CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina defensive coordinator Jay Bateman met with the media following the Tar Heels’ fifth practice of fall camp Monday, and their final one before donning full pads and having full contact, which begins Tuesday.

Bateman fielded questions for about 20 minutes focusing a lot of the growth of players and the units on that side of the ball, playing more base, trusting the players with scheming and showing stuff, the potential of some young Heels, and much more.

Above is the video of Bateman’s full presser and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:

*One of the missions for Bateman and head coach Mack Brown has been to reach a point where the defense gets sacks based on its talent and not scheming stuff. As an example, giving up a corner for a blitz is nice when a sack or pressure is recorded, but it also stresses the secondary if that isn’t achieved.

Does this allow Bateman to simplify his defense and make it easier as a play caller if that’s the direction he wants to go?

“Yeah, there’s a time and a place now where we can say, ‘Let’s line up and play a little bit,’” Bateman said. “The other part of it is, we got to a point last year where we were very simple because of youth and because of inexperience in some spots. But now I feel like we can handle more.

“And I think the sacks will come more because they aren’t playing as much. And I think freshness brings effort in pass rush, too. So, we have simplified some things, but we also feel very confident of our ability to handle a lot more, so it’s a little bit of both.”

*Depth and playing more guys on defense has been a constant theme over the last week, not just up front but just about everywhere. But is this a situation where the staff has decided to play guys for the sake of keeping others fresher, or has the group in general improved to where they are playing a lot of guys because they deserve to be on the field?

“That’s a great question,” Bateman said. “Coach Brown and I talk all the time, there’s rotation for need and there’s rotation because you earn it. I think we’re at a point where we’ve got a lot of players, like ‘This kid has got to play. He’s got to be in in certain situations.’

“And when you have more of that, then it’s a lot easier to say, ‘Go in because we’re going to call these three or four calls, we’re going to have this package on the field.’

“So, early on, my first year here, it was like we’ve got to find somebody to give these guys a blow. Now it’s much different. Now, it’s these young men have earned the chance to play. So, when you’ve got more kids that have earned the right to play and earned the trust of their teammates and their coaches, now you have more people in the game.”

*One of the fun questions in fall camp is asking players and coaches who has been stepping up, and with coaches especially, who has improved a lot. That was posed to Bateman with respect to Carolina’s increasingly deep defensive front with an emphasis on what players have made the biggest jumps.

“The first thing is, I think Ray (Vohasek) is playing at a really high level,” Bateman said. “He’s done a great job as a leader. I’m really proud of that kid. Tomari Fox, who missed the spring with a shoulder, has come back and physically, he’s really taken care of his body. I think he’s really prepared to play. I think those two kids, who played a lot last year, it’s not like we forgot about those two, right, they’ve really improved.

“If you ask a couple of guys who have really stood out to me from (last) fall to this fall camp, Myles Murphy for sure. Super talented, moving him around, doing a lot of stuff. I think Kedrick Bingley-Jones is really coming along. (He) had a hard few months there with some injuries, (but) I think he’s big and he’s powerful.

“I think Kristian Varner has come a long way, has become a really, really important piece of our defense. And I think the two freshmen, Jahvaree Ritzie and Keeshawn Silver, are going to be tremendous players.

“Everybody I mentioned, depending on what lunch is today, is around 300 pounds. Those are big bodies. And then you’ve got Clyde Pinder; we talk about Clyde Pinder like he’s little, Clyde’s like 285, but Clyde has got real pass rush ability. So, I think Clyde Pinder is an example of a young man that’s deserved time to play, and now we’ve got to get him in in the right situations.

“I’m sure I forgot somebody, but I think all those kids are going to play, they’re all going to travel and have a role. And I think that group has become a real strength of ours.”

*Ja’Qurious Conley started much of last season at nickel as a true freshman, but he was moved to safety before spring practice. Bateman says that’s not only the best place for him on this UNC team, but for him as a college player in general and as an NFL prospect.

“I think this speaks to our defense and our team a little bit, too,” Bateman said. “Ja’Qurious last year played nickel because I felt like we had to get him going, and nickel is a little bit more they tell you what to do then you tell other people what to do.

“I don’t know if he’s the ideal nickel, but he did a great job for us. And so in the offseason, we came to him and said, ‘Look, we think your future both as a college player and an NFL player is as a safety.’ He’s almost 220 pounds.

“So, we moved him back there. I think on a lot of teams the other safeties would have felt threatened. Here’s this who’s talented and played as a freshman and they’re moving him to my spot. Our kids just went over there and helped him and embraced him, and he has done a great job so far.

“I anticipated fall camp still being a little bit of a learning curve with him. But he has done a great job and I’m real proud of him. I think he’s a real difference maker when he’s playing safety.”

*With Storm Duck out right now, though UNC says he will be ready for the opener at Virginia Tech, the Tar Heels are still in excellent shape at cornerback. Tony Grimes’ talent and the quick ascent in his play has been well documented, but not discussed as much is junior Kyler McMichael, who started nine games last season playing 515 snaps, registering 26 tackles with six PBUs.

Bateman is plenty high on the No. 53 player overall nationally in the high school class of 2018.

“Kyler is super talented, he’s doing a good job, and we’re trying to ask more of him like we are all of them,” Bateman said. “I’m proud of him because, like most corners do at this time of camp after playing 500 deep balls in five days, he’s got some nagging kind of injuries, but he’s going out there taping up and going.

“I have a lot of respect for him. There aren’t many kids that are a top-50 player in the country that transfer and play scout team for a year. He is a really important part of our defense, and I’m excited to see him; I think he will take a big step forward. And last year he was good, so I expect this year for him to be an elite player.”