Matt Goldin: First off, for the folks who don’t know you, how about an introduction?
Alston Meadows: Why I’m this site’s favorite Carolina fan of course. I’m a native North Carolinian who went to Clemson
for two years (Tajh’s senior year and Deshaun’s freshman year) before transferring back home to go to UNC. I’m a huge fan of both schools in all sports despite people telling me for my whole life that I need to pick a side. I will admit it’s been harder to keep up with things since moving out west to Arizona right before COVID, which is why you may not have seen my infamous Carolina blue tiger paw profile picture around these parts in some time.
MG: UNC’s hiring of Bill Belichick has made waves nationally and has more people, for better or worse, talking about the Tar Heels. What was your initial reaction to the move? Has that opinion changed any this season?
AM: I want the record to show that I was against it from the start. I could kinda get the thinking behind it: that the new era of CFB with NIL and rev share is closer to a professional game than it is to pre-COVID CFB, so who better to lead your program into the new era than the most successful pro football coach of all time? This, of course, is flawed reasoning, but at least there was some sort of reasoning behind it. Having made my aforementioned move to Arizona 5 years ago and being surrounded by ASU fans, however, made me keenly aware of just how badly it can go when you experiment with an over-the-hill NFL coach looking for a paycheck in his retirement. As for if my opinion has changed? I mean we had a great first 2 drives of the season against TCU, but it’s been steeply downhill from there. So no, I’m still out on the whole project until proven otherwise.
MG: Tar Heel football has always taken a back seat to basketball in Chapel Hill, but over the past couple of decades North Carolina has made some big strides. Does going out and hiring one of the biggest names in football reflect the University as a whole putting more value to football? And with UNC men’s basketball in a transitional period after Roy Williams’s retired, are some fans leaning more into football, kind of like we have seen with Clemson fans and men’s basketball the past two seasons?
AM: I think that would be fair to say. It’s fairly similar to Clemson in that one sport is still very clearly the king in the hearts and minds of the fanbase, but the gap is closing a bit. Unfortunately living out west means I’m not as immersed as I once was obviously, but by all accounts the atmosphere around campus before the TCU game was about as close to my memories of big game days in the upstate as Chapel Hill has seen since Mack Brown 1.0 in the 90s. It’s safe to say the athletic department is taking the gameday atmosphere seriously finally, adding such features as a concert series (including Ludacris this Saturday hilariously taking the stage around 9am thanks to the noon kickoff time.)
MG: Who do Tiger fans need to watch out for on Saturday?
AM: Freshman RB Demon June (35) has been one of few bright spots for this Tar Heel team, averaging close to 100 all purpose yards per game after not seeing the field at all vs TCU. I’ve heard some murmurs about super senior QB Max Johnson (14) taking over if South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez (7) continues his disappointing performance, but that’s mostly from disgruntled fans and I’m not holding my breath.
MG: What is your prediction for Saturday’s game?
AM: I see this as the classic “get right” game for Clemson. Both teams have obviously been super disappointing relative to the preseason hype, but the Heels haven’t even looked competitive against the likes of TCU and UCF. This UNC defense is the perfect antidote for Cade Klubnik’s early season woes, and I’m not sure I have much confidence in anyone to make one-on-one tackle on Adam Randall. Maybe Belichick will be able to come up with some new wrinkles over the bye week, but my OG alma mater takes this one 28-10.
MG: And finally, where can the folks find you?
AM: Not sure even I would recommend following me on X The Everything App, but I’m @alston_meadows if any of y’all are so inclined. I don’t have any work of my own to plug, but my brother’s band Fust will be playing on the CBS Morning Show on November 1, so everyone mark your calendars and check that out.
