With the Bears getting a new head coach in Ed McCaffrey and now being the prime recruiting period, I thought that I would take this opportunity to look at what the Bears need to replace from last season and where some of the big needs are. I will break this into the 3 parts of the game, and talk about Special Teams, Offense, and then Defense.
Special Teams leaves a big hole with just one kicker (and a WR/punter) returning. With both Collin Root and Patrick Nasiatka graduating, the Bears will need to go out and find a powerful leg to kickoff and kick field goals. They still have Noah Sol, the wide receiver that did the bulk of the punting for the Bears and Ben Raybon returning. But with the bulk of the FGs and kickoffs being handled by Root and Nasiatka the Bears need to find that leg.
Offensively is where the Bears have the bulk of holes to fill, and all in the skilled positions. On the offensive line, the Bears will return the entire group from last season and will bring a few into the mix that redshirted this last season. The list of players that they need to replace is long…so here goes. At quarterback the Bears lose both Jacob Knipp (graduation and completion of eligibility) and Conor Regan (graduation and transfer). That represents all but 1 start over the last 2 seasons. The Bears will have four quarterbacks on their roster, with Conner Martin (Junior) being the most experienced with one start and two games played under his belt. The remainder of the quarterback room is made up of redshirt freshman in Zach Rush, Riley Kinney, and Alec Lewis. UNC needs to get a transfer in this group if they can with some playing experience or this could be a very young group.
The Bears also lose their top running back in Milo Hall from last season. They have a stable of replacements, but it never hurts to go find a powerhouse running back to add to the bunch. Jullen Ison and Braxton George look to be the workhorses next season, with Jaire Moore (transfer), Matt Gadek (injuries) and Ernesto Rios (redshirt) being added into the mix as well. At the receiver position, the Bears really only lose two players that played significant time in Willie Fairman and De’Tuan Williams. Fairman is that speedy guy on the outside, but the Bears have a few that can step in. UNC needs to get some big talent to catch the balls next season, but will look for Noah Sol, Noah Sarria, Sam Flowers, Jaren Mitchell and Darren Delacroix to all step up in addition to Jackson Hall and Chase Lanckriet getting some time too. Next season, the rotation at receiver has to be deeper to allow the group to be rested. Hopefully an NFL alumnus at that position helps the Bears understand that concept.
Defensively, the Bears have some big holes to fill as they lose their top tackler in Luke Nelson, their best pass defender in Michael Walker, and a couple of other big contributors in Brent Gilliland and Nick Johnson. There is plenty of talent to fill those gaps, but the Bears need to find some depth at all the positions. Going after some big names at each level would be very good in a Big Sky conference that has beat the Bears defense up in the last couple seasons.
So, in my opinion, this offseason signing period needs to include some big skill players on the offensive side of the ball in a quarterback and receivers as the priority. On the defensive side the Bears need to get bigger at all the groups and get some talented depth. Coach McCaffrey and whatever staff he puts together will have their work cut out for them getting this team ready to go for next season. As always, make sure to follow @aaronrath_unc and @troycoverdale for all your UNC Bears football updates. Check out 1310kfka.com and listen to 1310 KFKA for the best coverage of all Bears sports in Northern Colorado.