Tag: Howard Sampson

UNC football could be getting offensive line reinforcement with visit from Tulsa transfer

A mid-December visit could give the UNC football team a much-needed reinforcement

The transfer portal has not been kind to the UNC football team in its early stages, snatching up several starters and a couple key reserves.

North Carolina’s greatest losses are star linebacker Amare Campbell, who emerged as a reliable starter and replacement for now-Tennessee Titan Cedric Gray, quarterback Conner Harrell and defensive lineman Travis Shaw.

The Tar Heels will also be thin at offensive line in 2025, a position they can’t afford to lose talent at, but those losses could be minimized after an upcoming visit.

Walter Young Bear, an offensive lineman who spent his first four seasons at Tulsa, is planning to visit UNC on Wednesday, December 18. According to Tar Heel Illustrated’s Bryant Baucom, Bear will then make a decision on Monday, Dec. 23.

North Carolina current has six offensive lineman in the transfer portal, including three 2024 starters in center Austin Blaske, left guard Aidan Banfield and left tackle Howard Sampson.

The Tar Heels also say bye to backup center Zach Greenberg, freshman Andrew Rosinski and junior Eli Sutton, the latter two of whom aren’t offically listed on the depth chart.

If you thought UNC’s offensive line was thin, it’ll also say goodbye to graduate students Jakiah Leftwich, seniors Willie Lampkin and Jonathan Adorno. These departures will force North Carolina to replace both its left tackles, both centers, two right guards and one left guard.

If the Tar Heels land Young, though, they’re getting an experienced offensive lineman with 34 appearances under his belt. Young’s official Tulsa bio lists him starting two 2023 games at left guard, but I’m sure UNC coaches will have him play anywhere he produces.

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Offensive line inconsistencies hurting UNC in JMU and Duke losses

UNC’s current football season mirrors how its offensive line performs.

The North Carolina Tar Heels were extremely lucky to have experienced offensive lines in past seasons, allowing the likes of Sam Howell and Drake Maye enough time to throw and orchestrate explosive offenses.

This year though, particularly in losses against James Madison and Duke, UNC quarterbacks are running for their lives.

Jacolby Criswell was pressured a combined 27 times against JMU and the Blue Devils, leading to some poor decisions. Criswell turned the ball over three times against the Dukes, then tossed a game-ending interception in Durham last weekend.

In North Carolina’s three victories, though, the combination of Criswell, Conner Harrell and Max Johnson were only pressured 13 times.

Facing Pitt won’t get any easier for the Tar Heels, though, as the Panthers average 17 QB pressures per game.

UNC offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey is confident in his linemen despite their recent struggles, noting their continued improvement from the spring, but pointed to how difficult it was trying to engineer a game-winning drive against Duke.

“They’re somewhat on islands,” Lindsey told InsideCarolina’s Evan Rogers. “That’s tough on them, and it’s a two-minute or one-minute situation, and those (opposing) guys are really gassed up to rush the passer. That’s why we try to help them in different ways, but at the end of the day, they are improving. I’ve seen a lot of improvement from, say, since spring when we were doing that. Those guys are getting better each and every week.”

Willie Lampkin is the only returning starter along North Carolina’s offensive line. Left tackle Howard Sampson, now a sophomore, was sparingly used in his two years at North Texas. Graduate center Austin Blaske rarely played at Georgia, left guard Aidan Banfield is a freshman and right tackle Treyvon Green, a sophomore, only played on special teams last season.

Can the Tar Heels’ young offensive line find a way to protect Criswell and help generate a couple victories?

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Tar Heels steal offensive tackle from North Texas in transfer portal

UNC football head coach Mack Brown just nabbed another recruiting victory, snatching an offensive tackle previously committed to TCU.

There weren’t a lot of late-season wins for the UNC football team last year.

The Tar Heels gave their fans plenty of hope with a 6-0 start, beating Five Power 5 opponents in their first six games. While none of those teams finished the year great, those are five, hard-fought wins.

Carolina got hit even harder in the offseason, seeing several player transfer out. One of UNC’s greatest transfer portal losses was Diego Pounds, its 2023 starting left tackle.

After a rough week-and-a-half in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heel are nabbing some victories on the recruiting trail.

Their greatest transfer portal win, besides the addition of former Texas A&M/LSU quarterback Max Johnson, came on Sunday, Jan. 7.

UNC flipped former North Texas offensive tackle Howard Sampson, a 6’8″, 325-pound redshirt-freshman, from TCU.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C10HqL_hdtV/

Sampson went 12-14 in his two seasons as a member of the Mean Green, who made the Conference USA Championship Game and Frisco Bowl in 2022. Though North Texas barely missed out on a bowl game this year, it ended its season with consecutive wins over Tulsa and UAB.

With Sampson and Georgia transfer Austin Blaske set to don Carolina blue next year, the Tar Heels have already done a solid job addressing a unit with only one returning starter (Willie Lampkin).

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