Pat Welter speaks with Mack Brown about what it was like to recruit, coach, and now watch Drake Maye.

Here’s May, pressure coming, gonna turn, throw toward Green. Touchdown, Carolina. When Drake May is your quarterback, every day is a great day to be a Tar Heel. Going to the Super Bowl, that sounds pretty good. That sounds pretty cool. Hard to believe Carolina’s Super Bowl son almost played for the Crimson Tide. The first family of, of sports in North Carolina is the, the Mays. Former UNC head coach Mack Brown knew the family connections Drake had to Chapel Hill. Mark, his dad actually worked for me. He was a graduate assistant for me in my first year, so I’ve known the family forever and. Of course, I saw Luke make the last-second shot to win the national championship, but he also knew the football program he took over in 2019. I’m in the mountains, I’m playing golf, it’s in the summer. I see Drake’s name come up on my phone. I’m thinking, great, he’s gonna commit. Uh, and he did to Alabama, and he said, Coach, um, I’ve watched North Carolina football the last 2 years and there’s nobody in the stands and they’ve lost all the games, and I don’t want to do that. I want, my, my brothers have won championships. I want to go where I can win a championship. Mack told him, it’s our job to make you want to come here. So Carolina made a bowl game that season, and with a little help from Bryce Young flipping to Alabama, Drake signed with UNC. Matt Brown got him, but almost didn’t start him. So, you know, I let some time pass and all due respect to Jacoby Criswell, but Drake has become who he’s become. So was it really a battle at the time or was that just kind of what you guys were telling us? Well, Patrick, it was because Sam played all the time. And we were in tight games, so Jacoby and Drake didn’t get to play. And, uh, Jacoby was the player of the Year in Arkansas. I asked all the older guys who, who’s our quarterback? Who do you think? And they’d say, Coach Drake’s unbelievable. The rest is history. Remain the play fake to the end zone. Touchdown, Tar Heels. Super Bowl Sunday, a new chapter will be written. And I told scouts, uh, when they would come through that he’ll, he, he’s a Super Bowl guy. He’ll win a Super Bowl. I didn’t know he was gonna have a chance to, to be the second youngest guy to ever do it or the youngest guy to ever win one, but, but, uh, he’s just, he’s got, he’s got everything. He’s got the it factor. Pat Walter, WREL Sports.