UNC Football names Randy Clements as new offensive line coach

Carolina football has had quite an eventful couple of weeks: a sizable amount of players have entered the transfer portal, Phil Longo has left the program, and he took his offensive line coach with him. We expected Mack Brown to make another hire for offensive coordinator relatively soon, but it turns out that he chose to address the o-line first.

UNC announced that they have hired Randy Clements as their new offensive line coach. Clements has 35 years of experience, and has according to Carolina’s website is one of the top offensive line coaches in the country. The easiest body of work to reference is his time with Baylor between 2013 and 2015, where he helped orchestrate one of the best offenses in the country.

Here is what Mack Brown had to say about his new offensives line coach:

“We’re excited that Randy, his wife Polly, and their sons Jordan and Jayson are a part of the Carolina football family,” Brown said. “Randy is a tough, hard-nosed offensive line coach that has a tremendous amount of experience working in systems similar to our offense. He’s helped produce explosive offenses everywhere he’s been, while showing a knack for protecting the quarterback and limiting negative plays. Randy has shown an aptitude for identifying and developing offensive linemen and his attention to detail shows in his linemen’s ability to play with great technique. The teams he’s been a part of have consistently run the ball effectively, and everyone we talked to thought very highly of him as a coach and leader of young men. I believe Randy is the perfect fit for our offensive system moving forward and we can’t wait for him to get to Chapel Hill and get to work.”

There’s no doubt that the offensive line has been one of the bigger problems to solve for when it comes to the Tar Heels, so while hiring an offensive line coach before an offensive coordinator is odd, it could be that Brown didn’t want to waste any time filling this position. It is also very possible that Brown has created his short-list of offensive coordinators, and that hiring Clements sooner rather than later is him playing 4-D chess. Let’s hope this is the case, because if he’s simply playing checkers, one has to wonder why this hire was made before the OC job. Regardless, it’s good to see him making necessary moves, and we will have to wait and see who teams up with Clements to help develop UNC’s offense for the 2023 season.

What do you think of the newest hire? Let us know in the comments below.