Mack Brown on optimism for his offense: Have a lot of experience

The North Carolina Tar Heels have been hitting miss over the past few seasons in college football. However, heading into their 2022 campaign, head coach Mack Brown is brimming with optimism about the possibilities for his team. And on a recent appearance on ESPN’s Always College Football, the Tar Heels head man revealed that experience along the offensive line is one of the big reasons for his optimism.

“The biggest thing is we’ve got a lot of guys that have played in the offensive line back, and we do have two grad transfers on the offensive line; one from Harvard and one from Miami, that are experienced players that should be able to step up and help us. I think we’re going to be good in the offensive line,” said Brown. “In fact, I think we may be better. We’ve got about six backs that can play; we need to separate them, and they’ve got to step up. Josh Downs was one of the best receivers in the country last year. He’s going to have more experience outside than we had last year to help him.

“Bryson Nesbit is a big six-foot-six tight end that can run, and we’re playing him some at wideout, putting him in the slot and moving him around. And I’m like you; I think both quarterbacks are really, really talented.

With an improved offensive line and weapons at every position on offense, Brown’s optimism is more than understandable. However, North Carolina still has a huge question mark as to who will be their starting quarterback for 2022. And if Brown and his coaching staff can get the answer right to that question, the Tar Heels will be a force to be reckoned with in the ACC.

Greg McElroy reveals expectations for North Carolina for 2022

As part of the Always College Football Podcast, Greg McElroy sat down with North Carolina football coach Mack Brown to talk through the Tar Heels team ahead of the 2022 season. You can watch/listen to that interview right here. But after Brown left, McElroy stayed on to offer up his own thoughts on UNC football.

Let’s just say the ESPN analyst is quite optimistic ahead of the fall for North Carolina. Here were his comments:

“As far as North Carolina is concerned, I meant it when I said it: I really think this could be their year. We might have been a little early with the expectations going into last season. And we have a program that hasn’t experienced the heights North Carolina experienced, it was going to be difficult to replicate the Orange Bowl berth from the year before (2020).”

McElroy then addressed the elephant in the quarterback room: Who could possibly replace Sam Howell?

“You lose Sam Howell, that’s a big loss. But I like their quarterback prospects. You heard Coach [Brown] talk about the fact that they have two Players of the Year from Arkansas and North Carolina that are vying for the position. Drake May and Jacoby Criswell both have a lot of ability and you saw that on display in the spring game.”

Whoever wins the job has plenty of surrounding talent as well.