Gene Chizik has to repeat what he did during his first stay at UNC.
Drake Maye’s first-game heroics might have won the night, but Carolina’s defensive story was not so positive. The talented Florida A&M offense racked up 279 passing yards and stayed in the game until the fourth quarter despite supposedly being overmatched.
New defensive coordinator Gene Chizik was hired to replicate what he did when joining Larry Fedora’s staff before the 2015 season, and the Tar Heels went on to give up 15 fewer points and 62 fewer yards per game than in 2014 while winning the ACC Coastal Division.
The Heels did even better the next year before Mitch Trubisky turned pro and Chizik left coaching; then the 2017 offense couldn’t score enough and eventually led to the first of two terrible seasons, Fedora’s firing and Mack Brown’s return to coaching at his old school.
Now, the head coach and DC find themselves in the same position as the Tar Heels were before turning around their defense and program. Deposed coordinator Jay Bateman’s numbers got progressively worse during his three seasons in Chapel Hill.
The reunion of Chizik and Brown had some good moments, such as two takeaways and three sacks. But the Rattlers are not the same caliber of team that Carolina will face once Power 5 play begins with Notre Dame on September 24 followed by eight straight ACC games.
Fans watching Saturday night saw too many FAMU receivers get open and running backs slipping into the edges of Chizik’s defense, which Brown acknowledged afterward by saying it was the first time in five years that his old friend and colleague was calling defenses.
Depending on cornerback Tony Grimes’ injury, the secondary might become even more of an Achilles Heel behind a deeper and tougher defensive front that held FAMU to 56 yards rushing.
If the App State game in Boone Saturday is close, that may signal the Tar Heels aren’t quite ready for the big time.
Unlike Bateman, who coached most of his career from the sideline, Chizik is calling defenses from up in the coaches’ box with co-DC Charlton Warren as his sideline manager. The “friendly skies of Carolina football” has long been the derogatory nickname for the Tar Heels’ pass defense, and Chizik is on the spot to shut that down again.
Featured image via Inside Carolina/Ross Martin
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