The North Carolina Tar Heels have been working to round out their roster over the spring but have had some trouble finding depth at one position in particular on offense: running back. Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown is all too familiar with the struggles of bringing in talent, specifically at that position. He recently used an example from his past to articulate his current struggles—a story that Texas Longhorns fans aren’t too fond of.
In the mid-2000s, Brown built Texas up, making them a contender for the national championship. There was an opportunity for him to create arguably the greatest quarterback-running back tandem in Longhorn history by bringing in Adrian Peterson and pairing him with national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young. Unfortunately, that what-if scenario never came to fruition as Peterson opted to play for Texas’ biggest rival, Oklahoma, citing that Brown told him that he would not start. And Brown recently called upon that story to highlight why it has been a struggle lately to bring additional talent to the North Carolina running back room.
“Adrian Peterson once said one time I told him not to come. Well, what I did is he asked me, “Am I a starter when I walk on campus?’ And I said Cedric Benson is the starter, and he’s really good, and you’ll get to work with him; you’ll be rotating in and out. He wanted to be the starter,” said Brown.
“Well, with Omarion [Hampton], it’s kind of the same thing. Everybody knows Omarion, so the first question you get when they come in, ‘Well what about Omarion?’ I say he’s really good, and he’s gonna play, and he’s gonna get a lot of touches.”
It’s unclear who Brown is referring to when it comes to potential incoming running backs questioning their status and whether they should commit to this program. However, in the battle of Benson versus Peterson, the Oklahoma running back made a strong case for himself to be the starter. In 2004, Peterson’s freshman season, he would rush for 1925 yards, lead the nation and carries with 339, and finish with 15 rushing touchdowns. However, Benson also put together an impressive senior campaign in 2004. Benson would rush for 1834 yards on 326 carries with 19 rushing touchdowns and one receiving.
Ultimately, the college football world looked more favorable to Peterson’s accomplishments as he broke multiple rushing records as a true freshman for Oklahoma and the NCAA. And had it not been for an unprecedented 2004 season from Matt Leinart, leading USC to an undefeated national championship and putting up staggering numbers of his own, Peterson would have likely finished his freshman year as the Heisman Trophy winner. Instead, he settled for second place in the voting.
In the case of Hampton versus the field, it would be tough for Brown, or rather any college football head coach, not to side with the North Carolina running back. Hampton is entering his junior season fresh off of an All-American campaign in 2023. Last season for the Tar Heels, the sophomore running back ran for over 1500 yards on 253 carries with 15 rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown.
In hindsight, history slightly favored Peterson over Benson in 2004. However, with Hampton, Brown is entering the 2024 campaign with a four-of-a-kind poker hand. And as he sees it, it would make no sense to throw it away or disrupt it in hopes of a royal flush, i.e., something extremely rare. Incoming running back talent is more than welcome to attempt to beat out Hampton, but that is a steep mountain to climb from most, which is why it appears North Carolina is having some issues adding more talent to their running back room.
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