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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media Wednesday afternoon after all 17 signed letters of intent for the Tar Heels’ class of 2022 had arrived in Chapel Hill to discuss each player.
Brown showed a series of video clips about the players and went fairly in-depth about them as well.
UNC’s class is currently ranked No. 8 in the nation, and when broken down per player, it is the No. 5 class in the nation.
“This is possibly the best recruiting class in our school’s history,” Brown said.
Above is video of Brown discussing the players with extensive clips of each one, and below is a full transcript of what he said about the 17 newest Tar Heels:
“Marcus is 6-2, 175 pounds, he’s got length, and that’s something we really like… He’s really tall. He catches the ball well. And modern-day defense, you’re always looking for guys who can force turnovers. He could play receiver, he’s got great speed. His brother is a corner at Georgia Tech. We really like his height and his long arms.
“A lot of the guys we’re looking at today are two-way players, and we’ve always said, ‘The more places you can play, the better chances you have to be successful.’ If it doesn’t work out for one position, you’ve got a chance to play others. He’s a good tackler in space. Coaches really like him.”
“Beau is an outside linebacker. He is 6-6, 240. He’s at Leesville Road High School where they were 13-1. He was a two-time captain. He is an early enrollee, two-time all-state, two-time conference defensive player of the year. He’s in the Carolina Shrine game. He had 22 sacks, 53.5 tackles for loss during his career. He is a four-year A-B honor roll student and he also played lacrosse and was really good at it. His mom Erica was a volleyball player at Connecticut and his dad Chris was a football player at Connecticut.”
“Once again he’s 6-6 240 so we like his length He is very aggressive. We are working really really hard on we got to get more tackles for loss. We got to get more pressure on the quarterback and a big guy like this can run can do that. We always talk to opposing high school coaches and all the high school coaches talk about how aggressive he was and how quick he is and how he can dominate the line of scrimmage. He is right at a 4.0 student. Just absolutely dominated in high school.”
“Deuce Caldwell is 6-foot 215 pounds, again he's right at a 4.0 student. He is from Mauldin High School. He was an all-state selection, he's been invited to the North-South game and the Shrine Bowl as one of the top ten players in South Carolina, and was also an outstanding basketball player. He has decided not to come in early, he'll come in June.
“He's a very aggressive downhill player, we're looking for confident guys that can play in space but will come downhill and hit you... And he is a very good tackler in space you can see it. They used to say gets there fast, he's mad when he gets there. He also played offense, but he was an outstanding basketball player. He can play inside or outside backer and to play linebacker in modern-day football you're going to have to tackle in space.”
“He’s 5-10, 175 pounds. He’s from Virginia Beach. He was at Princess Anne and he transferred to Landstown. He’s an Under Armour All-American, two-time captain, two-time All-Tidewater. He’s a standout in track, he’s got a 7.02 time in the 60 meters, and a 6.42 time in the 55 meters. So he can fly. He didn’t get to play this year because he had a knee injury early. He’s rehabbed and he’s be ready to go when he gets here in June.
“He’ll be a slot receiver for us. He has tremendous speed. He’s play slot, but he’s also played running back, and you can see he’s dynamic with the ball in his hands. He can catch, but he’s so good after contact after he catches the ball in space. Played some running back, (and) he’s got a chance to score every time he touches it. And obviously, he’ll be playing in the Josh Downs position.”
“Tommy Thigpen looked at all the national players at linebacker, and he saw Sebastian and he went after him, and he will be coming in January. He’s 6-3, 220. He’s a track star, he played running back, he played linebacker, very excited about this young man. His dad was a wrestler at Illinois, and a very good one. You can see he’s big, he’s strong. We’ve been a little undersized some at linebacker.
"He’s powerful, he’s quick, he was also a track star. He’s right at a 4.0 (academically). He has already been pre-admitted to our business school. He could have gone anywhere in the country, like most of these young people, but he just fell in love with Chapel Hill when he got here… He’ll be here in three or four weeks. He loves the business school, and he and Coach Thigpen have a great relationship.”
