The news of Gene Chizik’s departure from Chapel Hill was not shocking. Carolina football face-planted for the second consecutive season, and most fingers pointed squarely at the defense.
Gene Chizik could point to “Team Defense” statistics as proof of UNC’s progress under his hand. In Jay Bateman’s last year in charge of the defense, Carolina was abysmal. Statistically, Chizik showed modest improvement when he took over the headset in 2022:
· 2021 #105 Team Defense (32.1 ppg, 418.6 ypg)
· 2022 #102 Team Defense (30.8 ppg, 436.5 ypg)
· 2023 #75 Team Defense (27.3 ppg, 404.