North Carolina entered the 2024 college football season with a decent amount of hype, but saw it all evaporate in Week 1 with quarterback Max Johnson suffering a gruesome broken leg injury. Entering 2025, Johnson claims that he is back to full health after a long and strenuous road to recovery.
While Johnson noted he is fully cleared, he acknowledged how difficult his recovery was. The sixth-year quarterback said he needed five surgeries and thought that he would lose his leg at one point, according to MassLive News reporter Chris Mason.
Johnson, who is preparing for his second year with the Tar Heels, has been on the field and practicing for the last few weeks. The 24-year-old believes he has regained his full range of mobility, with his confidence building each day.
Johnson committed to North Carolina from the 2024 college football transfer portal. He began his career at LSU, where he appeared in 18 games and started a good portion of the 2022 season. Johnson spent his ensuing two years at Texas A&M, where he competed with Conner Weigman, Marcel Reed and Haynes King. After losing the job to Weigman, Johnson arrived in Chapel Hill for what was supposed to be his final season of NCAA eligibility before going down.
North Carolina's lofty expectations for 2025 football season
Following Johnson's injury, North Carolina's offense struggled with fifth-year quarterback Jacolby Criswell leading the way. The Tar Heels ended the year with a modest 6-6 record, but suffered a handful of embarrassing losses along the way. They ended the season with a 27-14 loss to UConn in the Fenway Bowl.
Despite the mediocre season, North Carolina will be one of the most-watched teams during the 2025 college football season. The Tar Heels notably lured six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick out of retirement to replace Mack Brown as head coach in a move that shockingly changed the landscape of the sport.
The uncertainty of Johnson's injury keeps the odds stacked against the Tar Heels, but they have a much more favorable schedule in 2025. Although the opening rankings have yet to be released, North Carolina is expected to have just one game against a team in the preseason rankings. That game will be a tough matchup with Clemson, which is favored to win the ACC. However, they avoid matchups with other juggernauts, including Miami, SMU, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Louisville.
