CHAPEL HILL – As North Carolina prepared for its opener against South Carolina a year ago, UNC Coach Mack Brown wasn’t sure what he had on the offensive line outside of Charlie Heck and Nick Polino.
Two weeks later, Polino went down and was limited when he returned in November. Heck was expectedly excellent and is now in the NFL.
The rest of the guys the staff leaned on were about as green as they come, so the Heels had to roll with it. Now, as Carolina is just daysa way from opening the season at home versus Syracuse, the script has been flipped.
UNC is strong up front with experience, high-end potential and a culture that should foster more growth and success.
“I always try to be positive, (but) I don’t know if we could have been any worse off than we were at o-line last spring,” offensive coordinator Phil Longo said. “And I don’t feel that way now. We have a lot of things we want to get better at on an individual basis at that position, we had some things we want to continue to improve on as an overall unit when we’re out there.”
An example: With Heck out for the Appalachian State game, which was UNC’s fourth contest of the season, the combined number of starts for the Tar Heels’ o-line going into that game was 10. TEN. Now, the group will open the season with a combined 48 starts back from last season.
In addition, the returning offensive linemen who saw action a year ago played a combined 3,813 snaps and paved the way for an offense that finished ranked No. 12 in the nation. This group knows what it’s doing.
“The offensive line looks really, really good…,” Brown said. “Those guys really look good.”
Junior Brian Anderson has corralled the center spot, junior Marcus McKethan has right guard nailed down, junior Jordan Tucker (right tackle), sophomore Josh Ezeudu (left guard) and sophomore Asim Richards (left tackle) are entrenched as the starters.
They’re becoming more interchangeable, too, a process necessitated by the possibility teams may have to plow forward in games without key members who test positive for COVID-19. Ezeudu, in particular, has learned the other guard and both tackle spots. Having players refine their games at multiple positions is also a need because the depth the staff desires hasn’t come into fruition yet. So it’s two-fold right now.
Brown and Longo have maintained they’d love to have 10 trusted players in the rotation, but will settle for eight, which has long been the standard for most teams. Ten in 2020 makes more sense due to the what-if circumstances that may arise. Eight, especially with guys playing multiple positions, might be enough.
But they don’t yet even have that. So, making the most out of the players they do trust has been a point of emphasis this month, and one Tar Heel, in particular, has stood out.
“The guy that's doing the best on the offensive line right now is Josh Ezeudu,” Brown recently said. “We call him ‘Eazy’ and Eazy is the starting left guard, the backup right guard and the backup right tackle and really the backup left tackle. So, he's playing everywhere because Ed Montilus has done a good job and, when Ed steps in at guard, that lets Eazy go rest somebody at all of the other places.”
Montilus, a sophomore, started eight games a year ago and played 509 snaps, so he’s the fifth most experienced player in the group, ahead of only Richards among the starters. After that, however, the staff is searching.
It doesn’t help that the pool of contenders isn’t quite as deep as expected earlier this summer. Triston Miller, whose brother passed away a few months ago due to COVID-19 complications, has essentially opted out of the season to help his family. Billy Ross, a junior who played more than 600 snaps at UNC, opted out two weeks ago and plans on graduating and transferring.
So, after Montilus, true freshman Jonathan Adorno has generated some buzz getting in work at center and tackle. He's also now listed as the primary backup to Anderson. Anyone else? It’s hard to say, because Brown isn’t.
“We’re still looking at backups across the board and we’ve got some guys banged up, some guys that haven't done as well yet," the Hall of Fame coach said. "But our total key right now would be trying to find depth in the offensive line.”
Center was an unsettled spot a couple of weeks ago before Murray’s injury. His return to action has been slow, necessitating Adorno's growth and place on the deoth chart.
“He’s coming along good,” Anderson said about Adorno. “I’m proud of the way he’s stepping up.”
Former 4-star stud William Barnes, who was the jewel of the class of 2018, has been mentioned a couple of times recently as showing some progress. He played a lot in UNC’s first couple of games as a true freshman, but has seen limited action since, getting on the field for just 47 snaps a year ago.
Sifting through the room looking for anyone else who could potentially step up in the next couple of months is a bit challenging. Some players just aren’t ready and a couple aren’t available.
The offensive line is a major strength for the Tar Heels provided none of the main six players get hurt or test positive for COVID-19 at any time this season. After that, to borrow another one of those lines, is to be determined.
