North Carolina just had its worst back-to-back seasons since 2002-03 and, after losing to in-state rival NC State 34-28 in the season finale, Tar Heels athletic director Bubba Cunningham has decided that Larry Fedora will not be the North Carolina head coach next season. Take a look at the five programs that stand to benefit from the fresh start that is about to take place in Chapel Hill.
DUKE
The Blue Devils have been a developmental program under David Cutcliffe but he has had a few players come in and make an early impact. Those players have helped make Duke a difficult matchup in year’s past. Without North Carolina scooping up many of those in-state players, look for Cutcliffe to get a little more aggressive in-state. There is an opening here for the Blue Devils to land some players that can be two- or three-year contributors and Cutcliffe won’t pass up a chance to get after them.
NC STATE
The Wolfpack dominated in-state recruiting in the 2018 recruiting cycle and the Tar Heels changing to a new coach and new systems on both sides of the ball will set the UNC program back even further. That’s great news for NC State as Dave Doeren and his staff work to get their program to the next level. The goal for this program is to beat Clemson. They need to stockpile more talent to do that and that will be much easier without North Carolina getting in their way.
SOUTH CAROLINA
The Gamecocks are in position to take the next step as a program but they need a few more talented players to take them there. With the turnover in Chapel Hill, expect Will Muschamp and his staff to have a bit more success recruiting the state on their northern border. Of course, the state of North Carolina in known for producing pass rushers and South Carolina could use a few of those to try to catch up to arch-rival Clemson. South Carolina hasn’t signed more than three players from North Carolina since the 2016 recruiting class. That should change either this year or next year.
VIRGINIA TECH
It’s been a down year for Virginia Tech and the Hokies have a solid recruiting class even though it looks like it will take a little dip compared to the last two years. Why did they do so well on the recruiting trail over the last two years? It was partially because of how much success they had recruiting the state of North Carolina. That is going to be much easier with the turnover at North Carolina. Not having to worry about a coaching staff with a solid base should help the Hokies re-establish their recruiting efforts in the Tar Heel state.
WAKE FOREST
The Demon Deacons currently hold five in-state commitments and the coaching staff has been doing a great job of developing the talent they’ve already got on the roster. This has been an attractive destination for players looking to get on the field early in their careers and make an impact. Expect that trend to see a bit of an up-tic as some of the players in the region look towards stable, proven coaches like Dave Clawson.
