Two years ago, Carolina fans we were eagerly perched in front of our TVs/streaming devices to see where Drake Maye would be drafted, knowing it was likely going to be a short night for the homegrown product. Sure enough, we saw him go to New England, and just this year he helped lead them to the Super Bowl with a season that was at an MVP level.
Since then, Mack Brown has been fired, a massive hire in Bill Belichick was derided quickly, got seemingly worse as the spring went on with off the field
gossip, and then the team just was flat-out boring on its way to wasting a ton of good will. A portal season has been nondescript, and last year’s quarterback Gio Lopez was profiled by David Hale at ESPN where it was outlined just how miserable experience football is.
All of that leads us to this weekend and a return to the NFL Draft and the signature event that the Belichick and Lombardi regime pointed to as the biggest sign of success—players being drafted. This weekend there is zero buzz about anyone from that football team being drafted, though UNC might have three players hear their names called. If it happens it won’t be until Saturday, and likely come with the “also drafted” list in between the multiple stories of the quarterbacks taken two days prior.
This also includes the fact that there will not be any sort of public spring practice. Last year UNC wanted to get Belichick front and center as much as possible, and now they want everything to be done secretly.
It does beg the question about how bad UNC football really has gotten. As fans we’ve been there for the end of the Fedora era, the very start of Mack Brown 1.0, the sputtering of Carl Torbush, John Bunting’s collapse, and the embarrassment of how the Butch Davis era suddenly ended. I’d argue that in this age where it’s easier to get into the College Football Playoff that this is the lowest UNC Football has been in quite some time. There is no buzz about the team going into next season while facing a home schedule that will likely be overrun with visiting fans.
Michael Malone has not helped the situation, either. His introduction to the Carolina fanbase was about as polar an opposite as you can ask for from Belichick. He appeared humbled to have the job, genuinely displayed good humor, and has jumped into the job building a team that at least appears to grasp with the realities of the sport. He also doesn’t seem very likely to spur a lot of gossip about off-court activities, and surely doesn’t come from a market that is still obsessed with how his career is going to prove a point about who really was responsible for the success.
But perhaps the biggest sign that UNC is at its lowest point is just how many fans will be actively rooting against the football team this upcoming season. I abhorred people who wanted to do that while Hubert Davis was the coach, because more losing meant a higher likelihood of firing. Actively rooting for your team to lose is just painful, and you can have an honest discussion about the quality of Davis’ coaching. At least for the most part you didn’t have to deal with the off-the-court stuff with him.
With Belichick, it’s probably the best to go ahead and root for it. Make it so untenable that he looks for a release valve somehow to save UNC a little bit of money so they can wipe the slate clean, we can all start over and not be stuck with this for a few more years.
The same night as Maye’s selection, Belichick was famously with Pat McAfee essentially dogging him as a quarterback. The disparity in how the two look now couldn’t be more different.
So, use the comments, is this just too bleak or has Carolina Football sunk to its lowest point?
