Special teams have pretty consistently been a bugaboo during Mack Brown’s second tenure in Chapel Hill. According to Brian Fremeau’s FEI, or Fremeau Efficiency Index, the Tar Heels have been inside the country’s top 50 in Special Teams just twice since Brown took over: in 2019, when he had the benefit of a roster most of which had been schooled by Larry Fedora (who, for all his faults, was an excellent special teams coach), and 2022, when he was buoyed by Josh Downs returning punts and great fortune on opponents’ field goals. Last year, despite the emergence of Noah Burnette as one of the country’s most accurate kickers, an injury to punter Ben Kiernan and consistent issues in kickoff and punt coverage hurt the Heels significantly — not only were they bad generally, but special teams were a direct factor in their loss to Virginia.
UNC Football: Position Preview - Special Teams
