The North Carolina football team’s seniors have had a rough go of it. Since the start of the 2016 season, they have managed a 17-29 record, and will play their final home game in Kenan Stadium on Saturday as they host FCS foe Mercer.
The end result should be a victory for the Tar Heels, but this game is about more than winning. It is a chance for North Carolina to honor its seniors, in their first season under head coach Mack Brown, in front of a home crowd.
"They've really embraced what we're trying to ask them to do," defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said. "I think they're really good leaders, I think they compete and there's a bunch of them that have a future to continue to play."
After this season, UNC will lose a significant amount of talent on the defensive side of the ball, with key contributors Jason Strowbridge, Aaron Crawford and Myles Dorn all exhausting their eligibility. Those will be big losses for the Tar Heels, but there is still an abundance of young talent on defense. While the secondary has been beat up this season, Bateman is optimistic about the future for that position group.
“I'm excited about the the corner position moving forward, I'm excited about the safeties moving forward," he said. "The secondary, right now is, I don’t wanna say a liability, but right now it’s something we’ve gotta handle a little bit differently than we want to, and I think that’s going to become a real positive moving forward."
On the other side of the ball, the offense is in a different situation, with lineman Charlie Heck being the only major contributor departing after this season. Still, the coaching staff says the seniors will be sorely missed moving forward.
“Any one of those guys could babysit my daughters,” offensive coordinator Phil Longo said. “That’s how I feel when we’re talking about that group. I don’t know that I would miss them any less than some kids that I’ve had for three or four years.”
It is clear that the coaches have developed a connection with this senior class, even though they have only coached them for one season. Which is why the team says they will be ready to play against the Bears, while still keeping an eye on the future.
“We're excited for them, that they’ll have their last game in Kenan,” Brown said. “But, at the same time, we’ve got 12 new enrollees coming in January and that will be a great start for the future because these guys are putting us in a position where we’re relevant again.”
