The Tar Heel football team in 2021 was riddled with inconsistencies and the same looks as if it can be said for the Tar Heel basketball team so far this season. Following arguably the best all-around performance of the season against Boston College, the Tar Heels were picked apart on Wednesday night by a less than stellar Notre Dame, especially on the defensive end of the floor. The Fighting Irish shot 47.5% (29-61) overall on the night and 41.9% (13-31) from beyond the arc in what was another questionable effort defensively from the Tar Heel that left fans with something to desire.
Whenever a player decides it is time to move from college to go to the NFL, one of the first things that get mentioned is the legacy that player is leaving behind. Some are great, some aren't, but nonetheless, every player leaves a legacy. UNC QB Sam Howell announced last Saturday that he would be leaving UNC for the 2022 NFL Draft. That decision doesn't come as a surprise as Howell entered the season high among every NFL Draft board, a preseason Heisman candidate, and the QB of a preseason top 10 team. While Carolina stumbled to the way of a 6-7 season, Howell still continued his stellar play, as he will leave Chapel Hill, holding 21 school records. The Tar Heels though were just 20-17 in games started by Howell, which brings into question what will his lasting legacy be at UNC? Brendan Marks joined Wilson & Norfleet earlier today, to answer just that:
The 2021 Tar Heel football season mercifully came to an end on Thursday afternoon in Bank of America Stadium with a disastrous 38-21 loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks, a team that came in with one of the worst offenses in all of college football. That loss may have been the final time that Sam Howell will suit up in his college football career and, like it seemed happened too often during his three year career in Chapel Hill, he walked away with a loss that he did everything to avoid with his play at the quarterback position. Howell has yet to make his intentions for his future public yet, but if this is it, it's hard not to feel like the Tar Heels weren't able to do enough with the best quarterback in school history.
In a press conference earlier this week, North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach Mack Brown said that this was going to be quarterback Sam Howell's final game in Kenan Stadium on Saturday afternoon when they face the Wofford Terriers for Senior Day. While Howell said later in the week that he has not made an official decision on that yet, it seems likely that with him looking like he is going to go in the first round of this year's NFL Draft that the Tar Heels will be searching for a new signal-caller ahead of next year's crucial fourth year under Brown second tenure in Chapel Hill.
Earlier today on Wilson & Norfleet, Gene Sapakoff from the Charleston Post & Courier joined for an insightful conversation around college football. Gene spoke on the chances that Wake Forest can still make the College Football Playoff, how Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Sweeney will rally the Clemson fan base, and explained why this past weekend's loss to Missouri was a typical South Carolina football loss. All of that conversation led to a question, about current North Carolina QB Sam Howell, who is a junior, participating in this weekend's Senior Day activities, suggesting that Howell will turn pro after the season concludes. When asked if that was the right decision for Howell, Sapakoff replied: " I think it is, and I'm guessing that Sam Howell and his pretty smart family have gotten some good advice on this from NFL people, agents, etc."
College Football Analyst for Stadium TV Michael Felder joined Kyle Bailey for his weekly visit on the Clubhouse as he previewed the upcoming latest College Football Rankings, and who should come out on top in the battle in Winston-Salem between Wake Forest and NC State. Michael first started by telling us what he expects from […]