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North Carolina football coach Mack Brown has been around for awhile. He knows that an injury to a key player can deeply affect a football team, but he doesn't want his squad to get down too much. North Carolina football will break in a new quarterback after the program lost gunslinger Max Johnson for the season.
The Tar Heels are going with young play caller Conner Harrell moving forward. Harrell helped his team get a win against Minnesota in Week 1. He also started the Duke's Mayo Bowl at the end of last season, against West Virginia.
“He's been told: ‘You've got it,'” Brown said, per ESPN. “And the team's been told: ‘Let's rally around your new quarterback and let's go, and let's make this work.' Like I said, he's really good. So it's time for him to go have fun and play good.”
Harrell will get his chance to lead North Carolina football to another fantastic season. The young play caller has the ability to run as well as pass, giving the Tar Heels some versatility. Harrell also nearly won the starting job at the beginning of the year, over Johnson. Due to Johnson's injury, Harrell must now step up.
“He's just got to get confidence and go,” Brown added. “It's his. It's his.”
North Carolina football has a chance to make waves in the ACC
North Carolina is a dark horse to win the ACC this season. The league looks wide open, as Florida State is essentially out of the conference championship race following back-to-back losses. There are plenty of other schools who can compete for the conference crown, including Boston College and Miami.
There's no reason why North Carolina can't compete for it too. The squad returns a good core of players from last year's eight win team, that bowed to West Virginia in the Duke's Mayo Bowl. Harrell's job is to now lead the offense. The play caller did what was needed to get the Tar Heels a key non conference win over Minnesota in Week 1.
“I've seen him be way more confident and way more assertive with our team,” North Carolina offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said. “He was thrown into a tough situation the other night. … He executed and did what we asked him to do.
“I think you're going to see him evolve. He's still a young player.”
North Carolina's schedule in the conference is somewhat favorable. The Tar Heels play only two ranked teams as of time of writing, in North Carolina State and Florida State. The rankings are ever-evolving, and so things are likely to change. The team has a few September games in a row against non conference competition, to try and build up the quarterback's confidence.
The Tar Heels next play Charlotte on Saturday.
