Why Jacolby Criswell circled back to UNC football to compete for the QB job once again

An easy smile spread across Jacolby Criswell’s face Monday morning at UNC’s Kenan Football Center.

He stepped up to the podium to address the assembled media, the smile displaying his immediate sense of comfort.

“A lot of familiar faces,” he joked.

But, in a serious sense, familiarity is what drew the transfer back to Chapel Hill. Criswell lost the starting job to Drake Maye in 2022 and transferred to Arkansas for the 2023 season.

Now, he’s back at North Carolina vying yet again for a starting spot as one of three quarterbacks — alongside Connor Harrell and Max Johnson — in contention.

It’s a lot of pressure for a signal caller who, after four years in college, has played just 18 games. Criswell is already behind on the quarterback rat race, having missed this past spring season when Harrell and Johnson were duking it out. He’s aware of that, yet, he feels “relieved” to be in Carolina Blue again.

“To me, I feel like there’s no pressure here whatsoever,” Criswell said. “I know what I’m capable of, the coaches know what I’m capable of (and) the players know what I’m capable of. So now it’s just doing what I do and playing ball.”

He exuded comfort, no doubt, in the way he carried himself down to the tan flip flops he wore. Criswell spoke at a relaxed pace, but also with great confidence.

“You don’t play the sport to sit on the bench,” he said. “As a guy, I hold a lot of weight to myself. I’ve been back and forth with a lot of great quarterbacks. And I know my right arm is one of the best in the country. 100 percent. This is the moneymaker.”

The right arm, and Criswell in his entirety, have been largely relegated to a backup role. Before Maye, Criswell played behind Sam Howell for two seasons. Criswell made it his goal to push Howell in practice and “never let him let up.”

“That was my job,” Criswell said. “I did exactly that and look where he went now.”

In 2022, UNC decided its spring game starter on a coin flip. Maye and Criswell continued to battle intensely that summer, from workouts to film sessions. Then, the week of UNC’s season-opener against Florida A&M, head coach Mack Brown announced Maye as the Tar Heels’ starter.

Criswell still believes the competition was “super close” and said there were “no hard feelings” when Maye was picked.

“I had faith in both of us that we were going to win a lot of games and that’s the most important thing when it comes to football,” Criswell said. “Like a lot of people say it’s about having fun. No it’s not. It’s about winning football games.”

And now, after a year away at Arkansas, Criswell believes he can be the signal caller to lead UNC to success this season. Criswell recounted a conversation he had with Maye a while back: “Hey, you beat me out, but eventually I want to win an ACC Championship.”

The bragging didn’t stop with Maye either, with Criswell telling the media he could “100 percent” throw the ball further than Howell. After the press conference, a reporter pulled up an old spring game clip on his laptop — the video proof. Criswell watched and smiled.

Criswell is familiar with Chapel Hill and familiar with battling for a starting position. He’s familiar with competing against NFL talent. But, to get to the next level, he can’t become familiar yet again with being a backup quarterback.

Criswell knows that much.

And so, when asked on Monday if he believed he could join the ranks of Howell and Maye, Criswell spoke bluntly, saying, “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”