CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media via zoom following the Tar Heels’ practice Wednesday morning to field questions about his team’s readiness with the opener several days away, certain players, some on-going position battles, and much more.
UNC hosts Florida A&M on Saturday night at 8:15 (ACC Network) kicking off the 2022 season.
Above is video of Brown’s Q&A session, and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what Brown had to say:
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*Brown announced that sophomore Noah Burnette has beaten out senior Jonathan Kim for the placekicking duties. Burnette attended Leesville Road High School in Raleigh, and won the heated competition that carried into this week. Kim will still handle the kickoff duties, but Burnette will kick PATs and field goals. Ben Kiernan retained the starting punter job.
*True freshman jack Malaki Hamrick will get on the field Saturday night. In fact, Brown said a few packages have been created to take advantage of his skills, which includes getting after the quarterback as perhaps his best attribute at this time.
*Brown said neither side of the ball has 22 guys yet the staff is fully comfortable playing in all situations. Offensive coordinator Phil Longo said Monday his side of the ball was in the 18-22 range, and defensive coordinator Gene Chizik said he had 16-18. Without saying those numbers, Brown reiterated that neither side is 22 deep yet.
*Harvard transfer and starting right tackle Spenser Rolland’s class conflict with Tuesday practices is no longer an issue. Rolland had missed a couple of previous Tuesday morning practices because of a class he’s taking on the business graduate school.
The issue wasn’t just that he was missing valuable practice time, but Tuesday is installation day for that week’s opponent, so it’s paramount all players are there. Brown said Wednesday that situation has been rectified and Rolland was at practice Tuesday and will be for the rest of the season.
*Drake Maye was named the starting quarterback earlier this week, and has now had two formal practices and nearly three days to carry himself as the starter in the manner a QB1 should, Brown said. He also noted he’s pleased with how QB2 Jacolby Criswell has handled things, too.
“Yes, we have,” Brown said. “I thought yesterday was good, (and) I thought he was great today. And give Jacolby credit, he’s been great both days. He’s gone back to work, he’s competed, he understands he’s a snap away from being the guy and being out there. And he’s responded to that really well. You never know how people are going to respond to adversity…
“And the reason that we decided to make this decision this time of the year, and it worked with Sam (Howell), is that whoever the starter was, he needed to have a week to prepare being the starter. He needed to talk to you (media) folks, he needed to walk in that huddle with the blue team and lead them and take over, and not have that happen Friday night, and then you walk out there Saturday morning for the first time.
“And the other part that was important for us is that the players got to feel him being the guy, because it’s a little bit different for everybody. I thought the decision was handled properly, I thought the timing was right, and I’m really pleased with the results to this point.”
*Brown was adamant throughout camp that one of the staff’s missions was to create an edge with the players and sustain it. Part of that was to keep the guys competing so they never let up, and to shave off an issue that sometimes plagued the Tar Heels last season. So, now that Carolina is in full game-week mode, the Hall of Fame coach is pleased his team has carried that edge into this week.
“We told the guys, ‘You still got to earn it every day,’” Brown said. “And we said, if one guy played the best today – we’ll watch it tis afternoon and we’ll move him ahead. We’ve still got some question marks of how we’re going to play the right side of the offensive line.
“We’ve still got some question marks about who’s going to be out there at receiver and when, how long? And the same thing at running back. We’re basing it on production every. And we told the guys after practice, ‘Your (position) coaches have to decide who’s going to travel, your coaches have to decide who’s going to dress, your coaches have to decide who walks out there first.
‘“Then they have to make decisions during the game of how much do you play, how long do you play. And it’s going to be based on how you produce. And if you’re making mistakes and you get taken out and somebody else is in, that’s on you, man. You gotta play.’”
*D.J. Jones’ injury issues and the effect of being in and out of the lineup has been well chronicled here over the last month. He is the starting running back Saturday night, a role he got in part because British Brooks suffered a season-ending injury a couple of weeks ago. Brown said Wednesday that Brooks would start versus FAMU if he was healthy, but he’s not, so Jones is next up. But he has earned the right, too, Brown insisted.
“He has stayed healthy, and we’ve hit him a lot, number one. And weirdly enough, he’s kind of the old guy in the room now with British out… D.J. can do it all. He can run it, he can catch it, he can pass protect, he knows all the schemes.
“So, he’s a guy that’s been in the game before, and we just feel like it’ll be comforting for our team to let him go out there because he has such confidence.”
*Senior WR Antoine Green suffered an upper body injury a few weeks ago, had surgery the next day, and was ruled out for 6-10 weeks. Brown has publicly held out hope Green can return by the Notre Dame game September 24, which would put him at around six weeks.
A return date hasn’t been set yet, though Green is making progress, Brown said.
“He’s out at practice every day,” Brown said. “I don’t ask the doctors every day, but he’s working out, he still has his shoulder in a sling, but whether it’s that week or the next one, I think it just depends on how he heals and how quickly he can be confident enough with his body to get back.”
