Observations from the Tar Heels’ First Day of Spring Practice

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Tuesday morning proved to be fiery opening practice for the North Carolina football team.

The squad had their first of 15 practices, days that will culminate into the upcoming spring game on April 20th.

“We pushed spring back a week for the first time,” head coach Mack Brown said yesterday during media availability. “All the guys got back and got conditioned and seem to have handled themselves well on spring break.”

The program added in a slew of new faces with over 30 fresh-faced Tar Heels, including incoming freshmen transfers and personnel – perhaps most notably a different defensive coordinator in Geoff Collins.

“He’s really intense, really aggressive and brings a lot of energy,” said cornerback Alijiah Huzzie. “You have no choice, but to match his energy.”

Collins, who previously served as the head coach at Georgia Tech, exhibited that “dog mentality” type of energy from day one with the players – communicating to them that this is the passion they’re gonna get each day.

Huzzie was out for nearly two and half months with a fractured right fibula, yet had a good outing Tuesday – even getting an interception off freshman receiver Christian Hamilton during 7-on-7s.

And it seems as though the team is going to have to rely on their freshmen receiving core to deliver as veterans J.J. Jones and Gavin Blackwell are sidelined for the remainder of the spring with lower and upper body injuries respectively. Junior Kobe Paysour is also nursing foot injuries he sustained just a few games into the 2023 season.

Freshmen 4-star receiver Jordan Shipp shared first team reps along with Paul Billups II and Hamilton, showcasing each of their playmaking abilities as they got familiarized with the offense.

On the offensive side of the ball, the team seems short in two areas: running back and tight end.

Only four of the five backs were in action Tuesday morning—Caleb Hood, freshman Davion Gause, USC transfer Darwin Barlow and the 100-yard king Omarion Hampton. Hampton once again showed his ability to pull away from his defenders with ease and we also saw flashes from Barlow and Hood get good looks and be able to gain some yardage. Redshirt freshman Jordan Louie will miss the spring
with an undisclosed upper body injury.

But where it really gets tough is in the tight end room where coach Freddie Kitchens might have his work cut out for him. He has a relatively thin group to work with as John Copenhaver, Bryson Nesbit, Julien Randolph and Timmy Lawson will all miss the spring with various lower body injuries.

The most veteran player out of the three available—Deems May and Ryan Ward—was Texas A&M transfer Jake Johnson and he saw the majority of the action. Jake followed his brother Max, who is also a former Aggie, to join the Tar Heels once the portal opened up.

North Carolina is scheduled to have its Pro Day on March 28th at 2 p.m. where according to Coach Brown, a ton of NFL personnel including head coaches and general managers, will be visiting Chapel Hill.

Tar Heels participating in Pro Day include: LB Cedric Gray, WR Tez Walker, DE Myles Murphy and QB Drake Maye.

With the 2024 NFL Draft rapidly approaching, this will be teams final chance to get an assessment of these guys and how they fare against other top prospects who will also show out during their pro days. If these Tar Heels can impress, the question now is where they will land on draft day?