Carolina fans are frustrated, and rightfully so. 2021 was supposed to be a distinct launching point for the Tar Heel football program. Fresh off an Orange Bowl berth and with a Heisman-caliber quarterback guiding an offense with intriguing weapons and a fully intact O-line, the sky was the limit.
Reality hasn’t matched expectations. But maybe our expectations were the problem from the beginning. UNC was never a national powerhouse in college football. Even during the supposed halcyon Butch Davis era, the Tar Heels finished 8-5 for three consecutive years. Hardly program-lifting records.
After the malaise of Larry Fedora’s era (with a declining win total in the last three years, culminating in his final 2-9 season), Mack Brown, at the ripe young age of 67, breathed new life into the program.