Audio By Carbonatix
The very first look at North Carolina during spring football practice did not bode well for Bill Belichick. His quarterback room struggled to throw a ball into a net from short range.
Mind you, it was just one single video from the very first practice of the year, but still. Not great.
The Tar Heels appeared to respond to the college football criticism with a very specific video from their return to the gridiron earlier this week. I find it hard to believe that it is not a direct shot at people like me, who clowned on the quarterbacks for absolutely no reason. And I was one of the more neutral parties!
This whole thing stems from a 35-second clip from practice on March 5. Bryce Baker, Ryan Browne and the other signal-callers threw at a net from approximately 10 feed out— if that. I completely understand that it takes some time to get dialed-in during spring ball, but I was blown away by some of the misses. Especially considering the distance. Even if it was a small sample size from one singular practice, there were a few throws that were just not even close to the intended target.
Baker will compete with Browne for the starting job over the next few months. The former is a four-star freshman. The latter transferred from Purdue during the offseason. Max Johnson is also in the mix but he continues to recover from a gruesome leg injury and may not be ready in time to make a legitimate push.
Regardless of how things are going to play out, North Carolina really wants you to know that its quarterbacks actually can throw a ball into a net. It posted a video from the first day back after spring break on Tuesday afternoon. The last clip shows Browne (I think) throw a ball right into the net.
There is a chance that this is a coincidence. Spring drills are limited so the video that comes from practice is also limited. A ball going into a net might be the most visually interesting clip from that day.
I doubt it. This feels very intentional. The video team in Chapel Hill saw all of the haters and decided to subtly fire back. You can’t convince me otherwise. Well played, Tar Heels. Well played.