Drake Maye reveals his ultimate goal for the 2023 season

Drake Maye brought a lot of eyes to Chapel Hill last season as a redshirt freshman who put up incredible numbers. Now, the North Carolina quarterback is ready to kick it up a notch and achieve something that he and his teammates didn’t a year ago.

Maye shared the biggest goal he has for his sophomore season during his post-spring game press conference this weekend. He said that, since UNC expects to win every game whenever they’re on the field, he wants to get the Tar Heels back to Charlotte to win the league title this time around.

“I think getting back to the ACC Championship and, obviously, our goal of winning the ACC Championship. Whatever that takes,” Maye said. “11, 12 (wins). I think we could have won, probably, 12 last year. So (I’m) looking forward to it.”

“Coach Brown says win all the games so that’s obviously our goal,” said Maye. “We don’t expect to go out there and strap them up expecting to lose. I know I surely don’t.”

North Carolina finished 9-5 last season after losing both of their outings in the postseason and their last four total. Still, before that, they were sitting at 9-1 before dropping their last two regular-season games by a combined seven points, getting blown out by Clemson in the ACC title game, and falling to Oregon by one point due to a touchdown in the final minute of the Holiday Bowl.

If they’re going to achieve that goal and reach double-digit wins, Maye will be the key to that effort. It’ll be on his shoulders, or his arm for that matter, after sweeping the ACC awards last season as the league’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year.

Some might say that their goal is to win the Heisman Trophy, especially as a quarterback that just had the season that he had. Some might even go a step further and say they want to win the College Football Playoff. Instead, Maye’s focus is on winning the school’s first ACC Championship since 1980 which, considering all things, is a good place to start to ensure overall success for him and UNC this season.

Maye shares thoughts on North Carolina’s spring game

North Carolina wrapped up their spring practices Saturday afternoon with the team’s spring game at Kenan Memorial Stadium. A handful of question marks need to be answered for the Tar Heels before the start of the 2023 season. But one thing they do not need an answer for is what to do at quarterback, as Drake Maye has returned for another season at UNC.

Maye enters the season as a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy next season, and looked the part on Saturday. Following the game, the UNC star shared his thoughts on his performance and what things he was focused on Saturday.

“We moved the ball well, down in the redzone,” said Maye. “I gotta make a few better decisions. Missed one or two that I’m kind of mad about that I’ll remember. But overall, good day. I’m proud of the guys, and (it’s) just fun being out here.

“…That’s the big thing I’m harping on; footwork is always for any quarterback at any level. Just working on getting better, (and) fine-tuning things. I think that last sack, on fourth down, I slid into pressure. So just stuff like that, trying to avoid it to help the team. And overall, I felt like we had a good day.”