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Former UNC and NFL defensive back Tre Boston will be a co-host for a new ACC Network weekday program that debuts Monday. Boston, Mark Packer and Taylor Tannebaum will be co-hosts for “ACC PM,” a football-focused program on weekdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. It will be broadcast from the same studio in the basement of Packer’s Charlotte home used for the weekday morning show “Packer and Durham,” which was discontinued earlier this summer, with the last episode July 1.
Sports broadcasting legend Vin Scully, who died Tuesday at the age of 94, made the day of another broadcast legend with a note he sent. Scully, the iconic Hall of Fame baseball announcer who called Dodgers games for 67 years, first in Brooklyn and then in Los Angeles, sent a note on Los Angeles Dodgers stationery to Woody Durham. It congratulated the longtime Voice of the Tar Heels, who passed away in 2018, on his career.
CHARLOTTE — The three bywords that Carolina coach Mack Brown has emphasized to his team after a frustrating losing season are passion, accountability and toughness. With all three of those, he’s convinced that the narrow late-season road losses to Pittsburgh and N.C. State would have been victories and there would have been a lot more positive vibes at the end of the season.
Fans can attend an open Carolina football practice at Kenan Stadium later this month. The gates will open at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 30, for the practice that goes from 10 a.m. until noon.
When it’s UNC’s turn during ACC Network School Takeovers on Tuesday, you’ll see 10 memorable victories in nine sports from the last school year that aired on an ESPN channel. You won’t see the Tar Heels’ Final Four victory over Duke because that aired on TBS, but you’ll get a chance to relive their 94–81 victory in Durham to ruin Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last home game (6 p.m.), a softball no-hitter, an amazing football comeback and three ACC Tournament championship wins.
Next season will be the last with Coastal chaos and the two-division football format in the ACC. The conference announced Tuesday a new scheduling model from 2023 until 2026 that eliminates divisions. It designates three primary opponents that teams will play each year — for Carolina those are Duke, N.C. State and Virginia. The Tar Heels would be guaranteed to face all 10 other opponents twice over the four-year cycle.
CHAPEL HILL — Who will start at quarterback to lead Carolina and try to fill the void left by Sam Howell’s departure? While there is a good bit of optimism with the influx of talent and new coaches that the Tar Heels can rebound from a 6–7 season, the answer to that key question isn’t clear. This is at least the third time veteran UNC coach Mack Brown has gone into the summer in this situation.
Fans worried about sweltering in the August heat during Carolina’s football opener against Florida A&M will at least get some relief. The Tar Heels’ season-opening game will start at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 27 and air on ACC Network.
CHAPEL HILL — There are a lot of questions coming out of spring practice for Carolina but who will be the big-play receiver isn’t one of them. Drake Maye figures to be the favorite to start at quarterback for the Tar Heels in August, but whoever gets the call has the real luxury of throwing to junior wide receiver Josh Downs. Downs showed that big-play prowess again with first-half touchdown receptions of 12 yards from Jacolby Criswell and 38 yards from Maye.
Fans will get the chance to watch Drake Maye, the likely successor to Sam Howell at quarterback, as well as talented freshman running back George Pettaway at Saturday’s spring football event at Kenan Stadium. Known this year as the #TyleeStrong Spring Football Game, it’s free to fans. The name is to show support for wide receiver Tylee Craft, who recently was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.
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