North Carolina enters the 2024 college football season with a lot of question marks. After a promising start to last season, the team faltered late in the year and ended the season on a negative note.
That led to the dismissal of Gene Chizik as defensive coordinator and the hiring of Geoff Collins to replace him. While UNC lost a lot on offense, they do return talent on the defensive side of the football.
And it will be up to Collins to get the most out of that unit.
Ahead of the season, On3’s Andy Staples talked about the outlook for North Carolina and had nothing but praise for the hire of Collins, thinking it will be a difference-maker.
“I think the Geoff Collins defensive coordinator hire is going to prove to be one of the more impactful coordinator hires of the offseason. He’s a good defensive coordinator. When the man’s calling a defense, the defense plays pretty well.”
The article also goes on to make a prediction for UNC’s ceiling, and that if all goes right, the team could finish 9-3.
If the Collins hire works out, and that returning talent takes a leap, then Jones can envision a pretty darn good year for the Heels: “I look at this North Carolina team, I think ceiling-wise, they’re probably a 9-3 team.”
The floor? 7-5.
I think UNC fans would take that, especially with all of the questions that are left to be answered for this team going into training camp.
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