Carolina Football Mailbag: Outlook for Mack Brown 2.0 | Inside Carolina Analysis

welcome back to another edition of the summer mailbag series I am Evan Rogers alongside Taylor Vias today we are diving into what is the outlook for m brown 2.0 is there a path for the Tarios to get back to contending in the second s of their Hall of Fame coach back in Chapel Hill it depends what you classify as contending National Title contenders I I think that that idea has has kind of that ship has kind of sailed but there there's been crazier things that happened this at the end this is still college football you have these these great stories every few years whether it's like the TCU the these Underdog stories and we talked about the quarterbacks on on a previous episode if Carolina gets if one of these quarterbacks starts playing at an elite level which is not really unheard of they could get their way into the national title Contender the problem with with that conversation it's that Ma Brown has now had Sam Howell and Drake May and they really haven't gotten anywhere close to that now there's the expanded playoffs now and how much does that kind of change the landscape of college football but if Carolina hasn't really gotten to that level with those two guys at quarterbacks it's it's hard to now see how they're going to do it without those two and and without the crutch of having a top five pick at the most important position in college football and when I look at the trends for this North Carolina team they had all the momentum when m brown first started coming that that felt like when they really had to capitalize on on that title contending window could they get to ACC ACC title window yeah I think so but you know you're you're still catching Florida State who who's almost just as much in in that National title contending window and there there's definitely some overlap where if you're contending for an ACC title you're going to be right there for the ACC t for the national title but when I when I look at this North Carolina team NC state has kind of flipped the flip the script on them where all the momentum was trending toward North Carolina separating that Gap and and increasing that Gap and the momentum kind of flipped there for for me the Outlook of of ma Brown 2.0 they just have to cut out the heads scratching losses where where Carolina since m brown has came back they've played Seven conference games as a double digit favorite they've lost five of those outright it's it's unheard of how this team can go into a game against Virginia or a game against Georgia Tech and when the game's over we're wondering what the hell happened or in I think I think the Virginia game specifically how somebody like Omar and Hampton can get less than like 10 carries in the second half of a game where Carolina was either leading or or within one score it wasn't like they were down double digits and having to air it out with with Drake May time and time again and and a lot of it comes down to the success of the defense when you do have three defensive coordinators in six years special teams for the most part has been been a mess since Ma Brown has come back you've had little to no def defensive development along the defensive line you've had the these questionable hires with coaches that most likely wouldn't get a power five job offer outside of UNCC and when you do factor in all those things I I do think it it points back to the head coach and I do think m brown takes a lot of responsibility for that and being like I'm the one who kind of has to get this get this ship right that you know we don't we can't blame an offensive coordinator who's not here anymore we can't blame a cornerback coach or a defensive line coach that aren't here anymore he's the guy in charge and for this North Carolina team to kind of get to the next level what I really want to see is the head scratching losses I could I could I could live with if I'm a Carolina fan losing to you know top 25 Miami or or even being in a closer game with a team like NC State it's the losses to Georgia Tech and and Virginia that Carolina really has to cut out so I I guess the long answer or long answer short the the two long didn't read I think m brown has kind of taken this North Carolina team a as far as he can and I would I personally would be very surprised if North Carolina does get back on a path towards contending yeah I think it's those losses that really have kind of Tainted what this Outlook is for this this second era for ma Brown a stat from Greg that he he mentioned the other day in an article was since Max come back UNCC I think is second in wins and second in ACC wins in that stretch but it is those five losses to double digit you know underdogs that kind of overshadow what how much winning he's done and it's kind of a point where Ma Brown came to UNCC talking in a way that he wanted to raise the ceiling of UNCC and I think he is undoubtedly raised the floor of this team I mean you see them winning eight games every year seven games eight sometimes nine but that floor hasn't necessarily been moved and when it's not moved with that top five quarterback Talent it's tough to see it happening in the next you know two three four years when maybe you don't have that Talent at the quarterback position and I think the biggest thing where you know looking back on those these first five years where maybe UNCC could have been set up better for this current time in moving forward is really the offensive line I mean everyone knows it's the defensive and offensive lines that really control football and it starts there they've had the recruiting on the def defensive line they just haven't had the development I would argue they just haven't had the recruiting on the offensive line I mean they just quite frankly have lacked the talent necessary to contend with those top dogs I mean you see the michigans the Ohio States the alabas the Clemson and the Florida States I mean those are Elite offensive lines you can't win at the highest level without having an elite offensive line and they haven't had the talent there I mean it's interesting this year they're going to have some younger guys mixed in with some older guys so it'll be interesting if they can kind of build around those that young core moving forward but like you just mentioned it's really tough to see a way where this UNCC team can just flip a switch within a year or two years and get to a contending State even with an extended playoff I will say you beat Minnesota and then all of a sudden you you have a couple of cupcakes in there you maybe get to Florida State undefeated and then I'm I'm gonna be believing I I I want to be the first person uh rallying the troops and and telling people that that this team can contend so it especially with the expanded playoff it's kind of like hey you beat Minnesota all bets are off but I I I do agree for the large part that that the heads scratching losses kind of overshadow how MA Brown has raised this the ceiling or has raised the floor of this team and kind of has overshadowed some of uh the the better that he has done since returning to Chapel Hill in this two 2.0 error