There are always concerns for any coaching staff as their team prepares for a new season.

And, when you consider the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped the North Carolina football program from having its spring practice which was scheduled to begin on Mar. 17, there are more question marks than usual for the Tar Heels as they prepare for the 2020 season.

For offensive coordinator Phil Longo, who is set to enter his second season in Chapel Hill, concerns are aplenty when it comes to his unit. Some are more pressing than others, but one stands out in his mind the most.

“My No. 1 concern is the younger players that are coming in,” Longo said during a virtual press conference on April 6. “Whether they were here last year and didn’t play for us and are now going to play a more important role or they’re freshmen who came in mid-year who are now missing spring ball, that’s the greatest value of spring ball is the new guys.”

The Heels have 13 early enrollees in their 2020 class that are supposed to be in the middle of spring practice right now. Nine of those players play on the offensive side of the ball, and another could end up on offense, meaning Longo’s unit is affected more than any other on the team.

There are also 12 other signees from the class that are supposed to enroll in the summer when the university opens again. Not to mention the handful of players from last year’s team that saw limited action and would have had a chance to make an impression.

From installing some of the basic principles of the offense to simply fighting to earn a spot on the field, this is valuable missed time for a lot of players on the team, hence why Longo is so concerned.

“It’s the 25 newcomers and the three or four guys that didn’t play much last year that may have a bigger role this year, they’re the ones that are being cheated by this whole process,” Longo said. “Those are the ones I spend the most time communicating with and, as a staff, we spend the most time talking about in an effort to have the best strategy to address preparing them for August.”

One example Longo gave of how valuable missed spring ball can be is with his starting quarterback Sam Howell. The Indian Trail, NC, native was an early enrollee in the 2019 class and went on to have an All-American true freshman season for UNC.

Had Howell not gotten those valuable reps during last year’s spring practice, things almost certainly would have not panned out how they did for the ACC Offensive and overall Rookie of the Year.

“There’s a couple of players every year that come in and they have a great spring and, because of those reps, they prepare themselves to be able to play in the fall,” Longo said. “Sam Howell’s a perfect example. I can’t imagine where we would have been in the South Carolina game had he never had spring ball last year.”

Another concern for Longo are the practice reps his offense is losing. Of course, the players can stay in shape and work on their craft from home, but nothing can replace going up against real players in a real practice.

“You lose timing,” Longo said. “As beautiful as any play might work on air, it never looks anywhere near as good when 11 people are hitting you and trying to stop you from executing. We don’t have reps against a defense. We don’t have reps at full speed.”

Still, Longo is trying to focus on a few positives, although there aren’t many.

“The one good thing is that the issue I think we’re losing right now with not having spring ball is what everybody is losing,” Longo said. “We all have the same deficit right now and we’re trying to make sure we gain ground in the other areas in preparing for the season.”

In order to compensate for the missed practice time teams around the country are dealing with due to the pandemic, a possible NFL-style 10-day minicamp in June has been rumored for a few weeks. Longo, however, doesn’t see that happening and is preparing as if it won’t.

“Now, it doesn't look like anything is going to happen in June, and so we're kind of refocusing our spring ball script into August,” Longo said. “It's going to be like the old days when you didn't see players until the summertime and you hope they were working out and you hope that they came to camp in shape.”

Concerns and question marks are abundant for Longo and the Heels, but he and the rest of the program are dealing with the situation as best they can until things return to normal.