“Trevyon Green, he is 6-foot-7, 345. He will be coming in early. He is also a captain of his team as we said. He made all-state, two-time all-metro performer. He is a member of the National Honor Society, A-B honor roll.
“His story is really interesting, he came to our camp two years ago from Life Christian high school and he was 400 pounds, maybe 408 pounds, and he still moved well. But we told him you got to get down, we can't take you at that weight. He dropped to about 340 (or) 345. He's kept his weight down, he's a tremendous young man he is an early enrollee, so he'll be here in a couple of weeks.
“You can see here how easily he dunks the basketball (video of Green dunking a basketball) to start with, at 6-8, 345. We can see him here he can play tackle or guard. He’s got a lot of power, he can run. See him here at left tackle, so it'll be fun to watch him in spring practice. We'll be losing some offensive lineman some this year but probably the rest of them next year, could lose up to three this year. So we have to replace some of these guys with outstanding young people.”
“Andre Greene, one of the top receivers in the country, he will not be coming in early. Andre’s team was 10-2. He’s an Under Armour All-American, two-time team captain, he was the league’s Most Valuable Player, he’s also an outstanding basketball player, and really high-quality member of the track team. He’s got speed, he’s got length, and some of these catches are just phenomenal.
“Obviously, this game has gotten to the point where you have to win the outside balls, and he’s a guy that can go up and get it, and then he can run off and leave you afterwards. At 6-3, 185, he’s got tremendous length, but he’s got the quickness to run off and outrun people underneath and score.
“He’s a young man (who’s) mom went to North Carolina Central, he’s loved North Carolina since the beginning. We always say, ‘put two hands on the ball,’ we may not have to tell Andre that, he catches it with one… He’s loved North Carolina since he was a little bitty kid.”
“Omarion Hampton, he is 6-1, 220 from Cleveland. North Carolina’s Gatorade Player of the Year. Charlotte Observer’s Mr. Football. Two-time all-state, two-time academic all-conference. He plays basketball and runs track. He will be a member of the All-American game and he is not coming in early.”
“But he’s got the big body at 220 like we saw Javonte (Williams) just run over people here. A lot of similarities to Omarion when you go back and look at their high school video. He just ran through people. It’s great when you get the best people in the state to stay at home. He has outstanding hands. I wish he was here for spring practice, but he will be here in June. He just moves piles and game-changer in short yardage that we need. Also, a game-changer when you are looking at a four-minute offense at the end of the game.”
“Malaki Hamrick is from Shelby. He is an early enrollee. He is 6-4, 205 pounds and just won the state championship the other day. He’s a three-time state champion at Shelby. He is two-time state title game most valuable player which is very, very impressive. It’s hard to play in a state championship game much less win three in a row and be most valuable player in two of them. Two-time all-state. He set the Shelby sack record at 51.5 sacks over his career.”
“When we were recruiting him, he never looked at anybody else. He never took any visits. He was in a hospital when he was nine years old and he saw some older man sitting there with a North Carolina hat and he was staring at it. The older man said what are you looking at and he said I love North Carolina, that’s my school. The gentleman gave him his hat at nine years old and he still got that hat at home. So this is a Tar Heel. He grew up wanting nothing else except to come here.”
“We are needing sacks and he will be an early enrollee. And watch his quickness here. Man he is all over the field. He dominates games. He can play inside or outside backer. He has tremendous quickness and speed. He has outstanding instincts, and you can’t get 51.5 sacks over your career. Here he is covering kickoffs. He is a great young guy. Like I said he and his family is nothing but Carolina, never has been. He was very highly recruited. He gets from here to there very quickly.”
“Will Hardy’s a young man from Atlanta that I didn’t know about early. We didn’t know early in this process how many scholarships we were going to have because of the COVID scholarship situation. We thought at one point we might have 14… So we had to wait, and this young man committed to Virginia, and then when they had their change, we’d recruited for about six months. He’s a special young man. I think he’s really a good player.
