Survey: Tar Heel State prospects weigh in on Mack Brown hire
MORE SHRINE BOWL: Takeaways from Day 2 | Latest from Sam Howell
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- North Carolina sent shockwaves across the college football world when it elected to bring back former head coach Mack Brown to take over the program earlier this month. While Brown and his resume are well known to many college football fans, current recruits weren’t even born yet when Brown previously coached the Tar Heels and most hadn’t even started kindergarten when he led Texas to a national championship. With that in mind, we caught up with several players from the Tar Heel State at the annual Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas to get their thoughts on Brown and how he might fare in his efforts to get the program back on track.
“I think they’re going to be very successful. Having him back there, I think they’ll get back to what they used to be.” -- Three-star West Virginia offensive line commit Parker Moorer
“I don’t really know because I never really looked into Mack Brown. They way people have been talking about him, he’ll help that program progress and bring a different feeling there.” -- Four-star Tennessee defensive back commit Anthony Harris
“I have a cousin that played at UNC for Mack Brown, Stephon McQueen. He’s really cool with [defensive backs coach] Dre Bly. There may be something happening up there.” -- Two-star Garner, N.C. defensive back Daiveon Carrington
“Looking at his track record and history, I think he’ll do better than Larry Fedora. That’s something good to bring to UNC football.” -- Three-star South Carolina linebacker commit Derek Boykins
“I think it could be pretty good. I know he coached my uncle there, so I know he’s a good coach.” -- Three-star Duke offensive line commit Jacob Monk
“From my perspective, they’re good now. They picked up a couple commitments over the weekend and he’s doing a good job. He’s a good coach.” -- Three-star Duke wide receiver commit Jordan Waters
“I heard he was a good coach. He seems like he’s going to change things. He reached out to me but I’m not going anywhere. I’m signing in the Early Signing Period.” -- Rivals250 NC State defensive tackle commit Joshua Harris
“UNC has always had a good recruiting class from North Carolina so if he can figure out how to use his athletes correctly, they could do very well.” -- Two-star Georgia Tech offensive line commit Larry Dowdy
“I think it’s an interesting hire. A lot of schools are trying to hire young guys. Mack Brown is a great coach and has a great history. I think it’s a really good hire for them.” -- Rivals100 Florida State quarterback commit Sam Howell
“The biggest reason for me committing to North Carolina again was coach Brown. He says he's trying to build something big. There are a lot of seasoned guys in the program now that are coaching and know what they're talking about.” - Three-star North Carolina wide receiver commit Emery Simmons
“I think he’s a good coach. I grew up watching him coach at Texas. My pops is a big fan of Texas so I always knew about Mack Brown. When I heard he got hired, I thought it was pretty cool because he’d be back in our state.” -- Two-star Charlotte linebacker commit Jaylon Sharpe
“I think he can turn around a lot because he’s a well-known coach. That’s one way to attract players. With him signing Dre Bly as the defensive backs coach, there will definitely be more defensive backs coming there.” - Three-star Virginia Tech athlete commit. J.R. Walker
“He’s a UNC legend, a legendary head coach. I feel like he can turn the program around. He’s bringing in some great assistant coaches that coach everybody up and get this program switched around.” -- Rivals250 North Carolina wide receiver commit Khafre Brown
“I think with him at the helm they’re going to go after more in-state guys, which the old staff didn’t do at all. I think that will be really good for them because North Carolina has a lot of talent and a lot of North Carolina talent wants to go to UNC.” -- Rivals100 Wake Forest wide receiver commit Nolan Groulx
“It is very interesting for him to come back and the way he came back. He had a good group of kids there over the weekend and commit. I didn’t know he was the coach there before until my dad told me.” - Three-Star NC State tight end commit Kam Walker
“I was very excited because I knew what he was going to bring to the table. I know he knows how to coach a national championship team. I knew he had been there before and had success.” -- Two-star North Carolina long snapper commit Drew Little
