CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina held its seventh practice of the preseason Thursday, a walkthrough as the Tar Heels are officially into their second week of formal practice in preparation for the 2020 season.

For the first time since camp opened last week, there was no media availability following practice, but there’s still plenty to report that THI hasn’t yet put out there. So far, we’ve spoken to head coach Mack Brown twice as well as 16 Tar Heels.

Here are some more notes and quotes from fall camp:

UNC has one of the best running back tandems in the nation with Michael Carter and Javonte Williams combining for nearly 2,000 yards last season. But a year ago, Antonio Williams filled the role of the Tar Heels’ third running back, which is a vitally important role in Phil Longo’s air raid offense.

If you’ll recall, it Williams (338 yards, 3 TDs) who gave the Heels a huge lift in the fourth quarter comeback win over South Carolina, and there were other games he was big in stretches. WIlliams graduated and is now in the NFL, and with Longo wanting to keep his backs fresh, finding a third player in that group the staff trusts is one of the interesting storylines of the preseason.

So what has Brown seen so far from the guys vying for that spot?

“We've got two of the best running backs in the country,” he said Tuesday. “In fact, when people talk about the running back room, they should add ours to it because they're interchangeable. And that's what I'm talking about for our team. When you can put either one of those guys in the game and you don't see a difference because they can both do everything, it really helps you as a team.

“We've been very impressed with (junior) British Brooks. He's the young guy that's walked on, but he was voted by the players last year as a special teams player of the year, and he's a tough back that helps us, but at the same time, we like both young backs. What you do with the young guys after four practices or five practices - two in shorts and three in shells - is you actually sit there and say, 'Would you have recruited them again?' And it's too quick to know, but in the short term, that's the first thing you say.

“And we like both (true freshmen) Elijah Green and DJ Jones. They're both very talented. They're both fast. We haven't tackled them yet even though we've been in shells, but we like both of them. So, we think that's going to be a really strong room for us.”

“And then, (sophomore) Josh Henderson last year played a lot in special teams and that's what he did most, but he also came in and he was a force at the end of the game because he was so physical. And he would be right now in kind of that Antonio Williams mode where you can put a big 210-pound back at the end of the game, and have him with the four minute offense beating the clock and he also has really good hands.”

Mack Brown surprised some by noting back in March that Asim Richards was slotted as the starter at left tackle after not playing much as a true freshman a year ago. Richards was on the PAT team for most of the season and got a handful of game reps at tackle, but he also received plenty practice reps, which he cites as escalating his development.

So while he's the starter right now, the job isn’t entirely nailed down, at least not if you listen to Richards. He’s enhanced and motivated by battling other players for that spot and a significant role in the rotation, and that’s one of the things the 6-foot-4, 305-pounder appreciates the most about preseason practice.

“Competition is a great thing, honestly,” Richards said. “You want to have competition on your team because that means you have a lot of good players that can play and help you during the game, too. So to me, it’s just an exciting thing. I get to compete with these guys to get the starting left tackle job.

“There’s still a lot of competing and it’s just a great feeling to have all those linemen that can actually play the position.”

The starting offensive line right now is Richards and Jordan Tucker at the tackle spots, Joshua Ezeudu and Marcus McKethan at guards and Brian Anderson at center.

Brown doesn't hesitate welcoming the idea of the players having a loud voice so he provides them a platform to be heard. One important vehicle for this is through the team’s leadership council. The Tar Heels had it a year ago and do once again.

Here, Brown explains the purpose of it and how it works:

“We selected it this spring because we didn't have spring practice. We selected it last spring because we didn't know the players and they said some of them didn't know the new guys coming in. So we have a leadership council right now 23 guys, I think, four or five from each class and some walk-on guys, as well. As soon as we get to the end of camp, maybe the week or 10 days before the Syracuse game, we will let the players vote. I will be the only one that sees the votes. Each player has to put his name on the list.

“So if there's somebody on there that gets no votes except yours, I have the right to bring him in and say, why did you vote for him? Tell me. And then if there's somebody who got a lot of votes, but didn't get as many as you would need to be on it. I have the right to put them on and I can take anybody off. So I think that's the other thing that would happen from that standpoint. And if somebody messes up, they break a rule, if they get in trouble, I have the right to take them off that committee and they know that.”

The ACC’s revamped conference schedule released two weeks ago generated a ton of regional and national buzz, but within the walls of the Surratt house, it was an even bigger story because it hit home.

Surratt Bowl II will take place again this season, which wasn’t a possibility until Wake Forest was added to UNC’s schedule. A year ago, the Tar Heels lost in Winston-Salem in the third game of the season, so younger brother Sage got the best of older brother Chazz. Now, Chazz and the Heels get a chance at flipping that script.

“Yeah, I called Sage,” Chazz said, noting his first reaction after seeing the new schedule. “I think we’re going to get them this year playing at home. It will be a good battle. I know all out DBs are ready to play against them and we’re looking forward to the challenge this year.”

No trash talk. Not this time. But Surratt Bowl II is coming to Kenan Stadium, so that week will be rather interesting when the brothers speak with the media.