By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Without Omarion Hampton in the Carolina backfield, no running back this season has come close to reaching his level, leaving the Tar Heels with a bit of a backfield carousel. It’s a look that resembles a method Bill Belichick often used during his long tenure with the New England Patriots.
Five Tar Heels have at least nine carries, but none has emerged as a clear-cut feature back heading into Saturday’s 3:30 game against Richmond (ACC Network). Seven players have carries, yet no one has more than 16 attempts or more than 52 rushing yards.
Belichick is known for distributing touches this way with a backfield-by-committee approach. During his 24 seasons in New England, only six players reached 1,000 rushing yards in a season, led by Corey Dillon’s 1,635 in 2004.1
That scarcity was by design. Belichick rarely featured a single back because he never had one on the level of transcendent players such as Jim Brown or Barry Sanders.
“I’ve always said if Jim Brown was my running back, I would leave him in the game on every play,” Belichick said Tuesday at the Kenan Football Center. “I’m not looking for anybody else. They kind of did that with Hampton here last year, which I can certainly understand.”
True freshman Demon June has shown the most burst so far, breaking tackles against Charlotte in his first offensive snaps better than anybody on the team. He ran nine times for 52 yards and has a team-best 5.8-yard average.
Redshirt senior Caleb Hood (15 carries for 46 yards), sophomore Davion Gause (10 for 37), and sophomore Benjamin Hall (9 for 25) have had mixed results, and redshirt sophomore Charleston French has one carry.
“None of those players really have very many carries going into the year, and they’ve gotten some in the early part of the season,” Belichick said. “So, we’ll see how that goes. We’ve given these players a chance, and we’ll continue to evaluate them.”
While June has shown flashes, the team as a whole is averaging just 3.2 yards per carry. Belichick said using his by-committee approach should lead to competition that benefits the whole group.
“I think they’re all capable,” he said, borrowing a phrase that basketball coaching legend Dean Smith often used. “They’ve all shown some good things and flashes, and I have confidence in all of them. We’ll see how the competition plays out. There are some things that have gotten better as you get more game experience and live looks at things.”
But he also made it clear there’s a difference between using rotations by necessity and riding one great player.
“Sometimes there are players that have similar levels of ability, but maybe different skills,” Belichick said. “When I had Kevin Faulk and James White, those guys were very, very good third-down backs, some of them probably the best that have ever played. So, we used them in that role, and we used other players on early downs. So, it just kind of depends on what you have and how it fits into your offensive system.”
A year ago, with Hampton, the equation might have looked different, and he might have been Belichick’s every-down answer. The rotations might have been simpler by virtue of being too good to take off the field. Without him, though, UNC is still searching for someone to seize the lead role.
Through two games, no one has.
- The Patriots running backs to run for at least 1,000 yards in a season under Belichick were Antowain Smith (2001,1,157 yards), Corey Dillon (2004, 1,635), BenJarvus Green-Ellis (2010, 1,008), Stevan Ridley (2012, 1,263), LeGarrette Blount (2016; 1,161 yards) and Rhamondre Stevenson (2022, 1,040).
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UNC season statistics
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent (current ranking) | Record/TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||
| 29 | W, 15–10 | vs.TCU in Dublin | 1–0 |
| September | |||
| 12 | W, 35–3 | vs. ETSU | 2–0 |
| 19 | L, 28–20 | at Clemson | 2–1, 0–1 ACC |
| October | |||
| 3 | L, 37–26 | vs. No. 4 Notre Dame | 2–2 |
| 10 | W, 21–18 | at Pittsburgh | 3–2, 1–1 |
| 17 | W, 24–20 | at Duke | 4–2, 2–1 |
| 24 | 7:30 | vs. Syracuse | ACCN |
| 31 | 7:30 | vs. No. 1 Miami | ESPN or ABC |
| November | |||
| 7 | Noon | at UConn | CBSSN |
| 14 | TBA | vs. Louisville | TBA |
| 21 | TBA | at Virginia | TBA |
| 28 | TBA | vs. N.C. State | TBA |
| December | |||
| 5 | noon, ABC | ACC championship game in Charlotte | ESPN |
Photo by Joshua Lawton
