Mack Brown: 'Recruiting is going really well'

As North Carolina heads into its sixth season under coach Mack Brown, the Tar Heels are trying to find a way to catapult themselves to the next level.

Brown has done a nice job stabilizing the program, establishing a pretty decent floor while positioning the program for bigger things. The Tar Heels have won at least eight games in three of his five seasons so far, including each of the last two.

But while the Tar Heels have had the potential to break out, they haven’t yet done so.

Star power at quarterback has helped, but the team needs better quality depth around the quarterback position. And that only comes naturally from one route.

“Recruiting is going really well,” Mack Brown said after the team’s spring game. “I’m so excited about the guys that we’re getting to commit. And there’s some more coming.”

North Carolina’s recruiting class currently ranks 21st nationally, and Brown is promising it could continue to rise through the ranks as he lands a few more of the prospects he feels in good shape for right now.

The last time the Tar Heels had a class ranked this high was 2022, when the program finished 10th nationally.

However, there’s certainly potential for this year’s group to challenge that if Mack Brown can get a few of the bigger fish into the boat.

“This is starting to be a great recruiting class, not just a good one, so we’re excited about that,” he said.

The other way to help create more depth — a more instant way, at that — is by mining the NCAA transfer portal for talent. While not always a guarantee, you can usually pluck some quality players from there.

Mack Brown has admitted they’re looking there as well.

“The portal we’ve addressed,” he said. “We’re looking at a few positions, specifically quarterback. But we’ll take the best available at any of the other positions if something pops up that we like and he’s interested in.”

All in all, though, there’s a lot to be excited about with North Carolina’s current positioning. The program currently boasts three top-300 recruits and is in the mix for several more.