Mack Brown updates health of assistant coach Randy Clements

North Carolina football had a bit of a scare to start fall camp as offensive line coach Randy Clements was hospitalized due to a stomach issue. Clements missed the first week of practice after an abscess in his stomach caused him to become septic and go into shock.

The coach is now back at it, recently returning to the team and picking up as if nothing had happened. Tar Heels head man Mack Brown offered an update on the assistant following Sunday’s session.

“I’m sitting there on reporting day and I get a call at 4 that Randy’s in the hospital,” he said. “He’s tough so he didn’t want to go to the hospital. He had a stomach disorder that was really scary and really dangerous and he spent a week there. As tough and stubborn as he is, he was zooming with us during practice and texting me, ‘how do they look?’ But he’s come back and he acts like he’s not sick. He’s been out here and he’s been at every meeting.”

Clements is preparing to enter his second season as the UNC offensive line coach and is set to turn 58 in September. He helped the Tar Heels to rank seventh nationally and No. 1 in the ACC this past season with 491.2 yards per game, including 192.1 rushing yards per game.

The coach also has previous experience as a college offensive line coach at Baylor, Florida State and North Texas. He has a lot to work on entering his second season at Chapel Hill as he will coach a group that lost four starters.

Despite this, Brown has liked what he’s seen from the group thus far. Clements has also been doing his best to take things easy as he returns at the request of his wife.

“His wife is out here monitoring him every day to make sure he does what he’s supposed to do,” Brown said. “But he’s tough and the kids really responded. It obviously got us behind because you miss your guy and he had two that have never played before here. It slowed us down some, but I’m excited about both lines of scrimmage probably more than I have been since I’ve been here.”

Brown added that Clements appears to be on the right track and the team is prepared should this be an issue during the regular season. North Carolina kicks off 2024 on Aug. 29 against Minnesota.