By Dave Holcomb
SouthernPigskin.com

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Dave Holcomb talks about North Carolina signing the ACC’s top recruiting class.

Only one ACC football teams 2022 recruiting class landed among the nations top 10 based on the 247Sports composite rankings.

It was not Clemson.

Rather, it was North Carolina. Even with three fewer commits than the Tigers, the Tar Heels landed the ACCs top recruiting class for 2022, and its kind of a big deal.

Florida State was the last team other than Clemson to lead ACC football in recruiting, and that came when Jimbo Fisher was still in Tallahassee in 2016.

No wonder Clemson has won six of the last seven ACC championships.

In 2020 and 2021, few programs across the country out-recruited Clemson. The Tigers finished with a top 5 class both years according to 247Sports, including third in 2020 behind only Georgia and Alabama.

The next best ACC class in either of those cycles came from Miami, who held the 11th-best recruiting class in 2021.

Clemson falling out of 247Sports top 10 in recruiting opened the door for a program such as North Carolina to take the No. 1 recruiting class spot in the ACC. Everything from Clemsons x9cdisappointingx9d season to the loss of both coordinators may have contributed to the dropoff in Tigers recruiting. Clemson finished a spot behind North Carolina with the countrys 11th-best class.

Nevertheless, North Carolinas ability to rise to the top spot in ACC football recruiting should be celebrated.

Top 10 recruiting classes, especially from non-traditional national football contenders, are typically built around highly-regarded high school quarterbacks. That wasnt the case for North Carolina, and it makes the job Mack Brown and the rest of the Tar Heels coaching staff did in recruiting all that much more impressive.

In fact, quarterback is one of North Carolinas biggest question marks entering 2022 with Sam Howell electing to forgo his senior season and enter the NFL draft. The Tar Heels did sign a quarterback in the 2022 class, but 3-star Conner Harrell and not a 4 or 5-star signal caller.

Instead, North Carolina built its 2022 class in the trenches, a place the Tar Heels struggled severely last year. North Carolina landed two 5-star prospects in the class offensive tackle Zach Rice and defensive lineman Travis Shaw.

Shaw represents a huge recruiting win not only because he will likely be the centerpiece of the Tar Heels defense for the next three years but also because he was the top-rated 2022 player in North Carolina.

In Mack Browns first two years back with the Tar Heels, the top North Carolina football prospect left the state. In 2020, top-rated North Carolina recruit Trenton Simpson signed with Clemson.

But in the last two recruiting cycles, the Tar Heels have landed the top prospect in North Carolina.

The Tar Heels finished last in sacks allowed and ninth in sacks in the ACC last season. That will change with the arrival of Rice and Shaw. The defense will also see 4-star talent come to Durham in edge rushers Malaki Hamrick and Beau Atkinson along with linebacker Sebastian Cheeks.

This top-level talent is much needed for the Tar Heels, as they try to fix a defense that ranked in the bottom four in both points allowed and yards yielded in the ACC last season.

While North Carolina didnt land a top quarterback in the class, it did hit at running back with 4-star recruit George Pettaway. Hes a top 100 prospect and is considered the eighth-best running back in the 2022 class based on the 247Sports composite rankings.

As much as Howell was a big part of North Carolinas success the last two seasons, the Tar Heels running back should receive a ton of credit too. In 2020, Michael Carter and Javonte Williams each rushed for more than 1,000 yards and more than 7.0 yards per carry while combining for 33 touchdowns.

This past season, graduate transfer Ty Chandler ran for 1,092 yards and 13 touchdowns while averaging 6.0 yards per attempt. Pettaway will immediately help whomever starts behind center for the Tar Heels.

In total, North Carolina landed 17 recruits, which is fewer than Clemson, Virginia Tech and Boston College, but 10 of the 17 prospects the Tar Heels signed are at least 4-star players.

That alone is impressive. Finishing in front of Clemson with the ACCs top recruiting class was just icing on the cake.