UNC Football Recruiting: Stat proves Tar Heels on the rise

The UNC Football program is coming off their best season in years, finishing 8-4 with an Orange Bowl appearance in 2020. They did so in Mack Brown’s second year in his return as head coach as the program is trending upwards with a lot of potential.

UNC will go into the 2021 season with a lot of expectations and one of the favorites to win the ACC Coastal Division.

When digging deep into the recruiting rankings over the past few years, you will see that the usual suspects are near the top. Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, and Georgia are all programs that usually turn in top 5 recruiting classes and it’s a big reason for their success.

CBS Sports recently put out an article of the top recruiting programs over the past five years, using the average of their class finishes from 247 Sports. The results show that the Tar Heels are on the right track forward as Brown and his staff came in at No. 21 overall with an average class ranking of 23.

Here is how UNC’s classes broke down over the past five years:

• 14th (2021)
• 19th (2020)
• 32nd (2019)
• 23rd (2018)
• 27th (2017)

Brown has had his hands on three recruiting classes with his first one in 2019 as he essentially had to start from behind after being hired at the end of the year. Even with that, 32nd is a respectable class.

But the main point is that UNC is trending upward with these classes as you can see in both 2020 and 2021 with Top 20 classes. They have a few recruits singed in 2022 already as they hope to build their momentum with these classes and turn in another Top 20 class.

This should pay dividends in the future as the Tar Heels continue to get better.

For more on the UNC Football program, please make sure to check back with Keeping It Heel.