Mineola’s Austin Anderson + Riley Anderson Offered By North Carolina

Anderson mania has officially reached the East Coast.

Two days after Atlantic Coast Conference foe Miami reached out to Mineola tackles Austin Anderson (6-4, 289) and Riley Anderson (6-5, 287) with football scholarship opportunities, the twins announced Monday that North Carolina threw its hat into the increasingly national competition for their services.

North Carolina's offer marked the 24th individual choice for each brother. They currently share the same pool of college suitors.

The move was the school's first among East Texas prospects in the 2016 graduating class. It enters the 2015 season with just four Texas players on its roster, and it has none from the region.

That's something head coach Larry Fedora could be interested in changing. The Tar Heels' leader is a Texas native, played at Austin College in Sherman, served as an assistant coach at Garland High School from 1987 through 1990 and coached multiple offensive skill positions at Baylor in the mid 1990s.

Before winning the job in Chapel Hill, N.C., Fedora enjoyed successful stints as an offensive coach at Middle Tennessee State, Florida and Oklahoma State. He rose to offensive coordinator at each of those stops.

Fedora got his first head coaching job at Southern Miss -- Austin Anderson and Riley Anderson's father's alma mater -- in 2008. He guided the Golden Eagles to a 12-win season in 2011 and then jumped to the Tar Heels' program.

Fedora is hoping to turn the tide in his fourth year at the helm. His win total has decreased by one per season since taking the job.

The 2014 Tar Heels team finished its year with a 6-7 overall record and went 4-4 in the ACC. It made an appearance in the Quick Lane Bowl, but lost to Rutgers by a score of 40-21.

North Carolina does have some history to work with. The university won five ACC championships between 1963 and 1980 in addition to four conference titles won in preceding leagues.

In the most recent NFL draft, former Tar Heels tight end Eric Ebron was selected by the Detroit Lions with the 10th overall pick.

The Andersons were key components to a historic Mineola season in 2014. The Yellowjackets went 12-4 and reached the school’s first-ever state championship game, a 70-40 loss to Cameron Yoe in the Class 3A Division I final at AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Dec. 18.

A young offensive backfield amassed 4,465 rushing yards and 53 touchdowns in 16 games behind a line anchored by the twins.

The Andersons, like all rising senior football prospects, will become eligible to sign with any program that offers them on Feb. 3, 2016.

2016 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers