CHARLOTTE – North Carolina offensive tackle Charlie Heck was one of two Tar Heels along with head coach Mack Brown at the annual ACC Kickoff on Wednesday at The Westin.
All three had turns at the podium taking questions from the media in their formal ACC Kickoff press conferences. Each was also available in breakout sessions that followed.
Here, we have Heck’s press conference and the complete transcript of what he had to say:
Q. Notice that four of the six linemen are back. What is the learning curve like with the new coaching staff, particularly how about the blocking responsibilities for the air raid offense?
HECK: It's a great question. So O-line play in general, it pretty much stays the same throughout. You have your basic schemes, basic techniques. It all comes down to just playing hard and playing aggressive. With the air raid offense, we're spreading the ball out, moving quickly. So as an offensive lineman, you have to know your plays inside and out and be ready to move fast.
Q. What can you say about your first impressions of Mack Brown, just what he's done to kind of maybe exhilarate the team already?
HECK: My first impressions of Coach Brown, when I found out he was coming in, I instantly thought Hall of Fame, legendary coach. He's exceeded all my expectations action, and everybody's on the team. He brought an excitement to the team that I hadn't seen before, not just only on the team but in the community. People are talking about Carolina football. That's been really special to be a part of right now.
Q. When you got the news about Coach Brown, you said you were instantly excited. How much truly of his background did you know? Did you have to do any research? Has your opinion changed at all?
HECK: So obviously I'd heard of him, national championships at Texas. I was super excited. And just what I've heard from previous UNC players that have been through the program who have stopped by. Something that's interesting is Coach Brown brought in a lot of former players. They've been saying the same things that I've been witnessing firsthand, how Coach Brown will go to bat for you, he's always there for the players. I'm already starting to see the improvements. We have the brand-new indoor facility, best in the country. The brand-new turf football field. It's beautiful. I'm excited to play on it.
Q. Most offensive linemen like to run block first. You had a fair amount of success in the running game last year. When you hear a name bike air raid, you're thinking throw, throw. How big a component of this offense is the run game? What do you look for with the talented running backs you have returning this year?
HECK: So with the air raid offense, for that to be successful, you need to be able to run the ball. We've got three running backs that are special. Every single one of them can make a game-changing play at any moment. We need to give them the ball because they'll make it happen. It's exciting to be an offensive lineman blocking for them.
Q. Finishing games in the fourth quarter, that seemed to be a bit of a mark against the program over the last two years. How do you finish more ballgames this year?
HECK: How do we finish more ballgames? Something that Coach Brown has really emphasized right now is attention to detail. That's extremely important. That can cost between going 2-9 and almost winning every game, it's just attention to detail. Something huge is eliminating penalties, turnovers. That's been huge throughout the spring and summer. Even throughout our workouts, everything is related to finishing in the fourth quarter and having attention to detail.
