CHAPEL HILL – Miami’s visit to Kenan Stadium on Sept. 7, 2019, was a pivotal game for the North Carolina football program under Mack Brown, and for then-sophomore center Brian Anderson.
For Brown and the Tar Heels, it was the second game of his second stint as UNC’s coach, and it was a thrilling win in front of a packed house and the Tar Heels’ second win in as many games. It was huge in fueling an outpouring of energy toward the program from a fan base that had mostly been through a lot over the previous decade.
For Anderson, opportunity came, and he grabbed it by the neck and never let go. Nick Polino went down in the second quarter with an injury, so Anderson ran onto the field in his place and has been Carolina’s starter ever since.
He played 52 snaps that night, and while Anderson didn’t grade out all that well, the experience and trust thrust upon him forced the Mobile, AL, to quickly acclimate, and he did.
Now, he is the anchor of an offensive line regarded as one of the better units in the nation on a team that flirted with the top 10 last season and likely will begin the 2021 campaign there. Yet, Anderson is clearly more comfortable talking about his teammates than himself. And he doesn’t lack for confidence.
“I think we're in a position now where we can see ourselves as top dogs in the ACC and in the country,” he said, noting how the program must handle prosperity better this coming fall. “And take that feeling of being comfortable up high and not have it be a surprise to us.
“So, I think as long as we're comfortable with being good and trying to be good, take being good to being great and be comfortable with that and be confident. I think that’s the biggest change in momentum.”
For him personally, Anderson wants to improve in his pass protection and his pre-snap calls at the line of scrimmage.
“I think, personally, I'm just trying to focus on any little corrections I can make,” he said. “Anything I can do to help make our unit better and more cohesive and I think that's something that we've really grown from.”
At 6-foot-2 and 305 pounds, Anderson played 722 snaps last season turning in his best performance in a loss at Florida State, when he graded out at 65.0, according to PFF. Like the rest of the unit, Anderson graded out better in run blocking than pass protection.
Improving pass protection has been a point of emphasis of the offense ever since last season ended. UNC allowed 34 sacks and ranked No. 100 in the nation last fall getting sacked 2.83 times per game.
The Tar Heels were ranked No. 94 in the nation by PFF last fall in pass blocking with a rating of 56.9, which placed the Heels 11th in the ACC. Anderson says it starts with him.
“Me personally, I could have done a better job in certain situations of being more clear when we’re doing tempo,” he said. “And as a unit, I think just moving forward every day in practice we’re taking the drills and the blitz pick-up drills with so much intensity, and I think we’re definitely getting a lot better on the o-line and look to limit those sacks.”
Another demand placed on Anderson and his older teammates is to lead one of the younger clubs in the ACC. Fifty sophomore, redshirt and true freshman will be on Carolina’s roster when fall camp begins in August, and only 21 scholarship Tar Heels had even participated in spring practice before this past March and April.
Anderson says the grizzled vets on the roster have a responsibility to make the coaches’ jobs less complicated than they already are.
“My class is all the old heads and we’re kind of taking ownership now,” he said. “Try to take things in our own hands and correct little things so the coaches don’t have to worry about that and they can more so worry about the important things.”
That’s Anderson and that’s fairly typical of a center. They have a ton on their plates, but so much of what they do and how they think is about the others on the field and in the program.
The older guys got him ready for that moment in 2019, and now he’s giving back and then some.
