CHAPEL HILL – Jay-Jay McCargo was thrust into the heat of the battle in the second game of his redshirt season a year ago when starting center Cam Dillard went down with an injury versus Louisville.

McCargo performed pretty well, as North Carolina racked up points and yards in the three halves he was snapping the ball to Tar Heels’ quarterbacks. Everything looked pretty good to the naked eye, but under the surface, McCargo was having problems that his position coach, Chris Kapilovic, clearly saw.

McCargo filled in admirably for Dillard, but he wasn’t completely ready for 75 snaps a game. Not yet.

Nearly a year later, that’s no longer the case. Coach Kap handed out praise, but also constructive criticism that was the basis for McCargo’s offseason fuel. The growing pains all young linemen go through were simply elements to the lab experiment that was last season for the Alexandria, VA, native.

“The biggest difference is it’s become more second nature, it’s not overanalyzing it,” McCargo said about now versus 11 months ago. “It’s a lot smoother – my pre-snap reads and also going through the plays. It’s more so falling back on things instead of trying to remember what I’ve been taught.”

To really take a big step forward, identifying and fixing whatever was an issue the previous season is paramount. McCargo is comfortable in the role of a student, so gaining a full understanding of what ailed him the most last season wasn’t a problem.

And it has a trickle-down effect, too.

“Definitely the speed,” he said. “Everything has been slowed down, pressures. All of the time over the summer just looking at it and just knowing what to expect from that down lineman and where he’ll move based off the look.

“It definitely helped me a lot. It’s definitely a lot easier to block when you have a feel for what’s coming.”

McCargo is no longer playing behind anyone. Dillard finished his year at UNC after graduating at Florida, so McCargo is Carolina’s starting center.

With that comes a heap of responsibility he didn’t know a year ago. He was preparing, he was learning, and he was fighting. But he wasn’t the starter. And while so much of camp in 2018 is like it was in 2017, the 6-4, 305 pounder says there is one clear difference.

“There’s definitely a feeling that people are counting on you,” he said. “But, I don’t feel like I prepared (last year) like I was going to be a second-string player. In some ways, my preparation has gotten better, and that’s from learning how to prepare more efficiently.”

UNC’s offensive line has four new starters, though one could argue it’s just three given that William Sweet started the first three games before suffering a season-ending injury. So, other than Charlie Heck, the line isn’t all that experienced.

But, it has one of the most important and difficult components to success, says McCargo.

“We’re starting to really jell and get the feel,” he said. “And that’s something we kind of missed last year, getting a really cohesive line that we really have going for us this year.”

That begins with McCargo, the center. He’s the quarterback of the line and the often the most vocal offensive player on the field, especially when the Tar Heels are employing a silent cadence, which they do quite a bit.

And hearing McCargo speak, it sounds like he’s well on his way to mastering all that encompasses his role.