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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown announced Monday morning that redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye has beaten out third-year sophomore Jacolby Criswell and will start the Tar Heels’ season opener August 27 versus Florida A&M.
During his first Monday game-week press conference of the season, Brown informed the media he and quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator Phil Longo made the decision, backing up his plan to get it out there by the start of this week.
The Tar Heels opened fall camp July 29 and prcticed 19 tmes before having Monday off, which is a typical game-week format. The team was informed this weekend.
Brown wouldn’t get into specifics about either player, and doesn’t have a plan for when to put Criswell in. He did say Maye gives them the best chance to win.
Brown maintained throughout fall camp he wanted to name a starter by August 22. Thought was given to possibly name the starter earlier in fall camp, as they did with Sam Howell when he was a true freshman in 2019, but Howell had no media experience at UNC, and that was part of the motivation for Brown to name him and hav ehim take questions from the media to begin assimilating into the role. Both Maye and Criswell have held multiple press conferences with the media, so that allowed Brown and Longo to string out the competition into this past weekend.
Maye, who is almost 6-foot-5 and weighs 220 pounds, played 41 snaps in four appearances last fall. He was 7-for-10 passing with 89 yards and a touchdown, while he ran the ball six times for 62 yards.
A 4-star prospect who last attended Myers Park High School, he was the No. 147 overall prospect nationally in the class, including the No. 9 quarterback. He originally committed to Alabama, but later flipped to the Tar Heels.
Criswell arrived at UNC 12 months before Maye, but by the time they finished spring practice several months ago, Maye had fully caught up with the Arkansas native, and expressed he was ready to run the offense.
"Being in the offense, just repping it for a year, it feels a lot different than walking in like a deer in the headlights being thrown into spring practice," Maye said in June, the last time he was available to the media. "The game has slowed down for me a bit. We're doing a lot going back to the basics. I'm processing things better. Practice has started to come quicker and easier.
"I'm watching more live stuff and seeing what defenses are doing against certain formations. Watching the games at full speed instead of just trying to learn the basics like kindergarten."
Criswell, who is 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, has played more, but not by a significant margin with just 94 total snaps under his belt. He is 16-for-25 passing with 195 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and has run the ball 16 times for 94 yards and a score.
The players entered fall camp neck-and-neck, and as recently as the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte on July 21, Brown suggested the possibility both would play, and it may take time well into the season before either player separated. But that tune somewhat changed about Carolina’s first practice in camp. Perhaps Maye arrived ready to secure the job and played like it from the first rep, this causing Brown and Longo to tell the media they would like to make a decision a week or so before the opener.
Maye was ready to go in June, so it stands to reason he is more than chomping at the bit now.
"I think I'm an intelligent player and I can do a lot of things," Maye said. "I feel like there's not really a weakness in my game. Winning is a big deal to me and I try to make it my main priority. With me as the starting quarterback, we've got a good shot every time we go out there."
Maye’s father, mark, was a starting quarterback at UNC from 1984-87, and his older brother, Luke, was an All-ACC player on the Carolina basketball team, including the 2017 national champions. He was named the South Region Most Outstanding Player leading the Tar Heels to the Final Four.
The Tar Heels and Rattlers kick off August 27 at 8 PM, and the game will air on the ACC Network.
