Four years ago, on July 4, 2016, Michael Carter made it public he would be a Tar Heel. Carter actually committed to Larry Fedora and North Carolina a couple weeks earlier at the conclusion of The Freak Show prospect camp at Kenan Stadium, but he asked the several members of the media there to hold off reporting the news.

Carter wanted to wait for a special occasion to make the announcement, so the assembled media obliged.

“On the (July) fourth, go home and have a cookout with the family,” he told THI that night, a quote nobody reported until Carter broke the news. “(I’m) gonna be surrounded by (family) and that’s when I want to do it.”

An he did. Fast forward 48 months the once-undervalued former 3-star running back from Navarre, FL, is entering his senior season looking to become just a second Tar Heel to run for 1,000 yards in consecutive campaigns since Natrone Means did so in 1991 and 1992. Giovanni Bernard hit the mark in 2011 and 2012.

As Carter embarks on this mission, he does so under a different head coach from whom he committed, different position coach, and a revamped and totally changed program after a whirlwind first three seasons. He even has a new hairdo having lopped off his long locks. But don’t read anything into it. No symbolism here, just a guy getting a fresh look.

“It’s just a haircut,” Carter recently said. “Just wanted to cut it. Just like you get your hair cut, (I) just wanted to get my haircut.”

New look or not, Carter is the same darting runner, same intense competitor, and is an emerging leader on a team that has ambitious goals perhaps thought laughable just 18 months ago when Mack Brown was brought in to resurrect the sinking program that included just five total wins over Carter’s first two years as a Heel. A key component in the Tar Heels meeting those newfound expectations is Carter, not just with his ability to run and catch the football, but his voice inside and outside of the locker room.

“To be a person that people can come to or that has the ability to influence positively is a big deal to me because it means my peers respect me,” Carter said. “And I think respect is a huge thing, and I feel like if they know something ever goes wrong, I got their back whether they miss a play or they fall down or they need help with homework or they need help moving or anything. I just feel like it’s the friendship, it’s the bond, it’s the family.

“And that translates into some leadership. I just feel it’s more about being there for your teammates and friends off the field.”

Leadership also comes with the responsibility of producing on the field, and Carter has done that since day one of his true freshman year. He ran for 94 yards and scored two touchdowns in a loss to California in the 2017 opener and has been an important part of the Tar Heels’ offense ever since. So far, the 5-foot-10, 200-pounder has amassed 2,159 rushing yards as a Tar Heel, crossing the goal line 13 times on running plays.

Last season, he ran for 1,0003 yards, becoming just the fourth UNC back to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark since 1997, when Jonathan Linton did so on Brown’s last Carolina team during his first stint at the helm. In addition to Bernard, Elijah Hood passed the milestone in 2015.

For his efforts last fall, Carter was named third-team All-ACC as a running back and honorable mention as an all-purpose back, finishing fourth in the ACC with 1,623 all-purpose yards.

“Obviously, having Mike Carter, who sat down at the end of the year and had to make a decision and decided he wanted to come back and continue to build on the success that he’s had and also the success we had as an offense and as a program,” UNC running backs coach Robert Gillespie said. “So, it’s good that he’s coming back and obviously he brings an explosiveness to the group as a guy that can do a lot of different things.”

Carolina’s offense, both under Fedora and current coordinator Phil Longo, hasn’t relied heavily on a single back during Carter’s career, so he’s only carried the ball 16 or more times in eight games, doing so 20 times just once. Yet, he’s managed 75 or more rushing yards in 14 contests. An improving receiver, Gillespie says, Carter has also caught 56 passes for 391 yards and four scores. He’s been in the end zone 17 times in his UNC career.

So, Carter has this football thing down pretty well, he’s a proven leader in the room with his guys, is excellent with the media and is a voice of the program, but leadership in the nation’s current climate extends beyond the playing fields. And that’s an area Carter has embraced.

With the death of George Floyd in May and the resulting fallout, young African American athletes have been challenged to step forward for a cause that exceeds their sport. Some took to Twitter, Instagram and other social media forms. Carter marched in his hometown.

He threw a lasso around the cause and reeled it in, personalizing it in a way he can also speak for teammates and a sport that has a considerable African American representation.

“I feel like I’ve had a platform to do some different things with it, whether it’s on the internet or real life. We prefer real life,” Carter said. “We just had a protest (a few weeks ago) in my hometown, and just being able to educate people on things that black people go through…

“It would be of great interest to try and do some more things like that.”

Brown has encouraged open dialogue among the players so they can learn and work through getting an understanding of recent events while finding common ground. Carter’s voice has been invaluable in that quest.

And his legs, attitude, toughness, example, and leadership have been key components to the program turning its nose in the right direction and will remain so this coming season.

Just think, four years ago, Carter was a wide-eyed kid with hopes and dreams, some of which were dashed with Fedora’s termination and the Tar Heels’ struggles. But UNC is in a rebirth as new desires and ambitions have replaced the old ones for the Floridian.

He’s older, wiser, smarter, more mature and a now one of the faces of the program, a role that fits Carter quite well.