Tag: UNC Football

UNC football called a dark horse for top five-star recruit

The UNC football program is being called a dark horse for this five-star recruiting target in the 2023 class.

Mack Brown and the UNC football program are identifying their top targets in the 2023 recruiting class and one player near the top of the list is five-star safety Caleb Downs.

The Georgia native has a connection to the program as his older brother, Josh, is a star receiver for the Tar Heels. Downs had a breakout year last season breaking school records and it’s possible he and his brother could play together.

But where do things stand in Caleb’s recruitment?

The No. 8 ranked player in the 2023 class per 247Sports has a total of 34 offers in his recruitment but there appear to be a few favorites. The big names like Georgia, Alabama, Clemson, and Ohio State are involved but so are the Tar Heels. And according to one writer, UNC might be the dark horse.

Andrew Ivins of 247Sports wrote on Downs’ recruitment and the contenders involved. For the Tar Heels, Ivins called them a dark horse team to watch here as the recruitment goes on:

If there’s a dark horse in this recruitment, it has got to be UNC. And why not? Downs’ older brother, Josh, goes to school there and was an All-ACC selection this past season, but his uncle, Dre Bly, also happens to be a full-time coach for the Tar Heels.

A few weeks ago, when Downs attended a Junior Day at North Carolina, he and some friends stayed at Bly’s house, which says a lot about the family. Bly likely is telling the younger Downs to do what’s best for him, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t angle for the Tar Heels to at least get an official visit.

One other thing to note with UNC and Downs is the fact that Chalrton Warren now works in Chapel Hill. The veteran assistant at one time was recruiting Downs to Georgia and Downs likes how he comes from the Nick Saban-Kirby Smart tree.

It’s tough to say who exactly leads right now in this recruitment, but those words on UNC are a positive. Having multiple connections to the program help as well and UNC should be in this until the end.

But can they pull off the surprise?

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UNC football announces home game designations for 2022 season

The UNC football program has announced their home game designations for the 2022 season.

The UNC football Spring game is still a week away but [autotag]Mack Brown[/autotag] and his staff are hoping that this 2022 season goes better than last year did.

After entering the year as the No. 10-ranked team in the preseason polls, UNC finished the year below .500 and suffered an embarrassing loss in the their bowl game. But before we get to this upcoming season, the program has released some game designations for the Fall.

Via the program, here are the special game designations for this year:

2022 Home Game Designations
Oct. 1 vs. Virginia Tech: Family Football Experience; Cancer Awareness; Health Care Worker Appreciation
Oct. 29 vs. Pittsburgh: Homecoming; Monogram Day
Nov. 19 vs. Georgia Tech: Military Appreciation Day
Nov. 25 vs. NC State: Senior Day / Rams Club Day

The Tar Heels’ home opener will take place on Saturday, August 27th when they host Florida A&M in Week 0. UNC will play the next two games on the road before hosting Notre Dame on September 24th.

Game times and TV info will be available at a later date.

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UNC football recruiting target impressed with visit to Georgia

A top unc football recruiting target took a visit to Georgia over the weekend and the visit went well for the Bulldogs.

Mack Brown and the UNC football program have some work to do in the recruitment of a four-star defensive lineman in the 2023 class.

Greensboro native Jamaal Jarrett is one of North Carolina’s top targets for the 2023 class as Brown and his staff have made it known how much they want him in Chapel Hill. But now it appears as if they have a big obstacle to overcome.

And that obstacle is Georgia.

The Bulldogs appear to be the favorites in this recruitment for Jarrett and that comes off a visit over the weekend to Athens where the recruit ‘didn’t want to leave.’

Dawg Nation has the report on Jarrett’s visit:

  • “I didn’t even want to leave myself,” Jarrett said. “To be honest, I felt so at home over there. The coaches kept dapping me up. I talked to the players. Said goodbye to them. Then got on the road.”

  • “It was lit, man. This visit was better than the one in January because I was able to sit down one-on-one with each coach. We talked about me as a player. Talked about what I could bring to their system. It was just awesome just being able to watch my film, getting to know the coaches and knowing what I could bring to their program. Talking to coach [Kirby] Smart, too. It was just a great experience.”

That doesn’t sound very good for North Carolina.

Right after the visit, Jarrett also received a crystal ball prediction to the Bulldogs from national recruiting analyst Steve Wiltfong. While crystal ball predictions aren’t always a guarantee, it’s a potential sign as to where he’s leaning.

This recruitment isn’t over yet but it feels like UNC has to make up a lot of ground.

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Georgia holding ‘firm lead’ for this big UNC football target

The Georgia Bulldogs appear to be the favorite for this four-star defensive lineman in the 2023 class.

Mack Brown and the UNC football program are in pursuit of an in-state recruit in the 2023 class, hoping to land him for their defense.

Four-star defensive lineman [autotag]Jamaal Jarrett[/autotag] has been on UNC’s radar for a while now and is undoubtedly one of their top targets. However, UNC has some major competition in the form of the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Greensboro, North Carolina native recently took a visit to Georgia over the weekend which reportedly went great, and now the Bulldogs appear to be the favorites.

Rivals reporter Adam Gorney wrote on Jarrett’s recruitment in his Fact or Faction piece and stated that the Bulldogs are the team to beat right now:

FACT. Georgia and North Carolina are the front-runners for Jamaal Jarrett and while I’m never going to count out coach Mack Brownand the Tar Heels for an in-state prospect, the Bulldogs look tough to beat. He had such a great experience there for two days getting to know the coaches and players, sitting in on meetings and experiencing everything Georgia has to offer. If I had to pick right now, Georgia is clearly the frontrunner.