“He’s a 4.5 grade point, very, very high test score. He’s from Lawrenceville, GA, greater Atlanta Christian. Two-time all-state, he led Georgia in interceptions as a senior with eight. He was the Region 5A Defensive Player of the Year. Another team captain. He was an all-state defensive back in all classifications in Georgia, all-state and all-region at wide receiver.
“He’s coached by his dad, Tim, who’s from Hickory, and Tim was an All-American quarterback at Wheaten College. In fact, dad and (Eric) Hoots in our basketball program went to school together. So there are a lot of North Carolina ties here, and it ended up working out really, really well for us. He is a great get in the last week here in recruiting.
“You can see he’s big, he’s fast, he plays wide receiver so he can catch, can run. I think he’s going to be really good. We’re planning on him playing safety for us. He’s 6-2, he’s 190, very, very aggressive, and so smart… I think he’s been one of the least publicized outstanding players that we’re signing, and we’re so excited to get him.”
“Conner Harrell, another 4.5 student, he’s actually the valedictorian at his high school Thompson High School. They’re 13-1, he’s an early enrollee. He is 24-1 as a starter at quarterback. He is two- time state champion, is the Alabama Gatorade Player of the Year as a junior.
“He's a member of the National Honor Society and the Mu Alpha Theta math Honor Society, so this guy is really smart. He's got a brother who played at Delta State and another brother that played it at UAB, so it's an athletic family; 6-1, 190, I think he's really good.
“We're lucky to get him, he's very accurate and he can run. Obviously very smart, he played his last three games of the year with a broken thumb on his throwing hand, so he actually played with a cast on. He can throw it on the move and he's very accurate. See here he is so quick, and he can run he's an early enrollee so he'll be here in a month I can't wait to watch him this spring, he won two state championships.”
“Tayon Holloway is 6-1, 170, from Green Run High School in Virginia Beach. He’s a very talented two-way player. He'll play defensive back for us, but you'll see in this video he could play wide receiver, so it gives us a lot of flexibility. With new roster management issues and with all the transfer portal stuff you gotta cross-train a lot of people and you've got to evaluate better than ever before.
“And then at the same time, you're going to have to develop, you've got to develop players. Because you can't have somebody on your team that's not ready to play with all of the changes in the people leaving. So, 6-1, got length again 170, he's a return guy as well, he's got tremendous speed. All-district player on both sides of the ball, district player of the year, and also all-state.
“His family is actually from Kinston North Carolina but he's fast and aggressive. Here's another one Doc Chapman didn't want to visit anybody but here he committed to us really early. Tayon Holloway didn't want to visit anywhere but here. And you can see with the speed, either he's really, really fast or everybody chasing him slow because he's gone. He made them miss him quickly, and like I said he did not visit another place.
“So, the Malaki Hamrick's and the Doc Chapman's and Tayon Holloway's want to come here. He is really good in space so he will be a returner for us even though he's a long corner, and corners are so important moving forward with the way this game is being played. You gotta have pass rushers and you gotta have corners again he's tall and can catch, in modern-day you need corners that can catch and plays the ball well.”
“Bryson Jennings is 6-6, 240, outside linebacker from Culver High School in Richmond. He had 10 sacks this year in only seven games. He’s an all-state honoree, two-time All-Region, All-Metro. He also plays basketball and was a regional finalist in the shot put, A-B honor roll. His father, Brian, played at Virginia Tech and was an NFL player for the Patriots and the Chargers.
“Again, we’re trying to get length, and we’ve got to get more pass rushers… This game is about stopping the run, playing one-on-one outside, and sacking the quarterback, disrupting the quarterback… He’s got really good speed for a 6-6 guy. Loves to play. Trying to get guys that can penetrate and affect the quarterback.”
“Justin Kanyuk actually came down when the NCAA allowed us to start working out players. He had a one-on-one workout with coach (Stacey) Searels he's 6-6, 315. He's at Lehigh Valley Pennsylvania Bethlehem Catholic High School two-time all-state, first time all first-team eastern Pennsylvania, he is not only the team captain but the academic player of the year.
