After an offseason and then training camp of competition at the quarterback position, Mack Brown and the North Carolina Tar Heels have yet to name a starter. And it sounds like they won’t have a starter for Week 1 at Minnesota.
Instead, the Tar Heels are planning on playing both Max Johnson and Conner Harrell at quarterback for the season opener, Brown revealed on Friday. They also could do it for the entire season per the head coach.
“Depending on how the game goes, we would like to play both quarterbacks,” Brown said at his Friday press conference via Inside Carolina. “And we’d like to do it for the season.”
EDIT: MACK BROWN HAS CLARIFIED HIS COMMENTS
Mack Brown tries to clarify the QB situation heading into the Minnesota game…
Re: Max Johnson / Connor Harrell: "They are both good enough to win."
Mack says it will depend on game flow. They will go with what is working during the game, who gives them the best chance to win.
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) August 23, 2024
Now, we should keep in mind that this could be a tactic to not reveal any plans on who the starter could be against Minnesota. The Gophers elected not to released a depth chart for the game, and the Tar Heels are following suite.
However, this quarterback competition could still be going on and neither Johnson nor Harrell did enough to win the starting job and solidify themselves as a starter. That would be concerning.
Ideally, the Tar Heels would love to have one guy be the starter all season and play well. They don’t need whoever that is to be a Sam Howell or Drake Maye, that’s just not realistic at this point. But just be good enough to lead the offense.
We will see if Mack Brown’s telling the truth as kickoff at Minnesota is under a week away.
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