There’s a football schedule in place for this fall, at least for now. And Wednesday’s release by the ACC was enough to elicit some happy faces among North Carolina’s team the other night.
And why not? Like every other college football squad in the nation, the Tar Heels have been playing the waiting game really since spring practice was cancelled in March. The yo-yo effect wondering if a season will happen, and if so, who will they play had to take some toll on the players and everyone within the program.
But that news was met with a sense of joy, especially since it includes three teams not originally on the schedule, two of which are national programs, including the biggest one of all.
“The schedule’s exciting,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said during a zoom with the media Friday. “There’s a different pickup in their step (players) after the schedule was released to us. We got it when you got it. I think we were told it was being sent out at 4:25 and it was sent out at 4:30.
“So for our coaches, Notre Dame, Florida State and Syracuse are the three games that we have not prepared for, that they will start and are already in the process for getting game plans for those games. It’s an exciting schedule with the addition of these three for sure, and our guys are pumped about it and can’t wait to get started.”
The Notre Dame part is one of the more intriguing moves the conference has made, perhaps ever, even if it’s just for one season.
An independent, the Fighting Irish have never been in a conference for football but have been members of the ACC for everything else since 2013. The league has drawn national criticism and praise for allowing Notre Dame in for football for just this season. Of course, it could be the groundwork for something more long term, but regardless, Brown is thrilled with the move.
“I think it's great because it's a tremendous program,” he said. “They do it right. They do it with class. They go by the rules. (Irish Coach) Brian Kelly is a very good friend of mine, and anytime you can take a brand like Notre Dame and tie it to your league, it helps.
“People can say anything they want, but any team in America would jump on Notre Dame right now if they wanted to join. So the fact that we've got them for a year, good for us, good for John Swofford, good for Notre Dame. It's a very unique situation. Whether it's the future or not, who knows.”
The ACC put in place a 10-game league schedule plus member schools can play one nonconference game. In league play, UNC will host NC State, Wake Forest, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and the Fighting Irish and will travel to Miami, FSU, Virginia, Boston College and Duke.
Brown said UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham and Rick Steinbacher, a former player of his at Carolina and current Senior Associate A.D. in charge of Capital Projects and Facilities, are working on nailing down an 11th opponent for the Tar Heels.
As for getting Brown’s input, not now.
“I've been so overloaded,” he said. “I've told them to do whatever's best. I've said from the beginning I want us to make sure we're all safe. Don't call me about any decision because I'm going to tell you if we're all safe, let's do it, and they're going to do that anyway.
“The other part of it I said we've got to make some money at some point so whatever you all need to do after safety is concerned to get the right people to play to make some money, do it, and I'm all in. Those are really the only two things I've said at all.”
The stipulation by the league is the non-ACC game must take place in that ACC team’s home state. UNC’s two non-league home games originally scheduled for this fall were Connecticut and James Madison. As of now, both schools still plan on playing this season, so it’s possible one could make the trek to Chapel Hill. at some point
No matter who the other opponent is, the Tar Heels still don’t know when they will even play a game. The ACC is working to lay down some dates forcing Brown’s staff to put together three plans preparing for an opener.
“What we've done is we've taken a practice schedule for Sept. 12, Sept. 19 and Sept. 26 and we've got every practice worked out because if you have three extra weeks to practice, I mean, you could wear your team out,” Brown said. “So normally you have 25 practices available before your first game. The NCAA is still giving you that.
“So if it's moved back, then they're going to give us those 25 practice opportunities in those first four weeks, but then we've got to figure out how do we do game week if we play the 12th instead of when we were supposed to play the fourth.”
While questions still loom regarding the schedule, the jolt the Heels got learning about their 10-game league slate and it included was needed and widely embraced.
