UNC Football: Expect the Unexpected in 2017

With the positive direction that the UNC Football program is heading in, can we expect more from Larry Fedora this year? 

Coaches will gather in Charlotte this Thursday to do interviews with countless media members on the expectations for this year’s season at the Atlantic Coast Conference Kickoff.

But this year is a first for Larry Fedora.

Fedora’s team will be different than in year’s past as he has relied more on offense for his tenure in Chapel Hill.

With the departure of Mitch Trubisky,  in what we most people thought this year would be his senior season and an outside shot of at least Heisman conversation, the offense will now rely on grad transfers at the two most important positions on the offense.

Brandon Harris will be under center for the Tar Heels this year. He was mostly unproven in his time at LSU as the Tigers relied on the ground game while he was there.

With a really good receiving core this year he will have a chance to prove himself, through the air.

UNC also still very young at running back with sophomore Jordon Brown the favorite to win the starting job out of camp.

They brought in Stanton Truitt, a grad transfer from Auburn, to help out the with Fedora’s two or three back attack.

He will get quality time in the backfield. UNC’s offense may not be as potent as years past, but it may shock some fans and be pleasantly surprising.

Then there is the defense.

With Gene Chizik at the helm for the past couple of years, it definitely has improved from a disaster in 2014.  He has decided to step down and spend more time with his family and Fedora went within his system and promoted John Papuchis as defensive coordinator.

This could be the year that the UNC defense carries the team. I’m super excited about a group that has been together a couple of years now and gone through the aches and pains of growth.

With seven of the eleven on defense that are juniors and seniors, we finally have a veteran bunch.

With the experience and athleticism of guys like Dajaun Drennon, Cayson Collins and Andre Smith, North Carolina will have an advantage on the front line of its defense .

With guys like Donnie Miles and M.J. Stewart holding down the secondary, the Tar Heels should be able to pull down some interceptions this year. That’s something that they weren’t able to do last season.

I’m super excited about this year’s defense. Nothing spells UNC football tradition like a solid defense.

Expectations for 2017-18?

It’s hard to tell right now. Does the offense click early with Harris at quarterback? Does this veteran defense finally start firing on all cylinders? Can the UNC offense stay on the field long enough to give its defense a rest? A lot of unanswered questions remain for Tar Heel fans.

One thing that fans should be excited about is the overall direction that the program is heading in. Fedora made some things happen this off-season to give his offense a chance to win this year. My prediction is a 8-4 regular season and I think it is a good one.

If they can make it to a bowl game, then that presents an opportunity to get another win there.

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With this year’s team, we can probably expect the unexpected. I hope that is a good thing. I think we are better than 8-4, which means we have to win a game that we aren’t expected to.