As we hit the dead period of the offseason, the Heel Tough Blog is once again going to start up the Weekly Storylines feature to keep you updated on all of the major storylines that are taking place around Tar Heel football each week until the season start. Let's start the feature by taking a look at this week's storylines.
Seven Former Tar Heels Participating in Rookie Minicamps
Despite only having one player selected in the 2019 NFL Draft, seven Tar Heels took part in rookie minicamps, which took place last weekend or this weekend. Three former Tar Heel participates in the limited amount of camps that took place last week, as Jeremiah Clarke took part in Oakland’s rookie minicamp, J.K. Britt was with the New York Giants and Jalen Dalton went through Chicago Bears rookie camp. Dalton landed himself a contract with the Bears on Sunday following the conclusion of their camp and will be a part of the team in the preseason. Meanwhile, four other former players began their rookie minicamps on Friday, headlined by Cole Holcomb, the 5th round selection of the Washington Redskins. Others who started camp on Friday were former defensive end Malik Carney (Lions), former wide receiver Anthony Ratliff-Williams (Titans) and former offensive tackle William Sweet (Cardinals), all of whom have already signed undrafted free agent contracts.
Mack Brown Ranked 23rd of the 28 Coaches Between the SEC and ACC
It’s almost our favorite time of the year as college football writers: speculation season. It’s the time of year where college football preview magazines hit the newsstands, record predictions run wild and many debate how they would rank teams, coaches and quarterbacks. The Post & Courier’s Gene Sapakoff got that season off to a controversial start on Monday when he ranked the 28 coaches between the SEC and ACC. Mack Brown, a college football hall-of-famer who is one of just four active to coaches to win a national championship, ranks 23rd of the 28 coaches between the two conferences, according to Sapakoff. Out of the seven coaches in the ACC Coastal, Brown ranks 6th, only ahead of new Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins, despite having 244 career wins, 129 than any other coach in the division. His .670 winning percentage ranks third among ACC head coaches, behind only Dabo Swinney and Scott Satterfield, the latter of which is entering his first season as the head coach of a Power 5 program, and ranks 6th between the two conferences. Mr. Sapakoff, congratulations on compiling the worst list of the offseason in May.
Mack Brown Says That Carolina Can Beat Clemson This Season...Kinda
The renewed feeling of hope around the Tar Heel football program this offseason is palpable. For the first time since 2016, there is some excitement to get to August and head to Kenan Stadium to see the Heels in action. The plan is for the Heels to compete immediately in an ACC Coastal that lacks structure at the moment. Coach Mack Brown hammered that point home yet again on Thursday night during a media availability period after the Tar Heel Tour’s stop in Raleigh. Brown started by saying the Heels plan to win every game on the 2019 schedule before turning his focus to the game that many see as the biggest game on the docket. “Some of the fans will laugh and say, you play Clemson and I said, you know, ‘if you don’t believe you can beat the national champ then why play the game,’ ” Brown told the media following the Rams Club members event. While some people are critical of this statement, it is important to understand what Brown is saying here. This, by no means, is a guarantee from Brown that the Heels will upset the national champions on September 28th. Instead, this is part of his mission to help restore confidence to a program that hasn’t had even a sliver over the course of the last two seasons.
Heels Crack Top Schools List for In-State Defensive End
2020 3✮ WDE Quentin Williams announced his final five schools via Twitter on Friday night. The battle for Williams’ services will be a mostly ACC affair, as Virginia Tech, Miami and Louisville join the Heels and West Virginia. Williams, along with high school teammate Trenton Simpson have both been closely tied to the Heels and, like Simpson, the Heels are currently seen as the favorites to land his services.
This Week’s Offers
Monday
2022 UR ILB Shawn Murphy- Stonewall Jackson (Manassas, VA)
Wednesday
2020 3✮ DT Clyde Pinder Jr.- Armwood (Seffner, FL)
2020 UR S Aamaris Brown- Armwood (Seffner, FL)
2020 3✮ S Beau Brade- River Hill (Clarksville, MD)
2020 3✮ CB D.J. Taylor- Tampa Catholic (Tampa, FL)
2021 3✮ PRO Caleb Hood- Richmond (Rockingham, NC)
Thursday
2020 3✮ OT Thomas Shrader- Venice (Venice, FL)
2020 4✮ OT Connor McLaughlin- Jesuit (Tampa, FL)
2021 4✮ SDE Jonathan Jefferson- Douglas County (Douglasville, GA)
2020 4✮ CB Jalen Harrell- Miami Central (Miami, FL)
Friday
2020 3✮ DT Octavious Oxendine- North Hardin (Radcliff, KY)