Summer has come and passed, / the innocent can never last. / Wake me up, when September ends.
While the first line of “Wake Me Up When September Ends” does look a lot like wishful thinking from where we currently sit on the calendar—not to mention that we’re sweltering in the midst of an historic heat wave—the 21-year-old platinum single for Green Day may yet have some wisdom to impart to those of us lost in the interminable sports desert between the spring and fall athletic seasons. The innocent really can never last; a coaching staff in its infancy will have their mettle tested sooner than later in a regular-season game, and we as fans will finally figure out what we can expect from this bold experiment in Tar Heel football.