“He is a member of the National Honor Society in high school, and honor roll when he's a two-year basketball player and a three-year baseball player. He's a big offensive tackle, could play any of the places again tackle or guard. On the left here he's athletic enough he could play any of the positions upfront. Very smart he's right at a 4.0 his coaches rave about him, his mom's actually a coach as well, he will not be here early.”
“George Pettaway, 5-11, 190, from Suffolk. He is an early enrollee, under Armour All-American Game, three-time all-state, all-conference, All-757. He was the runner-up for the Gatorade Player of the Year. He played basketball for two seasons and he was all-conference. He was an avid chess player at the house. I saw him playing chess with Coach Bly, and it wasn’t fair. Let’s just put it that way…
“He’s got outstanding vision, and then speed – he can cut on a dime. He’s very powerful. He’s a guy who loves to work out… Scored six touchdowns in one game against a team in the COVID spring and played them again after that and scored six again. He can also catch the ball out of the backfield.
“He’s got power, he’s got vision, he’s got speed. It will be fun to watch him this spring. He’s a very positive young man from another good family… Another guy that was very highly recruited, but he loves this place.”
“Then you’ve got Zach Rice. These next two guys are two of the most highly recruited players we've ever recruited. These are two of the best in the country at their positions. Zacks is number nine in the country as an offensive tackle. He is 6-6, 300 from Lynchburg, Virginia, Liberty Christian Academy. They played for the state championship on Saturday. He was a four-year starter, he played both ways he also played basketball for three years.
“He's an early enrollee, Under Armour all American, he is the Virginia Gatorade Player of the Year. He posted 219 pancake blocks as a senior at 15.6 per game. He didn't allow a sack over the last two years, and he's really got a heavy focus on community service. He won the Titan trophy which is the area's outstanding football player, who displays character and leadership. His wonderful mom played basketball at liberty, and he will be here as an early enrollee.
“He's a big powerful guy, he's very aggressive as a player. Loves to play football, he and coach Searles would talk every Saturday and every Sunday about his pancakes. He took tremendous pride in how many people he knocked down and he knocked a bunch of people down. I'm really looking forward to watching all these eight young guys coming in the spring, but watching Zach come in and hop in our offensive line along with Trevyon Green,. Another guy Zach who was recruited by everyone in the country.”
“Travis Shaw is the number two defensive linemen in the country. He’s 6-5, 330. He is from Grimsley High School in Greensboro. He won the state championship last year as a junior in Kenan Stadium. He is an early enrollee. He is, I think, listed as the number one player in the state, but number two nationally. He's in the Under Armor All-American game and an all-state performer. He’s a state champion. He is also the Metro 4A Defensive Player of the Year. He’s four-time all-area and all-conference player. He is a member of the A-B honor roll.
“Team captain again. He also played basketball and probably most uniquely about Travis is he hurt his shoulder and he didn’t get to play through the first five or six games of the year. And being the highly recruited player that he was, he could have laid out, but he didn’t. He went back and fought to help his team instead of opting out at the end trying to help his team win another state championship. So he is a leader in the community. He’s tough as nails.
"So these guys are going to be fun cause they are leaders. They’re aggressive and they’re confident and can’t wait to get them in here.” “You don’t want to miss these (clips). You see he’s at the top left there and he just knocks people down. Coach (Tim) Cross will be saying good job Travis at 6-5, 330, 340 pounds. And they played him on the edge a lot. Guys just couldn’t handle him. You can see him coming off the corner. Got a great personality. A lot of these guys will be tremendous leaders. Here he is at that size bats the ball down at the goal line. He bats it up, intercepts it, and starts running with it. You see guys just couldn’t block him.
“Recruited again by everybody in the country. Once again he just runs over the guys. Played him on the outside standing up, watch this speed here, coming off the corner. We will play him inside. That’s a big man and can really run.”
