UNC Football: Mack Brown, Tar Heels searching for future quarterback

The UNC football program extended its latest scholarship offer on Tuesday to a dual-threat quarterback from the state of Tennessee.

In Mack Brown’s first full season back on the sideline, he and the North Carolina Tar Heels secured a top-20 class for the 2020 recruiting cycle. They’re off to an even better start with the class of 2021, where they’ve currently got the nation’s No. 4-ranked class, which includes 10 4-star prospects and 14 of the top 40 recruits in the state of North Carolina.

They’ve already got one of college football’s best signal callers in rising sophomore Sam Howell, as well as commitments from a pair of promising young quarterbacks in Jacolby Criswell and Drake Maye. But none of that has kept Mack Brown and company from hitting the recruiting trail in search of the next crop of talented players, including the quarterback position, where they appear to be as stacked as any program in the nation.

They extended their latest scholarship offer on Tuesday afternoon to Ty Simpson, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2022. A junior at Westview High School in Martin, Tennessee, Simpson is one of the fastest rising prospects in his class, and arguably the best in his home state. Though he’s not yet ranked in the 247Sports Composite, the Top247 gives him a rating of 93, which makes him a 4-star recruit. He’s No. 91 overall, third at his position and first in the state of Tennessee.

Simpson already has offers from nearly three-dozen schools, including some of college football’s top programs. His growing list includes Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, USC and Virginia Tech. So, to say that his recruitment is one of the more high profile affairs in the 2022 class is no overstatement.

Where North Carolina or any of Simpson’s other schools currently stand in his recruitment is unknown, and it’s still a bit early to even guess. He’s yet to tip his hand at any favorites, if he has any at all. It’s safe to say that Simpson will make a number of campus visits before whittling his list down too far, and naming a group of finalists. And don’t be surprised when offers continue to pour in until the time that he makes a final decision.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on the Tar Heels’ recruiting efforts, and everything UNC football.