UNC Football Preview: Special Teams

Our UNC Football previews for the 2019 season continue with the special teams unit and what we should expect this season

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Ah, special teams.

The unit that a lot of fans forget about but one that almost always has a major impact in every game whether it’s kicking, punting and even on returns. For the Tar Heels, the special teams unit has been a struggle over the past few years and in 2019 there will be a big turnover.

UNC will return just two key players on special teams in returner Dazz Newsome and kicker Noah Ruggles. Newsome is UNC’s best return man and showed that in 2018. But as for Ruggles? Well, he kicked in just one game last season.

Let’s get into the position preview for special teams.

WHAT WE KNOW

As noted above, there is going to be some new faces to get familiar with this season for the Tar Heels. Let’s start at punter.

The Tar Heels are going to start a true freshman at punter and it’s likely going to be Ben Kiernan over Jonathan Kim. Kiernan was a two-star recruit in the 2019 class and was ranked as the No. 14 punter overall. But he’s not the only true freshman that will have an impact on special teams.

Long snapper Drew Little will handle those duties as a true freshman, committing to the Tar Heels back in April of 2018. This is something to note however.

As for the kicker position, Ruggles attempted two PAT’s in the win over Western Carolina and made both. But that’s his only experience.

He was ranked as the No. 9 kicker on 247 Sports in the 2018 recruiting class and has even stood out at the Kohl’s Kicking Camp. Ruggles was named the starter on the Week 1 depth chart, beating out Jonathan Kim and transfer Michael Rubino.

Early on, the timing between the long snapper with his punter and kicker will be key. With two true freshman back there and a redshirt sophomore, there’s the possibility that things could get ugly. While special teams can often win you games, they could also be a disaster and lose you games too.

This would be the area of concern for UNC fans.

THE KEY PLAYERS

Kicker Noah Ruggles

He has limited experience as a field goal kicker in college as the Tar Heels are looking to replace Freeman Jones who had his own struggles. The good news is things probably can’t get much worse at kicker for the Tar Heels, right?

We will see early on as this could be an early to watch.

Punter Ben Kiernan

Another area to keep an eye on this season as the Tar Heels will be hoping to flip the field position as often as possible. We don’t know what to expect from the freshman Kiernan but if he struggles early it could force Brown to go for it more on fourth downs this season.

Return man Dazz Newsome

This is the highlight of the special teams unit. Newsome took over as the punt returner last season and excelled. He should have that same role this season while also working on kickoff returns with a mixture of other players.

OUTLOOK

UNC’s most explosive return man is now gone in Anthony Ratliff-Williams, but there is some talent there to replace him. The first guy up will be Newsome who will likely see time at return man for both punts and kickoffs.

With college football implementing their new fair catch rule in 2018, kickoff returns have changed and more teams are electing to just fair catch the ball and start at the 25. It’s the smart way to play it and UNC should follow suite.

As for punt returns, Newsome will likely handle the duties most of the time but senior Corey Bell, Jr. is listed as the backup and will have a role, especially if UNC has a package for Newsome they really like on the upcoming offensive series.

Special teams should be better in 2019 but there is still some doubt regarding the unit.

DEPTH CHART

Starters: Noah Ruggles (PK), Ben Kiernan (P), Michael Rubino (Kickoffs), Dazz Newsome (PR), Michael Carter (KR), Drew Little (LS),
Backups: Jonathan Kim (PK), Jonathan Kim (P), Corey Bell, Jr (PR), Antonio Williams (KR), Trevor Collins (LS)