediocre to top 25 program.
Recruiting is still going well, but at the end of the day it’s about wins, losses, and progress.
What would be a start for UNC is to move in another direction on defense.
Should co-DC Jay Bateman and/or Tommy Thigpen be retained?
Something is really rotten with the defense.
Next season is a critical one for Mack Brown, and he’ll have to do it without Sam Howell.
UNC won’t get the benefit of the doubt going into next year. There won’t be any pre-season rankings, no hype. They aren’t getting credit for close losses to quality teams like NC State and Pittsburgh. The win over Wake Forest looked more fluke than something real.
The Tar Heels will have to earn respect it in 2022.
2021 was a massive failure for Mack Brown and North Carolina.
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