Tar Heel commits having to navigate uncertainty about Mack Brown’s future

After James Madison beat North Carolina 70-50 earlier this season, Tar Heels coach Mack Brown told his team in the locker room that he would step away from the program if he couldn’t get things fixed.

It was a murky statement – was he retiring? – but as emotions cooled, Brown made it clear he was not calling it quits.

Still, other programs saw blood in the water and have gone after numerous North Carolina commitments.

Brown is 73 years old. He just told his team after an embarrassing loss that he would quit if he couldn’t fix the issues. That’s ripe territory for other teams to pounce.

“There have been a lot of schools reaching out to me to see if my commitment was solid,” three-star defensive tackle Devin Ancrum said. “Most of them were just asking if I was still solid with my commitment and if I had any interest in their school. I’m still pretty solid with UNC right now.”

The list for Ancrum included Virginia, Duke, NC State, Maryland, Boston College, Wake Forest and Georgia.

“There are probably a few others that have reached out but I can’t remember them all,” Ancrum said.

Committed to the Tar Heels since April, three-star defensive back Javion Butts from Gray (Ga.) Jones County was contacted as well. Alabama was trying to gauge interest about a month ago and Stanford has started initial conversations along with the Cavaliers.

Three-star running back Demon June, Jr., from Jacksonville, N.C., recently talked with an Auburn recruiting staffer but no other visits have been planned.

All this news comes on the heels of decommitments from two three-star tight ends in Marshall Pritchett, who flipped to Alabama, and Logan Farrell, who flipped to Illinois.

Other programs are also coming heavily after three-star linebacker Anthony Kruah, four-star offensive lineman Alex Payne and Clemson seems to be looking for a QB in its class with prized possession four-star Bryce Baker out there as well.

One recruit is certain about his future at North Carolina even if there seems to be uncertainty other places.

Byron Nelson is going nowhere.

“ I’m 100 percent locked in with North Carolina,” the three-star offensive lineman from Katy, Texas said.