CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown hit on a lot of different topics during Monday’s weekly press conference in advance of Saturday’s home game versus Mercer.
Among the things Brown discussed are red zone issues on offense, Sam Howell’s success not translating into more wins, the seniors who will play their last home games this weekend, wearing his 2005 national title ring, players’ milestone stats, building depth and more.
Here are Brown’s full press conference plus several excerpts from the presser:
*True freshman QB Sam Howell has posted some very impressive numbers this season but it hasn’t translated into a better than 4-6 overall record for the Tar Heels. Howell is 15th in the nation and tops in the ACC with 2,794 yards, he’s also thrown 29 TD passes.
“I think the biggest thing is we haven’t done as good a job as we need too in the red zone,” Brown said. “That’s coaching, that’s on us and we started well but we haven’t done as well lately so we’ve got to go back and figure out why.
“And the same thing on defense, we’ve given up too many plays in our secondary, we’re not getting the sacks. I don’t think it’s about Sam. Sam’s put us in a position to win so I’m really proud of him.”
*With two games remaining and the Tar Heels needing to win both to qualify for a bowl, is there any added pressure on Brown to get this program and school back to the postseason?
“I feel every day to do everything right in this program on and off the field,” Brown replied. “And I think we’re doing things right off the field, we’re close on the field – we’re so close.
“The pressure to beat South Carolina, nobody thought we were going to but we did, then the pressure to beat Miami and nobody thought we were going to and we did. And then everybody thought we might beat Wake and App State and we didn’t. Then nobody thought we had a chance against Clemson and we nearly did then we beat Georgia Tech.
“So, it’s been an up and down year with expectations because the kids have probably exceeded expectations. If they won on Saturday, they’ve won as many games as we’ve won here the last two years, so they’re definitely making progress. Everybody that watches them knows there’s a great future and that they’re playing with a lot of confidence.
“But, I feel pressure every day at practice that we practice really hard and that they stay healthy. I feel pressure every day as a coach that I have put a staff together and a coaching group together that is paying back this university and these kids to give them an opportunity to win every game. And that’s just the pressure I put on myself.”
*Javonte Williams is 237 yards away from 1,000 on the season, a mark eclipsed just twice since Brown left UNC 22 years ago when Gio Bernard did it in 2012 and Elijah Hood did so in 2015. Does Brown think about such milestones for the player perhaps to use as a selling point to prospects and the program in general?
“No. I think’s it’s better that we can sell running backs on three have played this year, three are really good and all three are successful than the accolades of one… This team needs to get to a bowl. They’re playing hard, in fact, I didn’t even know how many he needed. I knew he’d done a good job and I didn’t even realize until after the (Pittsburgh) game that Antonio (Williams) had over 100 yards. Those are great and I love the individual accolades for kids, but the only stat that matters is winning. It’s the only one.”
*Brown broke out his national championship ring Monday and it obviously stood out. He led Texas to the national title in 2005 and decided to wear it for an understandable reason.
“I really thought about (former Texas QB) Vince Young, who’s going into the Hall of Fame in about a month, and I thought I would wear it for the next month in his honor.”
So how often does he talk to his team about this program possibly getting a ring of their own and what it takes to achieve that?
“When I worked at Oklahoma, coach (Barry) Switzer (who) won a couple, he said, ‘When you win your national championship, get your ring big and gaudy enough that everybody will see it.’ When they walk in they’ll see it and say ‘What’s that? What do you mean, what are you talking about (showing the ring).’
“I think the guys know that we’ve been there and that we know what it takes to get there, so we haven’t talked about it a lot. We’ve talked about the process of winning and what you have to do every day to practice hard. We’ve had to go back and emphasize ‘you have to do it every day in practice, and what you do in practice shows up in a game.
“So we’re learning how to win and I think that’s why we’re so close.”
*Jacob Turner contributed to this piece
