One of the more respected analysts in college football preview magazines each year is Phil Steele, who releases his edition every Summer to preview each team and the upcoming year. You know you’re getting close to the start of the season when you see that magazine on local store shelves.
And this year, with Steele’s magazine out already, he’s making the radio rounds including an appearance on 730 The Game ESPN Charlotte where he thinks UNC could have a bounce-back year.
Our friends over at Inside Carolina have the transcript from Steele’s interview:
“First of all, I know, when I talked to coach Brown, he brought up to my attention the defensive line sure looks pretty, but they’ve got to play that way,” Steele said on 730 The Game ESPN Charlotte. “And I think if the defensive line does play up to the way they look, coming off the loss, that’s going to be a pretty good defensive line. And offensively, the quarterback is the big question mark. But they’ve got capable candidates in Drake Maye, Jacolby Criswell and even Conner Harrell, the true frosh. They’re all good QBs. If one of them can step in, and they don’t have to be Sam Howell, I think they’ve got a supporting cast that they did last year … they’ve got their two receivers back and are probably a bit better at the running back spot, the offensive line looks solid. I don’t think North Carolina’s going to match last year’s expectations, but I do think they’ll probably exceed this year’s expectations.”
This year’s team for Mack Brown will look a little different and there are some big question marks surrounding them, mainly at quarterback where Sam Howell is gone and the team will look at Drake Maye or Jacolby Criswell as the starter.
The expectations are also lower than they were a year ago when UNC was ranked as a preseason Top 10 team. This year, they aren’t even in Steele’s preseason Top 40 which may cause a little less pressure.
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