Tomari Fox was a name UNC football fans got quite used to.
The gradutae student from Lawrenceville, Ga. started all 12 games on the defensive line in 2020, registering 46 tackles (six for loss) and four sacks. He started just 2/12 games in 2021, but still would up with 25 tackles, 1.5 sacks and a team-high six quarterback hurries.
He was expected to be a key part of the Heels’ rotation last year, but tragedy struck. Fox was suspended for all of 2022 for taking a banned, pre-workout substance.
Silly, right? If he wasn’t taking steroids, what was the issue?
It’s safe to wonder if Fox played last year, how much better the UNC defense would have been. The Heels allowed the sixth-highest yardage total (5.697) among FBS schools last year and rarely looked like they could preserve a lead.
When the real Carolina plays its southern neighbor in the Saturday, Sept. 2 season opener, it will be Fox’s first game in 21 months. It’s right to expect rust, but there’s no doubt Fox will be excited to get back on the field.
“We got the news and it was very surprising, very confusing,” Fox told InsideCarolina’s Adam Smith. “A lot of people thought it’d be difficult from the aspect of like, ‘You’re going to miss being on the field,’ like that would be the hardest part. But I think for me, it was essentially having everything taken. And from the aspect of how players look at you, how coaches look at you, how fans look at you, and everything like that. The playing part excluded, I mean, once we got the verdict, a lot of people have thought that I did it.”
Fox is currently listed as a backup to defensive tackle Kevin Hester, Jr. Fox is part of a talented defensive line that includes former 5-star recruits Travis Shaw and Desmond Evans, Myles Murphy, Jahvaree Ritzie and Ohio State transfer Jacolbe Cowan (played at UNC last year).
Sacks were not easy to come by in Chapel Hill last season (17 total), as no single player recorded more that 3.5 (Kaimon Rucker, Noah Taylor).
If Fox had a productive two years before his suspension, including the 4-sack campaign in 2020, it’d be hard for head coach Mack Brown not to play him.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.