Why Mack Brown calls Larry Porter ‘the perfect choice’ to be UNC’s RB coach
Larry Porter hit the send button on a text to North Carolina head football coach Mack Brown, then waited like a teenager wondering if their crush would respond.
Porter worked on Brown’s staff at Texas during his final season in 2013. So Porter knew how Brown replied -- if he replied -- would be a strong indication of his chances of becoming the Tar Heels’ new running backs coach.
“I shot him a text and said, ‘Coach, I’d love to be a part of your staff if you’ll have me,’ and that was it,” Porter said. “And I’ve dealt with him enough to know that if he has interest, he will reply. And if he doesn’t, he won’t.”
Porter didn’t know it at the time, but he was exactly what Brown was looking for to replace Robert Gillespie, who left to take the same position at Alabama. He wanted experience, he wanted someone who he was familiar with, he wanted someone who could recruit in Carolina’s footprint.
Brown hit him back talking about the hiring process, which was the positive sign that Porter needed to see.
“Immediately, you start looking at guys that you know, you’ve been around and you trust and Larry Porter was the first one,” said Brown, who said he received about 50 texts from coaches interested in the position as soon as the Gillespie news leaked. But Brown said of Porter, “I thought he was the perfect choice.”
Recruiting under Larry Fedora
Porter coached on Larry Fedora’s staff at UNC from 2014-16. He recruited some of the Heels’ top players the past two seasons including defensive lineman Jason Strowbridge, running back Michael Carter and receiver Dazz Newsome.
Porter returns to UNC after four seasons at Auburn, where he coached tight ends and was the special teams coordinator. He’s twice been named the national recruiter of the year and has been a head coach before too, at Memphis in 2010-11.
“There’s more interest in coming here if we lose somebody now than there was two years ago,” Brown said.
Porter said that Brown has brought a different “energy” to the program that is noticeably different than when he was last in Chapel Hill.
“Look at what Coach Brown has done, he’s not only given the players a different perspective in terms of Carolina football, but I think he’s given the Carolina family as a whole a different perspective,” Porter said. “You look at it as more of a national brand now.”
Porter takes over the least experienced group on the team. The Heels lost both their 1,000-yard rushers from last season in Carter and Javonte Williams, who accounted for 84 percent of the team’s rushing yards last season.
Churning out great rushers
Porter has helped churn out 1,000-yard rushers in his past stints at LSU -- where he was on staff with UNC offensive line coach Stacy Searels -- and Oklahoma State. At Carolina, he helped guide Elijah Hood to rush for 1,463 yards in 2015.
“The biggest thing right now is just trying to integrate myself into this playbook,” Porter said. “To make sure I’ve got a tremendous grasp on what we’re doing and being able to communicate and present that to our players. So once we hit the field, we are in a position to move forward and they can operate with confidence as well.”
UNC accepted graduate transfer Ty Chandler from Tennessee, but no other running back on their roster has ever started more than one game. British Brooks, who started the Orange Bowl after Carter and Williams opted out, is the Heels leading rusher returning from last season with 99 yards.
“At the end of the day, I think it’ll be the spring that speaks to me in terms of their skill set and what they’re capable of doing,” Porter said. “That will allow me to truly have a great perspective in terms of how I can help them, how they can help the team and where we need to go from there.”