Mack Brown calls UNC's quarterback battle a blessing

This offseason, North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown is looking for a new quarterback as the team moves on from Drake Maye.

For Brown, this is going to be a challenge. However, he also feels that it’s been a blessing because of how the quarterback room has handled it to this point.

“You start looking at quarterbacks, which is always a fan favorite to coach and talk about,” Mack Brown said. “Everybody loves that quarterback battle. We’re lucky that we feel like, and this will sound like it’s a press conference statement, but we feel like both of them can play today. That’s a blessing. We feel like both of them can win today.”

As of now, North Carolina has four quarterbacks listed on its roster, including Conner Harrell, Max Johnson, DJ Mazzone, and Michael Merdinger. The quarterback battle appears to be between Harrell, who was on the team last season, and Johnson, who transferred in after stops at LSU and Texas A&M.

“They’re two of the nicest young men I’ve ever been around. They both have outstanding families. They like each other a lot. They’re pulling for each other a lot. There is no animosity in that room. They both have things that they do better than the other one. We’ve just got to figure out which one is going to be the most consistent and who’s gonna lead the team the best,” Brown said.

“That’s partly what summer’s for. When you get back at the end of summer, you ask the other players, ‘Who worked the hardest? Who’s the most consistent in your mind?’ And you’ve got guys you trust. They get to see them every day. We don’t get to see them every day in the summer because we can’t see them throw, and that really, really helps when you come back and they have a feel.”

Mack Brown added that this has happened before for North Carolina, comparing it to the quarterback battle between Drake Maye and Jacolby Criswell. In that case, Criswell dealt with an injury over the summer and the team got more comfortable with Maye.

“But they both can do similar things. They’ve both got to be consistent, and they’ve got to be confident,” Brown said. “They’re both really smart and they’re both confident, and I think that’s why they can handle each other so well.”

Mack Brown reveals UNC will search for another quarterback in transfer portal

Mack Brown also recently explained that, because of players transferring out, North Carolina will look in the portal for another quarterback to add depth.

“We’re going to try to get another quarterback in the portal because we lost Tad Hudson. So, you need four, and a lot of people have five…but you’ve got to have four quarterbacks and most people have five,” Brown said.

“So, we will look for a quarterback even though we feel like these two are in a good position to move forward.”