Extra Points: Sea Change

By Lee Pace

"We cannot direct the winds, but we can adjust our sails." -- Thomas Monson, American religious leader and author

Skipper Mack Brown has been stalking the quarterdeck of the Tar Heel football schooner for a fortnight now, adjusting to the winds of change in college football in general and his personal dominion over Kenan Football Center in particular.

He walked out of a home recruiting visit the night of Tuesday, Dec. 7, and answered a call from Phil Longo, the Tar Heels' offensive coordinator, who said he was leaving to take a similar position at the University of Wisconsin, and he was taking offensive line coach Jack Bicknell with him. On the drive back to Chapel Hill, Brown started working the list of up to 10 names he keeps for every position coach for possible replacements. He interviewed two coaches for the coordinator role and one for the offensive line slot and within a week tabbed Chip Lindsey for the former and Randy Clements for the latter. Brown also made sure that quarterback Drake Maye, having forsaken oodles of inducements to transfer elsewhere, went deep via the phone with Lindsey and emerged with a thumbs-up.

"I interviewed them both on Zoom," Brown said. "That's different. You used to bring them in and talk. But there's no time anymore."

No time, indeed, given that Longo and Bicknell would not coach the Tar Heels' Holiday Bowl game against Oregon Dec. 28 and Brown had to make internal staff adjustments to bridge the old staff and new one. He appointed receivers coach Lonnie Galloway to run the offense, offensive analyst Rob Everett to help coach the quarterbacks and offensive graduate assistant Caleb Pickrell to run the blocking front.

No time given that the National Signing Day loomed on Dec. 21 and the Tar Heels were expected to sign a class of 20 players ranked in the Top 25 in the nation.

No time given that the Tar Heels were fishing the transfer portal to find the kind of quality additions they've made in recent years the ilk of running back Ty Chandler, center Corey Gaynor and linebacker Noah Taylor. As of Thursday, three defensive backs, one center, one receiver and a kicker had announced their plans to transfer to Carolina.

No time given Brown and his coaches were helping their own players make decisions on whether Carolina is still the right spot for each individual. Not only is Maye returning, but Brown was delighted to learn that All-ACC linebacker Cedric Gray planned to be back ravaging opposing offenses from his middle linebacker spot in 2023. Among those exiting are a half dozen defensive backs and defensive tackle Keeshawn Silver.

And no time given the Tar Heels were trying to squeeze in a half dozen practices in Chapel Hill, break a couple of days for the players to take a quick holiday visit home and then head to San Diego on Dec. 23, where the 9-3 Oregon Ducks and all of their green-and-gold splendor and Phil Knight largesse are waiting.

"The last three years have been the craziest I've seen in 40-plus years in this business," says Brown, who goes on to tell of speaking with an incumbent Tar Heel at lunch recently and querying the player on his recent visit to a rival institution. "I've told our players, 'Life's too short, if you're not happy, go. I'll help you go.' We've had some kids in this week that we played against last year. I said, 'I just watched you on film, you looked real good.' It's just different. College football is in a real different spot than we've ever been before."

In the short term, the Tar Heels have one game to flip the late-season narrative of losses to Georgia Tech, N.C. State and Clemson in the ACC Championship Game. They are 9-4 and ACC Coastal Division titlists and resolute on a better end to the season than last year's bowl loss to South Carolina.

"To grow as a program, we have to beat Notre Dame and Clemson, the best teams we saw all year," Brown says. "That's one of the reasons I wanted to play Oregon. They are one of the best teams still out there. They have a great quarterback. We have to keep playing these teams, learn how to beat them. I talked to our team a lot about last year. If we are not more excited than last year in Charlotte, I do not want to go. I was embarrassed. We need to go play our best, and I think we'll get there."

In the mid-term, Brown and his coaches will take their Wednesday commitments and keep working the transfer portal with an eye toward spring practice in early March. Brown notes in today's revolving door environment how important the role of the general manager is; Pat Suddes is the Tar Heel staffer whose job it is alongside Brown to supervise the recruiting staff and ride herd on roster management.

"It's interesting how much attention we have drawn from the transfer portal," Brown says. "It's absolutely amazing. The way you recruit the portal will be a huge difference whether you're successful or not moving forward. But it's real. It's here. Pat's position is so important with roster management. How many do you have? Another group will leave after the bowl game. Another group after spring practice. There's a wave now, a wave after the bowl and a wave after spring. It's just amazing."

On Wednesday, the Tar Heels signed 20 players in their 2023 "Jordan Class," the label conceived to pay tribute to the great No. 23 in Carolina athletic history. The class includes six players each from North Carolina, Virginia and Georgia with 11 on defense and nine on offense.

"We had absolutely no drama at all," Brown says. "The 20 we thought would sign did, and they were in early enough this morning we could have our staff meeting and start on the 2024 class. These kids love Carolina, none of them wavered at any point, and that's unique in this day and age. This is a really good class, I'm proud of this group. It's probably as good as the classes we've had, just not as much splash."

Four are defensive backs ("We need secondary guys who can cover and catch the ball and all of these guys can; turnovers are like gold these days," Brown says); three are linebackers ("We need to boost our depth there and these guys will help; we're fixing to have a lot of great competition at linebacker," Brown notes); and two are edge pass rushers from Durham and Cary ("We have to get more sacks, and we identified two local guys we had to keep; this will help our pass-rushing ability," Brown says).

And in the long term, Brown is looking to Lindsey and Clements to continue running essentially the same offense Longo installed in 2019 but gear it slightly more toward the running game. It didn't go lost on anyone that Clements was the Baylor line coach in 2015 when the Bears steamrolled the Tar Heels for 756 yards in the Russell Athletic Bowl or that his players at North Texas, his last stop, are often outfitted in shirts and caps saying, "Run the Damn Ball."

"I am looking forward to tweaking the offense," Brown says. "We'll keep the passing game, but we've gotten soft in the running game. That puts too much pressure on the quarterback. We have to get tougher, more physical, have more downhill runs. A good running game is the quarterback's best friend. It's hard to pressure him if you've got to worry about stopping the run."

Rarely has Brown hired a coach without having known him and certainly without an in-person interview, including the requirement the potential coach bring his wife along. But times are different, and Brown rues that old protocols of calling the candidate's current boss and asking permission for a conversation are largely falling by the wayside. There were enough connections, though, with Lindsey and Clements through the current staff to provide a level of familiarity and comfort, and Lord knows after Covid that we're all experts on navigating Zoom and Facetime. Brown while coaching the Texas Longhorns annually parried against Clements' offensive line at Baylor, and running backs coach Larry Porter and Suddes had worked with Lindsey at Auburn.

"Every time you hire, you've gotta hire better," Brown says. "It's not about the name, it's about the person that can come in and produce. It's fun for me to hire a new guy. I like the process and I like trying to figure out all the pieces. I never worry about losing a coach."

With that, Brown was off to pack his bags for San Diego and keep that weathervane in the corner of one eye.

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace is in his 33rd year writing features on the Carolina football program under the "Extra Points" banner. He is the author of "Football in a Forest" and reports from the sidelines of Tar Heel Sports Network broadcasts. Follow him at @LeePaceTweet and write him at leepace7@gmail.com

Players Mentioned

Ty Chandler

Corey Gaynor

Cedric Gray

Drake Maye

Keeshawn Silver

Noah Taylor

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