CHAPEL HILL – It took 1,173 days from the time Kyler McMichael committed to play at Clemson before he finally started in a college football game.
June 23, 2017, is the day McMichael, a 4-star cornerback from Atlanta, announced he would play for Dabo Swinney and the Tigers. The No. 53 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2018, McMichael was certain to star for the program that has dominated the ACC for nearly the last decade.
But when McMichael got his first college start, it was not in orange, it was in blue, as in Carolina blue.
That long period from his announcement to finally ascending to a starter’s role included a freshman season in Death Valley in which he played 103 snaps but did earn a national championship ring, a redshirt year as a transfer sitting out at North Carolina, and then finally, his UNC debut versus Syracuse.
All McMichael did in the nine games he played last season, all of which were starts, was register 26 tackles and six PBUs while playing 515 snaps. Now, the 6-foot, 210-pounder is looking to do more.
“It was definitely getting in the meetings with the defensive coaches and getting the playbook down so I can get on the field and be able to move a whole lot faster,” McMichael said, when asked what he has focused on to improve during the offseason. “So, it’s not a lot of thinking on the field, it’s just more reacting.
“After that, it was being able to get out of my cuts quicker, learning the Xs and Os and kind of anticipating things.”
Clemson has been in the College Football Playoff each of the last six seasons winning the national championship in 2016 and 2018. UNC Coach Mack Brown said when he took over following the 2018 campaign, he wanted his program to emulate Clemson in many ways.
McMichael is the only person who has experienced the inner workings of both, so what are some similarities as Brown’s vision for UNC’s culture continues to take form?
“It’s become more of a player-driven team,” McMichael said. “We're holding each other accountable. I see a special group out of the players we have now, I see potential. I definitely think we’re gonna be one of the top tier teams, one of the teams with the potential to go to the national championship this year.”
And there’s intense competition on the field for playing time. And this is not the lesser-of-two-evils type of deal, Brown and his staff are filling UNC’s roster with high-end talent. That’s how a can’t-miss labeled prospect like McMichael is battling to hold onto his starting spot.
It was occupied by Storm Duck, a standout whom Brown says will play in the NFL, before an injury sidelined him for the season after just Carolina’s second contest, a victory at Boston College. Also in the mix is Tony Grimes, a 5-star from Virginia Beach who enrolled a year last August and eventually won a starting spot over the last four contests opposite McMichael.
McMichael does not see having to earn his keep every day as a negative at all. He views it as a major positive.
“It’s a good thing for sure,” he said. “We’re all competing and making each other better day in and day out. And it’s always good to have a good rotation, because at cornerback, we’re running up and down the field constantly, so to be able to exchange each other out and not have any kind of falloff, it’s always a good thing.”
Duck also embraces the competition and does not shy from complimenting Grimes and McMichael.
“Kyler and Tony are two great players,” Duck said. “They come out every day and battle and compete. We come out every day and try to make each other better and those two, they come out and bring it every day, even if it’s individual drills, one-on-ones, scale team. Those two are really good players, and we just like to battle and compete.”
McMichael went to Clemson because he welcomed the idea of competing every day against some of the best players in the country, and he is at Carolina doing the same. It is part of the grind, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.
