UNC Football: The Dream Team, Fed-Ex Style

The concept is a simple one yet it took a coach with no ties to the state of North Carolina to think about it, the execution will also be tricking but it is brilliant non the less.

#NCDREAMTEAM

Yes folks it is that simple but it strikes at the heart of something that has been so hard for UNC for so long, that is locking down the top football players in North Carolina. Larry Fedora gets it, PERIOD. To be the great program UNC wants to be, first and foremost he must build relationships with HS coaches and players in North Carolina and get them to buy into the amazing opportunity they have right here in the state of North Carolina. How does he go about doing it well he invents the concept of a North Carolina Dream Team at UNC. At its heart it focuses on building a 22 man recruiting class mostly from the 30 best prospects in the state. Within two months Larry Fedora has handed out scholarship offers to the top 23 players in the state of North Carolina. While handing out those offers he also has talked to every one of those players about the concept of taking ownership and pride in their state and it’s most prestigious University. That concept is simply something for the 2013 class that Larry Fedora and recruits know as the NCDREAMTEAM. In a brilliant move coach Fedora brought in 21 of the recruits from NC that he had offered for the Duke-UNC game. The “Junior Day” proved what I already knew to be true Larry Fedora can recruit in a BIG TIME way.

Two players joined NCDreamTeam that night. RB Kris Francis is the perfect back in Larry Fedora’s offense he is a top 20 prospect in state and reminds me of a bit larger version of Giovanni Bernard. Ultra talented S prospect Korrin Wiggins, who will likely remain underrated because of his early commitment, is a hard hitting safety that UNC has needed for a couple years. The newest commit is WR Jordan Fieulleteau, who is a big polished possession WR, was the player I thought would be UNC’s first 2013 commit. OLB LaChaston Smith from Statesville, NC is the player I have pegged as UNC’s next member of the NCDreamTeam.

Bottom line is Larry Fedora has started out with a plan and it is working already. He knows that NC produces a ton of talented D1 prospects and he also knows he needs a fair share to wear Carolina Blue every year if he wants this program to compete on a championship level. The best UNC team that “could’ve been” (2010 team) was headlined by elite players from NC, Coples, Little, Carter, Sturdivant, Williams, Burney just to name some. Will Fedora sign a class of 22 prospects from NC? No, he won’t but I do believe he will get his fair share and more importantly for the long run he will establish relationships in NC. These relationships with high school coaches and players are things that have been marginal at best in the past for coaches at UNC especially in the Charlotte and Greensboro area. I believe UNC’s 22 man class will have between 10-15 kids from NC. When you realize that last years class only had 6 players from NC that is a big step up. I think the NCDreamTeam is something we can all get behind and that is the beauty of it.

Below are the players from NC that I am going to go WAY out on a limb and say UNC signs to their 2013 class come Feb. of next year. Their current ranking in the state of NC is in parentheses:

OG Tyrone Crowder (#2, Top 50 in Country)
WR MarQuez North (#1, Top 25 in Country)
DE Nazair Jones (#5, Top 250 in Country)
ATH Johnathan Alston (#7)
CB Brian Walker (#9)
OLB LaChaston Smith (#12)
OT R.J. Prince (#14)
WR Uriah LeMay (#15)
QB Riley Ferguson (#17)
S Korrin Wiggins (#19) – COMMIT
RB Khris Francis (#20) – COMMIT
WR Keeon Johnson (#21)
WR Jordan Fieulleteau (#23) – COMMIT
DE Lewis Neal (#28)
ATH Anthony Covington (#29)