CHAPEL HILL, NC — North Carolina coach Mack Brown had addressed 21 other positions on his football team’s newly released depth chart and spoken for more than 11½ minutes by the time he arrived at the most pressing and prominent spot related to Monday’s news conference:
The determination on the quarterback battle between Drake Maye and Jacob Criswelland who finally has gained the starting nod for the Tar Heels entering their season opener Saturday night against Florida A&M.
“At the quarterback position, Drake will walk out there first,” Brown said, naming Maye the starter. “We feel like that competition has been outstanding. Both could play. Drake has earned the right. I’m not going to get into why and what, because it’s very close and we’re pleased with both of them.”
That first comment about Maye being the first choice at quarterback — this weekend will mark his first starting assignment as a college player — effectively provided the tone Brown struck again and again at Kenan Football Center, adamantly at times, while UNC turned the corner from preseason camp into game-week mode.
The redshirt freshman Maye will be the first up as North Carolina encounters its first game of the post-Sam Howell quarterbacking era. The third-year sophomore Criswell, after narrowly losing out on securing the starting job, per the accounts of Brown and offensive coordinator Phil Longowill be waiting in the wings and ready to roll when called on.
Consider it a situation of riding the hot hand or, as Brown put it, even a football equivalent of make it, take it in basketball. Beyond that, the College Hall of Famer Brown, widely respected as a great communicator, didn’t want to delve into the details that produced the decision in favor of Maye.
Did chemistry with star receiver Josh Downs and the Tar Heels’ other young wideouts become a factor?
“I’m not getting into any quarterback competition,” Brown said. “We just felt like Drake should walk out there first. Both of them did really well, and there’s just very little difference between the two. If one quarterback’s not moving the ball, we’ll put the other one in. We’ve done that in the past. We just don’t have a plan other than … if you’re moving it, you stay in. If you’re not, let the other guy have a chance.”
How did Criswell, who backed up Howell across the previous two seasons, take the news? When did the UNC coaching staff settle on Maye as the starter? What has Maye done in preseason camp to win the job?
“I’m not getting into any of that,” Brown said. “I’ve said (Maye) earned the job. We’ve looked at every little thing, every day, from spring to now. It’s very close. If I say, ‘this was better,’ then everybody runs with, ‘oh my gosh, he did that so much better.’ It’s not. It’s really, really a close decision that we ended up just saying we feel like he’s earned the right to be out there first.
“We’re so lucky they’re both good, they’re both smart, they both get along, they both know the offense, they’ve both been here some. And we’re lucky that they can run the same offense. This has not been something that surprised them. They knew from Day One they were competing for this job. And I will say the only thing that matters is who we think right now gives us the best chance to win. Nothing else is important.”
Which, in addition to creating some healthy suspense with the buildup of his opening remarks, had to be the overarching point Brown sought to make Monday regarding the starter at quarterback.
No different, Brown intimated, than the other business of the day, such as identifying Harvard graduate transfer Spencer Rolland as North Carolina’s first-string right tackle on the offensive line, or Desmond Evans as the starting power end for the Tar Heels on the defensive line.
“If you’re being fair as a team,” Brown said, “and everybody’s important and everybody’s got a role, then we didn’t think it should be handled any differently.
“We have told these players we are not going to allow guys to walk out on the field in practice and not compete and not practice well, and play on Saturday. … And I thought we did that some last year. I thought we had some guys who didn’t compete all the time, and we let them play. That is changing in this program. We’ll never do that again.”
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