Published Jul 21, 2020
Brown On Dealing With COVID Issues, A Season & More
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Andrew Jones  •  TarHeelIllustrated
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North Carolina football coach Mack Brown met with the media Tuesday morning via Zoom to discuss where things currently stand with his team, how its handling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and looking ahead to the next few weeks leading into the season.

On July 8, UNC put out a release that 37 out of 429 athletes, coaches and staff has tested positive for COVID-19 and shut down football activities for a week. The team was back on the practice field last Thursday executing the first part of a six-week, NCAA-approved return plan. Those who tested positive have been isolated at home for a scheduled period of 14 days.

UNC returned to football activities last Thursday and are in the second part of the return plan.

The Tar Heels formally open fall camp Aug. 6 and the scheduled opener is Sept. 4 at Central Florida.

Tuesday would have been the first day of the annual ACC Kickoff, the media days in Charlotte that effectively launch ACC football into everyone’s consciousness. It was moved to a virtual event last month and a couple of weeks ago was postponed indefinitely.

Here are some notes and quotes from much of what Brown had to say:


*Upon the players arriving last month, the program went three weeks without a positive test but then had some positives over a weekend a couple of weeks ago. None were severe, though. “Thank goodness that all of our guys had minor to no symptoms,” Brown said.


*UNC’s protocol for when a player tests positive: They are quarantined for 10 days or until the symptoms are gone and then must have a heart checkup. Some recent studies have revealed potential heart problems associated with COVID-19. However, the program is doing contact tracing, so anyone who comes in contact with a player who tests positive must enter a 14-day quarantine.

As UNC has learned, players testing positive has been and remains inevitable.

“We’re talking to people all over the country and it’s everywhere,” Brown said. “It just goes from nothing to fast, and that’s why we closed the weight room down and I got people out of the office and just said, ‘Let’s take a deep breath here and let’s et our medical people here look at this more closely and determine exactly what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and make sure that we take a look at everybody’s safety as well.’”

UNC shut down its weight room for a period and the players stopped running in groups.


*The program has ordered special six-foot sticks for the coaches to use to help them maintain a six-foot distance from each other during practice.


*Players are wearing masks when they lift weights and onto the field for workouts, but they do remove them when running, etc, when outside.


*Brown said his team should be at nearly 100 percent by Thursday or Friday of this week. The team is working out 20 hours a week now until fall camp officially starts Aug. 6. The breakdown: eight hours for conditioning and weight training, six hours for meetings and film study, and six hours for team walk-throughs which may include use of a football.


*UNC is now well within the six-week window before the scheduled opener at UCF, so it can’t afford anymore setbacks with positive tests forcing another shutdown of activities. Brown said given that they didn’t have spring practice, six weeks are needed to get ready to play a football game, but they can get it done in four if necessary.


*Brown noted that because of the shutdown, new coaches John Lilly (tight ends) and Jovan Dewitt (special teams) have not worked on the field with their groups yet. Dewitt has had to use just video to evaluate special teams, which is hard because there can be so many moving parts there and use of true freshmen. So, the staff has told the players, “Y’all will have to earn that right, so don’t worry about depth charts right now because our special teams coaches really haven’t been around you guys.”


*The players have been told they don’t have to play this season and if they choose to sit out they won’t lose their scholarships. So far, nobody has asked to sit out. In addition, all program staff have been told they can stay home but will still have their jobs when they’re ready to return.


*If a coach tests positive during the season, the NCAA will allow the team to replace that coach on the field with someone who wasn’t previously on the field.


*The NBA model of creating a bubble also came up: “Them creating a bubble is obviously a real positive and that’s what we’re trying do, we’re trying to create a bubble around our football program.”


*Furthermore, with the 10-14 day mandatory quarantine for testing positive and then the following heart checkup, Brown said they are telling players they could miss two or even three games if they test positive during the season, so the staff is constantly reminding them about remaining in the bubble and making smart decisions about going out with friends, where they go and what they do.


*Brown has no idea what the ACC will announce on July 30 and isn’t worried about it, either. “I have the trust of the people in that room to make the right decisions,” he said.


*He is encouraged by other sports getting going: “We’re lucky that baseball is starting up, we’re lucky that basketball is playing, soccer is playing, golf’s playing, and I’m sure our medical experts are learning from each one of these situations and because of that, that will help us because we’ve still got some time even before we start on Aug. 6. We can learn a lot of different things.”


*More from Brown: “I think that there’s really more excitement that as we’re nearing the season, the possibility of us playing grows, and that’s exciting for the coaches and therefore the players. And then when (ACC) Commissioner (John) Swofford says at the end of July we’ll have some more answers, and the SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey says we’ll have more answers at the end of July, I think then they must feel like they’re making progress toward decisions.

“And we all know all of those options that are on the table, and I’m just glad that we’ve got people that are smart enough to make those decisions for us.”


*UNC’s head coach also said: “I expect us to play college football this fall.”


*Brown said the team gpa in the spring was over 3.0 and nright at 3.0 for the first summer school session. They are still in the midst of the second summer school session. Of course, it’s all being done online.


*The Tar Heels will hold morning practices again this season.


*The program has ordered face shields: “That makes some sense to me because the shield will cover your face.”

*Coaches boxes on the sidelines have been extended for the season.