Spring football is back at North Carolina for the first time in more than 24 months.

The Tar Heels opened spring workouts in 2019, Mack Brown’s first in his second stint at the helm, on March 3. Fallout from COVID-19 forced the full cancellation of spring practice a year ago before the Tar Heels ever got onto the field.

Tuesday’s workout will be a landmark event of sorts, and certainly one met with tremendous excitement and anticipation.

The Tar Heels are coming off an 8-4 season that saw them end the campaign blasting Miami, 62-26, in a statistically historic performance, and a few weeks later were back at Hard Rock Stadium where the Heels lost a close game to Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl, the program’s first major bowl in 71 years.

So, with 21 of the 22 starters from the bowl game back, a heralded recruiting class coming in, of which 12 early enrollees have been on campus for more than two months, a likely top-10 ranking to start the season, and perhaps the frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy back at quarterback in Sam Howell, it is hard to imagine North Carolina football generating any more buzz in the spring than it will over the next month.

“I think the sky's the limit for this team,” super senior tight end Garrett Walston said. “There's a bunch of young guys that are very talented and I think, next year, this team's gonna take Carolina football to new heights that they've never seen.”

Carolina also brought in Tennessee grad transfer running back Ty Chandler, who ran for 2,046 yards averaging 4.9 yards per carry. He also had 465 receiving yards on 46 receptions and added 780 yards in kickoff returns for the Volunteers. He was in Chapel Hill in January and is a full go this spring.

With respect to the 13 January enrollees, which includes Chandler, Brown said last month they “look really good.”

The Tar Heels will work out 15 times culminating with the spring game at Kenan Stadium on April 24. The game will be open to fans, though the allowed capacity hasn’t yet been determined. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper eased restrictions Feb. 24 allowing 30 percent capacity at a stadium the size of Kenan, which seats more than 50,000. He has another announcement coming up March 26 and could further ease restrictions.

UNC welcomes the return of former running backs coach Larry Porter, who was hired in January to replace Robert Gillespie, who left to take the same post at Alabama. Multiple other UNC assistant coaches were pursued by major programs but opted to stay in Chapel Hill.

It didn’t take Brown for long to find Gillespie’s replacement, however. He quickly knew Porter was the right man for the job.

“Immediately, you start looking at guys that you know, you’ve been around and you trust and Larry Porter was the first one,” Brown said last month, noting Porter reached out to him. “I thought he was the perfect choice.”

Porter coached running backs at UNC under Larry Fedora from 2014-16 and served in that role under Brown at Texas in 2013.

*UNC has five super seniors on the team, as WR Beau Corrales, TE Garrett Walston, PK Grayson Atkins, OLB/DE Tomon Fox, and OLB/DE Tyron Hopper decided to take advantage of the NCAA giving players back the year, thus allowing seniors to return.

*UNC is returning all 11 starters from the Orange Bowl and 10 starters overall from its defense from last fall.

*Seven starters return for an offense that ranked No. 5 nationally accumulating 537.2 yards per contest and No. 9 in scoring averaging 41.7 points per outing. It also must replace four dynamic producers: Wide receivers Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome combined for 232 receptions for 3,835 yards and 36 touchdowns the last two seasons and running backs Michael Carter and Javonte Williams combined for 4,321 yards and 36 scores. Plus, they combined to catch 88 passes for 902 yards and eight touchdowns.

*Ethan West has moved from ILB to OLB. He was lost for the season with an injury in the middle of the campaign. It is uncertain how much he can do this spring.

*AJ Beaty has moved from defensive line to center.

*Junior DT Tomari Fox and junior DB Javon Terry will miss the spring due to injuries.

*Several players of note will be limited this spring: WR Beau Corrales; RB DJ Jones; WR Stephen Gosnell; OT Joshua Ezeudu; and OL Wisdom Asaboro.

*Redshirt freshman defensive end KJ Bingley-Jones is expected to be ready.

*The 12 early enrollees worked out separately from the rest of the team until a week ago when the staff started mixing them in with the returning Tar Heels. This was to allow them to grow into the college routine so they didn’t get hurt without having to worry about the newcomers “trying to show off to the older guys,” Brown said.

*The revamped running backs room will generate plenty of attention this spring and when fall camp starts in August. Tennessee grad transfer Ty Chandler will be asked to shoulder much of the load, not just from a reps standpoint and carrying the football, but his ability to help with pass protection will be one of next season’s keys. Unprovenm but talented, players fill the rest of the room. A healthy DJ Jones will get more of a look in the fall, as he’s still limited this spring.

“I think it'll be the spring that speaks to me in terms of their skill set and what they're capable of doing,” Porter said last month. “That will allow me to truly have a great perspective in terms of how I can help them, how they can help the team and where we need to go from there.”

*Depth along the defensive line has been an issue the last two seasons, and while there were more bodies at Tim Cross’ disposal last fall, the Tar Heels could use improvement across the board there and another body or two to emerge.

*The wide receiver group isn’t devoid of talent, there is plenty on hand, but it does need some young players to step up and fill the slots of Newsome and Brown. Corrales will help, as will Khafre Brown, Emery Simmons, Josh Downs, and some of the very young players in that room. There may not be much of a drop in the group from last fall. It may have more guys who can step up.

*The offensive line needs to build depth. Stacy Searels, Phil Longo, and Mack Brown have been adamant about the need to have eight trusted players in the rotation, but they have fallen short of that in each of the last two years. It was expected last fall but didn’t materialize. Getting there will be a point of emphasis this spring.

Furthermore, pass protection must improve, as the Heels allowed 34 sacks last fall, ranking 13th in the ACC. That will also be a point of emphasis this spring.

*Special teams upgrades, particularly in the return game will be addressed this spring. Brown noted several times last season he wasn’t pleased with the lack of punch with the Tar Heels’ punt and kickoff returns. How this shapes out will be interesting.

UNC was 39th nationally in punt returns at 9.3 yards per, but the Tar Heels returned only 18 of 61 opponents’ punts. Carolina ranked No. 78 nationally in kickoff returns at 19.5 yards per.

Sept 2/3 – At Virginia Tech

Sept. 11 – Georgia State

Sept. 18 – Virginia

Sept. 25 – At Georgia Tech

Oct. 2 – Duke

Oct. 9 – Florida State

Oct. 16 – Miami

Oct. 30 at Notre Dame

Nov. 6 – Wake Forest

Nov. 11 – At Pittsburgh

Nov. 20 – Wofford

Nov. 26 – At NC State