CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Football Coach Mack Brown met with the media Friday afternoon at the Kenan Football Center to discuss the Tar Heels and their season-opener next Thursday at Minnesota.
In the press conference that lasted just over an hour, Brown hit on all facets of his team and fielded questions about the quarterback situation, the offensive line, what true freshmen will play right away, Geoff Collins’ defense, special teams developments, the health of the Heels, the Golden Gophers and more.
UNC and Minnesota kick off at 8 PM EST in Minneapolis, and the game will air nationally on FOX.
Above is the full video of Brown’s presser, and below are a bunch of notes from what he discussed:
*UNC announced at the outset of the presser the team has no injuries that will affect player availability for Thursday night.
---This includes sophomore linebacker Amare Campbell, who broke a bone in his right hand two weeks ago but returned earlier this week. Brown said Campbell was at full speed in practice Thursday.
*Another note before Brown started speaking: In the last 21 times UNC has opened the season against a power conference team, Mack is 8-2 and the rest of the time UNC is 0-11.
*Brown said running back Omarion Hampton was offered four times more money from other schools to transfer, but he opted to stay at UNC. The head coach expressed warm thoughts about that loyalty.
*True freshman offensive guard Aidan Banfield will play on offense next Thursday, Brown said. Other true freshmen that could play, and are at least close to being in the rotation are receiver Jordan Shipp, running back Davion Gause, and linebacker Ashton Woods.
*Brown said this is the most fun he’s had in the preseason since returning to UNC, saying it’s the best leadership, the team polices itself, and they deal with discipline issues. “It’s been fun and really good.”
*The Tar Heels hit more in fall camp than they had in previous years. The intent, Brown says, is to get tougher but also build more depth with the younger players. The mission is for the staff to play more guys, so the added physicality in practice should help that process.
*Much discussion about UNC not announcing who will start at quarterback is a direct result of Minnesota Coach P.J. Fleck not releasing one. Brown said then there’s no need for his team to do it.
“So, to be fair to our team, we’re not going to release a depth chart.”
*Brown said they plan on having quarterbacks Max Johnson and Conner Harrell ready to play. He sort of mentioned at first they would play both, perhaps giving the non-starter a series (that’s how it was interpreted by some in the media, prompting follow-ups.).
“Right now, we plan on playing both quarterbacks.” He also added they simply want to make sure two are ready to play. He doesn’t want to get caught in a situation where if QB1 gets hurt, QB2 has basically no experience.
Brown added that point is to have two guys ready, but it also came across as if the staff knows who the starter is, but that doesn’t mean either Johnson or Harrell will keep the job all season.
“We will be sitting in the game; this is working, let it go. This isn’t working.”
*Special teams were a point of emphasis going back to January, and it has remained one. The mix of talented young players and veterans makes it a big tricky with some units, but the push for greater consistency has gone as smooth as the staff can hope for the last few weeks.
“We’ve got to change games on special teams.”
With that, improving a punt team that had a pair of kicks blocked last season and several botched boots has been part of the mission. Brown is pleased with the progress Australian punter Tom Maginness has made the last few weeks.
Plus, Brown is comfortable with how often they’ve gone live with special teams other than hitting the return men, they were in thud.
*Geoff Collins brought a tenacious, aggressive defense to Chapel Hill, and the players have fully embraced it even saying it’s liberating. Collins is known for his work as DC at Florida and Mississippi State, where he guided those units to among the top in the SEC and nationally. That has been missing at Carolina.
“More than not, we have not been a consistently good defense that has kept us from where we want to go.”
The optimistic Hall of Fame head coach later added, “I’m excited about what I see.”
*Carolina is holding a mock game inside Kenan Stadium on Friday night complete in the uniform they will wear next week with even the coaches wearing what they will have on during the game.
-Full game routine with pre-game meal, getting dressed in the locker room, warmups, the tunnel, and game situations like getting field goal unit on the field, quick subbing when a player on the field has equipment issues, and so on.
*Helmet stickers are coming back to UNC football, Brown said. The Tar Heels had them when he was in Chapel Hill the first time, but when Darrell Royal didn’t want them on Texas’ helmets when Brown took that job, he didn’t have them, and chose not to when he arrived at UNC for part two.
Players will get them on Sundays after games. Great and important plays will be rewarded with stickers, but great plays can be canceled out by blunders.
*As for Thursday night in Big Ten country, Brown is excited to see what his team will do, and to be on a national stage as the biggest game in the nation that night. FOX will air the game, and it’s against a program that won 11 games and finished ranked in the top 10 in 2019, then won nine games in 2021 and 2022.
“It will showcase our program”
We will have much more on what Brown said about the Gophers in another report, but he did note these few things: They are very good along the OL that includes a possible NFL first-round pick at tackle; the defensive line will be one of the best UNC will face this season; QB Max Brosmer was the top QB at the FCS level last season; Minny has a running back who ran for 138 yards against UNC last season and is first-team All-Big Ten preseason.
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