North Carolina building QB Maye a ‘flawless offense,’ Brown says

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina coach Mack Brown made offensive staff changes with two goals in mind: put quarterback Drake Maye in position to have a great season and maximize his NFL draft future.

To that end, Brown hired Chip Lindsey as offensive coordinator, former Browns coach Freddie Kitchens as tight ends coach and former NFL quarterback coach Clyde Christensen as a volunteer offensive analyst — the latter fresh off four years in Tampa Bay, three of which were spent with Tom Brady.

With fall practice set to begin next week, Brown told ESPN Thursday during ACC Kickoff he recently asked the three coaches to put their ideas together to get a “flawless offense” in place.

“I’ve got [Maye] a lot of manpower in that room, and now what we’ve got to do is make sure all of them do what’s best for him, that is therefore best for our offense,” Brown said. “I’ve really challenged them over the summer to make sure that we put all of our ideas together and get a flawless offense on the field instead of a bunch of ideas from a bunch of really bright guys.

“We can’t do that. We got to be one. We can’t be three different minds.”

Maye heads into this season as a possible No. 1 overall draft pick and a Heisman Trophy candidate. ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid currently has Maye going third overall in his summer mock draft, and the second quarterback taken behind USC’s Caleb Williams.

When asked whether he has heard the talk about him and Williams as possible No. 1 picks, Maye acknowledged he had, but tried to deflect that conversation and focus on the upcoming season.

“It’s hard to really fathom it because you dream of that, one day hearing your name on stage, but at the end of the day, we’ve just got to win games,” Maye said. “The personal accolades will come with winning games.”

Last season, Maye led North Carolina to the ACC championship game while setting single-season school records for passing yards (4,321), completions (342) and attempts (517), earning ACC Player of the Year honors and becoming a Freshman All-American.

But the Tar Heels also struggled down the stretch, losing four straight — including 39-10 to Clemson in the ACC title game. Maye threw four of his seven interceptions of the season in those four losses, and did not hit the 300-yard passing mark in any of those games.

When offensive coordinator Phil Longo left for Wisconsin, Brown knew his offensive coordinator hire would be crucial, so he included Maye in the process. Lindsey comes to North Carolina from UCF, and runs a similar offense to Longo, but is expected to put more of an emphasis on the running game.

“What I looked for was a great teacher. I looked for somebody who matched Drake’s personality,” Brown said. “I looked for somebody who would keep the same passing game because it’s really good, but also a guy that was running the ball better than we were and that would help us with the protections as well.

“So this just fit perfectly, and thank goodness. When I had Drake talk to him separate from me, if Drake had called and said ‘I don’t like him,’ we’ve got a problem.”

For his part, Maye said he is feeling good heading into fall camp with the way their relationship has developed.

“This summer’s been great,” Maye said. “We’re finding our identity and honing in on plays. He’s done a great job of kind of asking me what I like and what I don’t like, so he’s a perfect coach a quarterback wants a play for. He’s not the one doing the playing, so he’s got to know what I like. Because at the end of day, I’m the one out there executing it.”

Maye said he has spent time rewatching last season’s games to find ways to improve as well, like identifying plays where he could have minimized damage by throwing the ball away and not taking a sack or not forcing the ball into place he couldn’t get it.

“Just knowing that leadership-wise, it’s my team. As a quarterback, you’re put in that role, and I’ve embraced that role,” Maye added.