North Carolina head coach Mack Brown addressed the media at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte, Thursday. Brown returns to North Carolina after winning the 2005 national championship at Texas and a detour into television broadcasting. Brown was 69-46 with the Tar Heels from 1988-1997. Each of his last two seasons in Chapel Hill produced ten wins.
Brown takes over for Larry Fedora and inherits a team that won just two games a season ago and was just 1-7 in conference play. Coach Brown hopes to combine the passing concepts of the Air Raid offense with the power run game that led to success in his first tenure at UNC.
Coach Brown addressed a variety of topics from the podium including why he returned to coaching, why he chose the Air Raid offense, how the landscape of the ACC has changed and why he retired from Texas.
North Carolina Tar Heels 2-9 1-7
Mack Brown 1st season* 0-0 0-0 *Coached UNC from 1988-97
| 2018 | ACC Rank | NCAA Rank | |
| Points Per game | 27.4 | 11 | 78 |
| Rushing Yards per game | 193.0 | 6 | 44 |
| Passing yards per game | 249.1 | 6 | 48 |
| Total yards per game | 442.1 | 5 | 31 |
| Defense | |||
| Points allowed per game | 34.5 | 13 | 107 |
| Rushing yards allowed per game | 218.8 | 13 | 111 |
| Passing yards allowed per game | 228.8 | 9 | 64 |
| Total yards allowed per game | 447.6 | 12 | 105 |
The Tar Heels return 13 starters; 6 on offense, and 7 on defense.
Statistical Leaders Returning
| RB | Games | Yards | TD | AVG |
| Antonio Williams | 9 | 635 | 5 | 5.9 |
| WR | Games | Yards | TD | REC |
| Dazz Newsome | 11 | 602 | 3 | 44 |
| Defense | ||||
| Tackles | TFL | INT | Sacks | |
| Tomon Fox | 27 | 8.5 | 0 | 2.5 |
| Jason Strowbridge | 36 | 8.0 | 0 | 5.0 |
| Dominique Ross | 47 | 3.5 | 0 | 0.5 |
| Trey Morrison | 46 | 5.5 | 0 | 2.0 |
| Myles Dorn | 54 | 2.5 | 2 | 0 |
Returning Starters Offense
RB Antonio Williams
WR Dazz Newsome
TE Carl Tucker
LT Charlie Heck
LG Nick Polino
RG Billy Ross
Returning Starters Defense
DE Tomon Fox
DT Jason Strowbridge
LB Dominique Ross
CB Patrice Rene
CB/S Trey Morrison
S Myles Wolfolk
S Myles Dorn
Key Losses
QB Nathan Elliott
WR Anthony Ratliff-Williams
LT William Sweet
DE Malik Carney
DE Tyler Powell
LB Cole Holcomb
S J.K. Britt
K Freeman Jones
