UNC football has plenty of running back options, but will Heels have plenty of yards?

It’s safe to say North Carolina has no shortage of running backs.

Just take a look at the options: Elijah Green, Omarion Hampton, British Brooks, Caleb Hood, George Pettaway.

“The running back battle is great,” UNC coach Mack Brown said during fall camp. “British and Caleb Hood and Omarion are all big-bodied guys. Elijah Green is maybe not as big a back but real fast. Pettaway is playing in the slot and at running back because he’s valuable and we need him on the field.”

But while the numbers are there and the running back room is jammed, what the Tar Heels want more of this season is consistency in the running game to take some of the heat off quarterback Drake Maye.

Think back to the Georgia Tech game last November. Green, on the Heels’ first play from scrimmage, broke off an 80-yard run for a touchdown.

Great play call, perfect execution. Green ran past everybody and the Tar Heels took the early lead.

But Green then had 12 net yards on his last nine carries. UNC had 83 yards on 32 carries after Green’s big run in a 21-17 upset loss to the Yellow Jackets, who trailed 17-0 in the second quarter after Green scored again on a short run.

The Tar Heels, sixth in the ACC in rushing in 2022, did not have more than 118 rushing yards in any of its last three games — against N.C. State, Clemson in the ACC championship game and Oregon in the Holiday Bowl. Maye and the passing game had to carry the offense as UNC ended the season with a four-game losing streak.

Chip Lindsey has come in as the new offensive coordinator this year saying the Tar Heels plan to be “physical, fast and tough” on offense. He wants more punch up front on the O-line and the backs doing a better job in pounding out the tough yardage when needed.

As Lindsey said, the holes, the “daylight,” isn’t always there. Sometimes, it can get “cloudy” for a running back with a mass of moving bodies in front of him, he said.

Lindsey said that’s when the back has to take the ball and “run through the smoke.”

“Like a NASCAR driver when things happen,” he said. “We like to use that analogy.”

Green figures to be the starter when the Tar Heels open Sept. 2 against South Carolina in Charlotte. The junior was UNC’s top rusher in 2022 — among the running backs — with 558 yards and eight touchdowns.

Maye had to run a lot more than he planned on — or Brown wanted him to — in finishing with 698 yards on 184 carries, both team highs.

Lindsey was offensive coordinator on Todd Monken’s staff at Southern Mississippi in 2015, when Ito Smith rushed for 1,128 yards and Jalen Richard 1,098. Both later played in the NFL.

Lindsey isn’t guaranteeing a 1,000-yard rusher this season, much less two, but does see similarities with the situation he had at Southern Miss.

“You need multiple backs to be able to play,” he said. “The season’s a grind. We need guys who can hold up. I like the direction that room is headed.”

Hampton was leaky at times on pass protection as a freshman last season but has improved. The sophomore, who starred at Cleveland High, said the game has “slowed down” for him and that he’s better about taking care of “all the small details and picking traffic up.”

The Tar Heels also have worked with Hampton with keeping his eyes and head up more running the ball.

“I think it was me being a freshman and nervous last year,” Hampton said. “As soon as I got the ball it was straight downhill. I had to work on that.”

Lindsey has noticed that work and Hampton’s willingness to be better.

“He’s improved in where his eyes need to be when he gets the handoff,” Lindsey said. “Do I read this guy, do I read this guy? Those are the things some guys catch on very quickly and with some guys it takes a little more time. I like his progress.”

Brooks is back after a knee injury last August knocked him out of the 2022 season. Lindsey said he likes his size and football smarts, and his pass-catching ability out of the backfield.

“He’s a strong guy, very compact, and I think he has great vision,” Lindsey said.

The hardest part for Brown and the offensive staff may be the picking and choosing of which backs to play.

“We’re trying to figure out the mix,” Brown said. “Who’s best in short yardage, who’s best on the goal line?”

Again, the options are there. The experience is there.

“It’s the right balance you are looking for,” Lindsey said.