While UNC is also a frontrunner, it’s clear that the Tar Heels do have some work to do in this recruitment.

Beating out an SEC team for a talent like Jarrett is no easy task. But if Brown and his staff can do it, this would be a big boost to their 2023 class.

 

UNC football QB Sam Howell tops all draft prospects in this stat

UNC football quarterback Sam Howell leads all prospects in this stat from the 2021 college football season.

UNC football quarterback [autotag]Sam Howell[/autotag] is hoping to impress scouts with just under a month to go until the 2022 NFL draft. After his pro day, Howell will also likely hold a separate throwing session for NFL teams. 

Howell’s draft stock is sort of hovering around that late first-round area to early day two. However, there’s time to impress still and one stat shows just how good Howell can be in a critical part of the game.

CFBFilmRoom put out this stat on how well the top quarterback prospects did avoiding negative plays against the blitz in the 2021 season. At the top of that list is Howell who has a bust rate vs. Blitz at 16.5%. Take a look below:

Howell was pressured a lot last season due to poor offensive line play, forcing him to make quick decisions and even scramble more than he has in his career before.

He added the running element to his game and was actually pretty good at it, setting a career-high in rushing attempts and yards. But his biggest talent remains his arm and the ability to process what the defense is giving him.

Let’s hope Howell does find a way to get into that first round come late April.

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UNC football cracks top 12 for three-star tight end

The UNC football program has made the cut for this three-star tight end out of the state of Texas.

Mack Brown and the UNC football program took a step forward in the recruitment for a three-star tight end in the 2023 recruiting class.

Texas native Reid Mikeska made an update to his recruitment last week, narrowing down his of 43 offers down to just 12 teams. The tight end announced that he will be focused on North Carolina, Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, Texas Tech, South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida.

The 6-foot-5, 233-pound tight end is an intriguing prospect that is drawing significant interest from some of the top programs in the country as you can see by his final 12. The Tar Heels have been involved in this recruitment heavily and are hoping to add him to their offense for the 2023 class.

As of now, there’s not really a clear favorite to land Mikeska and this recruitment is likely going to last through the Summer. It will be interesting to see if he does get on campus for a visit to UNC and if they make the cut for his next list.

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Four-star UNC football recruiting target sets visit date

A four-star UNC football recruiting target has set his official visit date for May as he will be on campus.

The UNC football program’s 2023 recruiting board is starting to take shape as the Tar Heels continue on with Spring practice.

After turning in an impressive top 10 class in 2022, Mack Brown and the staff are looking to build on that with future classes. In the 2023 cycle, UNC has just one player committed but do have their eyes on plenty of targets.

Among those targets is four-star defensive lineman Joel Starlings, a Richmond native that has a total of 17 offers in his recruitment including one from the Tar Heels. The 6-foot-5, 310-pound recruit is an intriguing prospect that the Tar Heels would love to add to their defensive line. And now they will get the chance to impress him.

Starlings took to Twitter to announce that he will take a visit to UNC this Spring, visiting from May 20-22:

Right now, the favorite appears to be the Michigan Wolverines as they do hold four predictions on the 247Sports crystal ball, but there’s still a long ways to go in this recruitment and having a good visit is the first step for UNC this Spring.

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A few teams send QB coaches to see Sam Howell at UNC pro day

UNC quarterback Sam Howell participated in the Tar Heels’ pro day on Monday in front of NFL teams that sent coaches.

UNC quarterback [autotag]Sam Howell[/autotag] was one of the participants in the Tar Heels’ pro day on Monday and he drew a crowd of teams that potentially will need a quarterback in this year’s NFL Draft. While the annual league meetings kept a lot of head coaches from the pro day, teams still sent representatives to Chapel Hill.

Among the teams that had either a quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator was the Washington Commanders, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tenessee Titans and Seattle Seahawks.

While Howell did participate in drills, the quarterback is potentially thinking about throwing for NFL teams next week as well per the NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

Howell entered Monday’s pro day with his stock anywhere from a first-round pick to a early day two with the hopes of him being able to improve that by impressing teams. With the uncertainty at the quarterback position in this draft, there is an opportunity for Howell to move up draft boards.

It’s not realistic to hear his name called in the early 20’s especially if Kenny Pickett and Malik Willis do go earlier that that.

Now it’s just up to Howell to convince teams he does deserve to be taken in the first round.

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2022 NFL draft: Sam Howell scouting report

Everything NFL draft fans need to know about North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell

Once a preseason candidate for the No. 1 overall pick, North Carolina’s Sam Howell is still hoping to prove himself as a franchise quarterback as he enters the 2022 NFL draft.

Here is everything you need to know about the Tar Heels’ signal-caller:

Four-star 2024 WR set to visit UNC Football this weekend

A four-star wide receiver in the 2024 class is visiting the UNC football program this weekend.

This weekend will be a big one in terms of recruiting for the UNC football program in Chapel Hill.

We already wrote on one of the top 2024 players set to return for a visit and now he will be joined by a four-star receiver in the class. Keylen Adams revealed that he will also be in attendance this weekend, setting up a big visit for the Tar Heels.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound wide receiver is a Virginia Beach native that is ranked No. 65 overall, No. 12 wide receiver and the No. 1 player in the state of Virginia per the 247Sports recruiting rankings. Adams has a total of 17 offers, drawing interest from programs like Florida State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Virginia, and Virginia Tech among others.

The Tar Heels have found success in the state of Virginia under [autotag]Mack Brown[/autotag] and [autotag]Dre Bly[/autotag]. They’ve landed top talent like [autotag]Zach Rice[/autotag], [autotag]Tony Grimes[/autotag], and [autotag]Dazz Newsome[/autotag] among others over the years.

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