Lonnie Galloway praises UNC wide receiver Antoine Green

North Carolina football has been able to consistently produce talent under head coach Mack Brown, and that trend continues into 2022 with plenty players primed for a breakout performance. With all the spotlight on Josh Downs and Tony Grimes, another candidate to impress scouts along the way is Antoine Green.

Joining Josh Downs as an offensive weapon, wide receiver Antoine Green has impressed position coach Lonnie Galloway throughout the spring and summer so far.

“Just his mental part of the game,” said Galloway. “He got here, highly recruited, broke his leg against Syracuse and then just getting back and overcoming that. The thing that I love about Antoine is the way he has approached this spring and coming off of the season. Hard worker, he’s getting stronger. You can see it. He wants to be an elite guy and now the next thing for him is just to take that step. He’s one of the leaders in my room and I’m very excited to see him operate.”

Over four seasons at North Carolina, the former four-star recruit has appeared in 25 games, including 13 in 2021. He has 47 career catches for 912 yards and eight touchdowns, setting career highs in all categories last season. He hopes to build on that in his fifth season.

Lonnie Galloway on quarterback competition

North Carolina Tar Heels wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway is being given a difficult task ahead of the 2022 season. He needs to get his receivers prepared without actually knowing who the starting quarterback is going to be.

Over the past three seasons, Sam Howell was in place to distribute the ball all over the field. For now, Jacolby Criswell and Drake Maye are competing for the job in 2022.

“The biggest thing with that is being able to go when they’re throwing,” said Galloway. “You know because their quarterback battle–whoever ends up getting it–when they throw, go throw with all of them.”

The problem for the wide receivers is that this splits their reps up and can make it more difficult to build chemistry and trust with their quarterback. This chemistry is incredibly important when running routes based on timing or defensive reads.

Galloway would also go on to insist that it’s important for every wide receiver to be working with both Criswell and Maye every time they throw. Otherwise, they will not have their timing down once the season starts.