Mack Brown emphasizes the need to avoid sacks on offense

North Carolina has struggled to protect the quarterback ever since Mack Brown returned to Chapel Hill, and he’s begging for more consistency up front to protect the Heels’ Heisman hopeful in 2023.

At recent media availability amid fall camp, Brown was asked how the offensive line is coming along, since their ability to keep a clean pocket is a longstanding issue for UNC. He put his foot down and said he’s just not having his QB under siege all year again.

“We’ve had too many sacks here for four years and I’ve told (the coaching staff): I’m not going to go through another season with a bunch of sacks,” declared Brown. “We got a great quarterback, protect him.”

Mack Brown admits that a stronger running game and smarter decision-making by quarterback Drake Maye can aid the offensive line. However, the bottom line is the unit needs to trim down the sack number significantly this fall after they allowed 40 of them a year ago.

“Part of it is him getting the ball out of his hands. That’s quarterback’s job,” said Brown. “If we run better, it’ll help. But I’m not going to spend another year with a bunch of sacks, so that is that is a key.”

The bad news is Brown is already noticing protection issues in camp despite the added emphasis: “It’s been a goal for four and a half years. It was a goal in the spring. Then the other day in the scrimmage, we still had too many. So, it’s got to get fixed,” he lamented.

One reporter asked about the depth of the OL room and if the Heels currently have the desired number of guys, roughly eight, that they can count on.

“I think that the tackles have been inconsistent. The inside guys have played good,” Brown bluntly assessed of the unit in response.

“We’ve played with five or six every year we’ve been here. So you don’t shut the season down if you don’t have eight,” Brown added. “You’d like to have eight. More than anything else, you lose three or four of these for next year, so you gotta have an offensive line that can step in next year as well.”

Lastly, Brown singled out a couple of younger guys who are showing some promise.

“That’s why it’s important that you see a guy like Trevyon Green step up,” Brown continued. “You see a guy like Diego Pounds step up and they are showing great ability at times, and then inconsistency at times, and that’s normal with young offensive linemen. What we’ve got to do is just get consistent.”