Anyone who has been around the ACC or Mack Brown for any length of time knows all about his reputation as a salesman and recruiter.

He could sell ice to an Eskimo, as the cliché goes.

So at ACC Media Days, when he started playing defense about the quality of his team’s defense last season by saying it wasn’t as bad as the dreadful statistics suggested, I simply dismissed it as a case of Mack being Mack.

Then, just to be on the safe side, I took a quick peek at the numbers.

Sure enough, he’s right.

While the Tar Heels finished dead last in the conference in virtually every statistical category imaginable in 2022 – including points and yards allowed, passing yardage allowed and sacks – those rankings were actually skewed by early nonconference performances against Appalachian State and Notre Dame.

UNC’s defense was noticeably better once the conference schedule began.

The Tar Heels still gave up a lot of yards, 416.4 per game, to be exact. But where it counts, on the scoreboard, they allowed nearly a touchdown less per game while ranking in the middle of the league at 25.8 points allowed against ACC competition.

“We played awful against App State and we played awful against Notre Dame. I got that,” said Brown, referring to games in which UNC surrendered 61 and 45 points, respectively. “We started getting better and nobody gave us credit. Because there’s so much going on, people just said ‘they’re bad’ for the rest of the year.”

OK, maybe they might not have been that bad, all things considered. They still weren’t good enough to prevent a season-ending 4-game losing streak once opposing defenses began finding ways of slowing down Drake Maye and UNC’s league-leading offense.

In order to take full advantage of a quarterback well on his way toward becoming the best in school history in what will almost certainly be his final year before entering the NFL Draft, Brown and his old buddy Gene Chizik spent most of their offseason working to improve their defense.

It doesn’t have to be great, mind you. Just good enough to give Maye a realistic shot at putting his team over the top.

The effort was aided greatly by the transfer portal, as much by the number of players going out the revolving door as those coming in.

No fewer than 6 defensive backs left the program following the Tar Heels’ last-second loss to Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. An argument can be made that it was addition by subtraction after a season in which UNC gave up 271 yards per game and 27 touchdowns through their air.

To replenish the ranks, Brown and Chizik brought in a group of veteran transfers, led by Alijah Huzzie from East Tennessee State – whose 6 interceptions in 2022 ranked 2nd among FCS defenders. 

The upgrade also includes fellow cornerback Armani Chatman from Virginia Tech and safety Derrik Allen from Georgia Tech, who in addition to improving the product on the field will be asked to serve as mentors for their younger teammates. 

Including Allen’s younger brother, Marcus.

In an effort to address a woeful pass rush that produced only 17 sacks a year ago,  the staff lured graduate edge rusher Amari Gainer, with his 210 career tackles and 6 sacks, away from ACC rival Florida State.

They’ll join a returning core Brown is convinced will be better this year. If for no other reason than what they went through a year ago.

“Those kids have heard that enough. They’re getting tired of hearing it,” the veteran coach said. “They’re going to come in with a chip on their shoulder.”

Not to mention a lot more experience.

“I feel like guys are a lot more comfortable in this defense,” said All-ACC candidate Cedric Gray, who along with fellow returners Power Echols, Gio Biggers and DeAndre Boykins make up a solid linebacking corps. “They’re understanding where to be and what to do.

“This is our 2nd year under Coach Chiz, now. With all that and all the new transfer additions, I think this will be a better defense.”

The players aren’t the only ones that are more comfortable and confident in what they’re doing.

Chizik has an impressive resume that includes 1 national championship as Brown’s defensive coordinator at Texas in 2005 and another as head coach at Auburn in 2010. But he’d been away from the college game since ending his first tour of duty at UNC in 2016.

Because of the way offenses have evolved since then, it’s taken a full season for the old dog to counter by learning some new tricks.

“Coach Chizik will be better after being out for 5 years and seeing all the changes on offense,” Brown said “He got an awakening early in the season and we continued to get better.”

The goal now is to build on that momentum and keep improving into the new season.

It’s a low bar regardless of how you interpret last year’s performance.

Chizik’s defense doesn’t need to be great in order to give UNC a realistic chance at challenging favorites Clemson and Florida State for the ACC title this year.

It just has to be good enough.