By R.L. Bynum
Mack Brown says everybody at UNC is concerned about Tez Walker and wants to get on the same page so they can do something to help him.
That’s why he was scheduled to join the noon UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees emergency meeting on Monday to figure out the best options for Walker after the NCAA denied the wide receiver’s appeal. Brown doesn’t know how likely it is that he’ll play this season.
The session was closed except for a brief open session at 1:40 p.m., during which the meeting was quickly adjourned.
“I’m really, really proud of our Board of Trustees that they’re standing up to try to figure out what’s best,” Brown said at his weekly press conference Monday morning. “And we can see all of our options, get a singular voice and then move forward. We’ve got too many people saying, ‘Should he play? Should he do this? Should we do this? Should this happen?’ We need to all get in the same room and figure out, No. 1, what’s best for the young man?”
Brown said that Walker, a junior with two years of eligibility, would earn his degree by the end of the fall 2024 semester. Many wondered if he would enter his name in the 2024 NFL draft rather than playing for Carolina for the 2024 season.
“He did tell me he wants to stay in school and get his degree so that that is something that is a real positive and something that’s good moving forward,” Brown said.
Walker went home to Charlotte on Thursday night after getting the bad news.
“He was really, really distraught and disappointed. We’re worried about him. So, we thought it was best for him to go home. We did talk him into coming back for the game and felt like that he needed to be picked up,” said Brown, who made Walker an honorary captain for the Appalachian State game. “So that’s why we asked him to walk out so people can say, ‘Sorry, we’re for you. We’re pulling for you.’ Because this young man — that totally had his life changed.”
Walker probably had big NIL money on the way that’s not coming now and the Senior Bowl took him off its watchlist since he’s ineligible to play this season.
Brown says that the coaching staff and Walker have lots of decisions to make if he doesn’t play this season, including how he practices if he practices with the team.
The veteran coach is happy that the Board of Trustees is taking the situation seriously.
“I’m just really proud,” Brown said. “A lot of universities say they want to take care of student-athletes or students and they don’t. This is a great message to everybody that we’re concerned and that we’re going to take care of this young man.”
Brown admits that he doesn’t know what options are available.
“Somebody says play him,” Brown said. “Well, let’s find out — can you play him? And if you do, what are the repercussions? I know what I think, but I’m not a lawyer. So I feel like, in this meeting, they’re going to come up with the best options for the young man to present to him and try to help him get another step forward in his life because he has just been absolutely crushed. And these people are concerned and want to help him and I’m really proud of that. I don’t know that that would happen many places.”
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent | Record/ TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| September | |||
| 1 | L, 48–14 | vs. TCU | 0–1 |
| 6 | W, 20–3 | at Charlotte | 1–1 |
| 13 | W, 41–6 | vs. Richmond | 2–1 |
| 20 | L, 34–9 | at UCF | 2–2 |
| October | |||
| 4 | L, 38–10 | vs. Clemson | 2–3, 0–1 ACC |
| 17 (Fri.) | L, 21–18 | at California | 2–4, 0–2 |
| 25 | L, 17–16, OT | vs. No. 16 Virginia | 2–5, 0–3 |
| 31 (Fri.) | W, 27–10 | at Syracuse | 3–5, 1–3 |
| November | |||
| 8 | W, 20–15 | vs. Stanford | 4–5, 2–3 |
| 15 | L, 28–12 | at Wake Forest | 4–6, 2–4 |
| 22 | L, 32–25 | vs. Duke | 4–7, 2–5 |
| 29 | L, 42–19 | at N.C. State | 4–8, 2–6 |
Photo via @UNCFootball
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