UNC’s Brown wants ‘flawless offense’ for Maye
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina coach Mack Brown made offensive staff changes with two goals in mind: put quarterback Drake Maye in position to have a great season and maximize his NFL draft future.
To that end, Brown hired Chip Lindsey as offensive coordinator, former Browns coach Freddie Kitchens as tight ends coach and former NFL quarterback coach Clyde Christensen as a volunteer offensive analyst — the latter fresh off four years in Tampa Bay, three of which were spent with Tom Brady.
With fall practice set to begin next week, Brown told ESPN Thursday during ACC Kickoff he recently asked the three coaches to put their ideas together to get a “flawless offense” in place.
“I’ve got [Maye] a lot of manpower in that room, and now what we’ve got to do is make sure all of them do what’s best for him, that is therefore best for our offense,” Brown said. “I’ve really challenged them over the summer to make sure that we put all of our ideas together and get a flawless offense on the field instead of a bunch of ideas from a bunch of really bright guys.
“We can’t do that. We got to be one. We can’t be three different minds.”
Maye heads into this season as a possible No. 1 overall draft pick and a Heisman Trophy candidate. ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid currently has Maye going third overall in his summer mock draft, and the second quarterback taken behind USC’s Caleb Williams.
When asked whether he has heard the talk about him and Williams as possible No. 1 picks, Maye acknowledged he had, but tried to deflect that conversation and focus on the upcoming season.
“It’s hard to really fathom it because you dream of that, one day hearing your name on stage, but at the end of the day, we’ve just got to win games,” Maye said. “The personal accolades will come with winning games.”
Last season, Maye led North Carolina to the ACC championship game while setting single-season school records for passing yards (4,321), completions (342) and attempts (517), earning ACC Player of the Year honors and becoming a Freshman All-American.
But the Tar Heels also struggled down the stretch, losing four straight — including 39-10 to Clemson in the ACC title game. Maye threw four of his seven interceptions of the season in those four losses, and did not hit the 300-yard passing mark in any of those games.
When offensive coordinator Phil Longo left for Wisconsin, Brown knew his offensive coordinator hire would be crucial, so he included Maye in the process. Lindsey comes to North Carolina from UCF, and runs a similar offense to Longo, but is expected to put more of an emphasis on the running game.
“What I looked for was a great teacher. I looked for somebody who matched Drake’s personality,” Brown said. “I looked for somebody who would keep the same passing game because it’s really good, but also a guy that was running the ball better than we were and that would help us with the protections as well.
“So this just fit perfectly, and thank goodness. When I had Drake talk to him separate from me, if Drake had called and said ‘I don’t like him,’ we’ve got a problem.”
For his part, Maye said he is feeling good heading into fall camp with the way their relationship has developed.
“This summer’s been great,” Maye said. “We’re finding our identity and honing in on plays. He’s done a great job of kind of asking me what I like and what I don’t like, so he’s a perfect coach a quarterback wants a play for. He’s not the one doing the playing, so he’s got to know what I like. Because at the end of day, I’m the one out there executing it.”
Maye said he has spent time rewatching last season’s games to find ways to improve as well, like identifying plays where he could have minimized damage by throwing the ball away and not taking a sack or not forcing the ball into place he couldn’t get it.
“Just knowing that leadership-wise, it’s my team. As a quarterback, you’re put in that role, and I’ve embraced that role,” Maye added.
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava officially announced his transfer to UCLA via a social media post Sunday.
“My journey at UT has come to an end,” he wrote on Instagram. “This decision was incredibly difficult, and truthfully, not something I expected to make this soon. But I trust God’s timing, and I believe He’s leading me where I need to be.
“Even though this chapter is ending, a new chapter has begun and I am committed to UCLA!”
Iamaleava was a highly regarded recruit who led Tennessee to the College Football Playoff last season. He was No. 1 in ESPN’s transfer portal rankings and immediately gives UCLA one of the best-known players in the sport upon his arrival. The Bruins are coming off a 5-7 debut season by coach DeShaun Foster.
Iamaleava, a five-star prospect from Long Beach, California, was recruited by UCLA out of high school. His younger brother, Madden Iamaleava, committed to UCLA out of high school but changed his commitment on the morning of signing day and signed with Arkansas.
Those recruitments gave both sides plenty of familiarity and the ability to potentially move quickly.
Iamaleava passed for 2,616 yards, 19 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in his first season as a starter, but in nine games against SEC opponents and Ohio State in the playoff, he threw for more than 200 yards only twice.
Tennessee’s offense finished No. 9 in the conference in scoring with 25.0 points per game in SEC play. The Volunteers’ offense was No. 1 in rushing and No. 11 in passing in league play.
UCLA is coming off a season in which it finished No. 14 in scoring offense and No. 12 in total offense in Big Ten play.
Iamaleava was earning $2.4 million at Tennessee under the contract he signed with Spyre Sports Group, the Tennessee-based collective, when he was still in high school. The deal would have paid him in the $10 million range altogether had he stayed four years at Tennessee.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel announced last week after the Volunteers’ spring game that the program was moving forward without Iamaleava after he missed practice and meetings April 11. He hadn’t alerted anyone on the team and was unresponsive afterward.
Heupel thanked Iamaleava and called the situation unfortunate, but added, “There’s no one bigger than the Power T, and that includes me.”
Iamaleava, a rising redshirt sophomore, officially entered the transfer portal Wednesday with a do-not-contact tag.
ESPN’s Pete Thamel contributed to this report.
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Kristen Shilton
The New Jersey Devils‘ injury woes may have reached alarming new heights.
Defenseman Brenden Dillon and forward Cody Glass exited during the second and third periods, respectively, in Game 1 of the first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, a 4-1 loss for New Jersey. The Devils were also briefly without defenseman Luke Hughes, who left in the third period but was able to return.
New Jersey entered the postseason already undermanned. Top forward Jack Hughes, Luke’s brother, had season-ending shoulder surgery in March, and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler is also not expected to be available in the first round.
Coach Sheldon Keefe remained optimistic though about one of the team’s latest injured bodies.
“(Dillon) was eager to get back out there,” Keefe said by way of an update. Doctors ultimately held Dillon out for “precautionary reasons.”
The veteran blueliner was taken to the ice by Carolina forward William Carrier battling in front of the Devils’ net. He remained down for several minutes before being helped off by New Jersey’s training staff.
It was a disastrous third period sequence that shortened New Jersey’s bench further. Hughes went flying into the Devils’ net after tripping over Hurricanes’ forward Andrei Svechnikov, and ran off the ice cradling his right arm. Then, Devils’ goaltender Jacob Markstrom accidentally clipped Glass with his stick while appearing to aim for Svechnikov. Glass left and did not return while Hughes finished the game.
New Jersey will have to wait and see who is available when they take on Carolina in Game 2 on Tuesday. For now, Keefe won’t let the Devils dwell on what they can’t control.
“To a man, myself included,” he said, “we’re all going to have to be better.”
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