North Carolina Football: What direction are Tar Heels headed in 2017?
North Carolina football’s hopes of a successful football season in 2017 rest on head coach Larry Fedora’s ability to make something out of nothing.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have had a good run over the last two seasons, especially in 2015 where they notched 11 wins. However, head coach Larry Fedora has his work cut out for him in 2017.
Chicago Bears’ draft pick and former Tar Heel quarterback Mitch Trubisky is gone, leaving Fedora with the task of replacing a star gunslinger for the second year in a row. Moreover, running back Elijah Hood has also departed, now with the Oakland Raiders. The receiving corps looks a lot different with Ryan Switzer, Bug Howard and Mack Hollins all gone. A lot of responsibility now falls on senior receivers Jordan Cunningham and Austin Proehl to lead the offense.
Most of the pressure will fall on LSU transfer quarterback Brandon Harris, who never quite found his footing with the Tigers. He should benefit more from Fedora’s system than he did with Les Miles’. Dual-threat quarterbacks have faired well with Fedora (i.e. Marquise Williams).
With the ACC expected to have many good teams from top to bottom this season, that makes it even harder for North Carolina. The Tar Heels could fall behind four teams in the Coastal division quickly. Virginia Tech, Miami, Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh will all have extremely talented teams in 2017 — not to mention how tough the Atlantic division will be.
Vegas has the Heels’ 2017 win total over/under seven, however, according to ESPN’s Phil Steele, UNC is one of the most overrated teams in the country even with the low over/under.
North Carolina could easily fall behind the rest of the ACC in just the first half of the schedule. In fact, the Tar Heels face Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Pitt and N.C. State on the road. The home schedule looks even more difficult with reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals coming to town, along with the Notre Dame, Duke, California and Miami.
That’s a daunting schedule for any team to play, let alone a UNC squad that experienced the loss of so many starters.
It’s hard to say which direction the Tar Heels are trending right now. It seems like they could have easily had themselves at least a 10-win season in 2016. Three losses to N.C. State, Duke and Stanford by a combined 10-point margin was the difference between an 8-5 or 11-2 record (which would have been UNC’s second consecutive 11-win season).
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If UNC’s fortunes are reversed this season in some close games, then they could actually be looking at a nice season in Chapel Hill in 2017. Yet, if their luck stays the same, with the amount of talent and inexperience left on the roster it could be a rough year for Tar Heel fans.