2019 season: 7-6, 4-4 in the ACC (5th in the Coastal Division)
Head coach: Mack Brown (12th season, 2nd consecutive)
North Carolina is a wide-awake sleeper. Its aggressively forgettable 2019 season showed clear positives, the recruiting has suddenly jumped to being the best of the ACC Coastal Division, and the coaching staff is nearing an elite level. The signs point to the Tar Heels as a sleeper pick for an ACC Championship appearance,
and with a preseason ranking of No. 18 in the AP Top 25, expectations are high.
The Tar Heels’ 2019 season was about as close to .500 as you can get in every aspect; discounting their cupcake game against Mercer and bowl-game domination of Temple, their point differential was only 31.
It’s hard to draw solid conclusions about a team that lost Clemson by only one point, yet beat Duke by only three.
What’s important about North Carolina is that it just hauled in the No. 13 ranked freshman class in the country, far and away the best in the ACC Coastal. Its biggest problem last year was a lack of talent. Now the Tar Heels pair the top-notch coaching staff with talent to run schemes that should baffle opposition throughout the season.
The defensive side is where the Tar Heels should stand out best. Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman is well-known as a preeminent defensive mind, and the multiple fronts and advanced blitz packages they ran last year can be smothering to a conference not known for its aerial prowess. The strength here is in the secondary, with Storm Duck and Troy Grimes each elite talents.
It’s worth noting that the commitment by Grimes, a top-five incoming cornerback from Virginia Beach, signals North Carolina’s newfound appeal in the Tidewater, a mid-Atlantic region that produces talent but hasn’t been claimed by a single college’s recruiting for about two decades.
Offensively, the Tar Heels are expecting sophomore Sam Howell to take a jump in his development. Howell was brought along slowly in offensive coordinator Phil Longo’s zone-running, RPO-heavy system, which allowed him to operate with reduced responsibility. He’s expected to grow into a star—his commitment alone basically made Brown’s hiring worthwhile—and it should be no surprise to see that happen this year. And they’ve added enough talent at the skill positions to project for the eighth-best offense in the nation, according to ESPN's SP+ statistic.
North Carolina is a popular pick to win the Coastal for years to come, and for good reason.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.