The UNC football program's special teams unit needs the punt team to improve
The UNC football program's offense will lack a known quantity at quarterback for the first time in five years. How will the Tar Heels put points on the board if Omarion Hampton can't punch the ball into the end zone?
Special teams will be more important than it has been in a while.
What We Know
North Carolina returns their starting placekicker but loses their Irish punter to graduation. The Heels only have their Australian punter on the roster, who performed slightly better than Australia's Olympic break dancer in the 2023 season. It remains to be seen if additional competition is brought in before the season starts.
Alijah Huzzie returns from injury and should handle punt return duties. Kickoff return could feature any number of young receivers; just for the love of God, don't have Omarion Hampton risking his health returning kicks!
The Key Players
Noah Burnette - The returning placekicker
Tom Maginness - The returning punter. Could be challenged by freshman Lucas Osada if he continues to struggle, especially early on in the season.
Alijah Huzzie - Presumed punt returner
Outlook
Placekicker Noah Burnette is back. The graduate student placekicker had a nice bounce-back 2023 season after a rough 2022. Burnette was perfect from extra points (43-43) and hit 19-20 field goals, including 6-6 from kicks 40-49 yards out. He did not have any attempts 50 yards or longer, but Carolina did not find themselves in range to try any of those kicks with the clock running out.
That performance is streets ahead of his 2022 campaign when he was 15-21, including a 2-4 performance against NC State that cost the UNC football program the game.
Burnette banished his competition from last season. Cincinnati transfer Ryan Coe was brought in to compete with Burnette, but lost the starting job after an apparent injury against App State. Coe will now ply his trade at historic ACC-rival Cal.
Clemson transfer Liam Boyd returns to push Burnette. He wasn't an automatic touchback the way Jonathan Kim was, but he did reach the end zone on 49 of 66 kickoffs. We'll see if he can transfer that power into field goals in 2024.
Tom Maginness did not set the world on fire after coming in for Ben Kiernan, who only played four games in his final season in Chapel Hill. The Irish punter was third-team All-ACC. Maginness came in and the Tar Heels finished the season bottom of the ACC in yards per punt (37.6) and net yards per punt (34.5).
If the Heels are pinned against their goal line and can't get a first down, Maginness becomes a huge liability. We'll see if the competition comes through the transfer portal. I don't know if things have changed since I was in school at Carolina, but there weren't exactly a ton of punters hanging out in the Quad.
Alijah Huzzie didn't return punts at the beginning of the season and then got injured during the Clemson game. But when he did field punts, he was extremely effective. Huzzie averaged 16 yards per punt return, with 81 return yards and a touchdown from two kicks at Pittsburgh. Having Huzzie, an elite defender, on punt return is a no-brainer, as he has shown return skills and can help cover/tackle in case of a fake punt.
North Carolina has a number of fast, young receivers who can return kick-offs. Sophomore Chris Culliver was impressive in his debut returning kicks during the Mayo Bowl. He had five returns for 105 yards, including a long of 35 yards. Culliver should be first in line unless a true freshman steps up in summer camp.
Depth Chart
Kicker: Noah Burnette, Liam Boyd, Lucas Osada
Punter: Tom Maginness
Punt Returner: Alijah Huzzie
Kick Returning: Chris Culliver