Christensen Talks Why UNC, Coaching QBs, Drake Maye & More
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CHAPEL HILL – New North Carolina offensive analyst Clyde Christensen met with the media Tuesday afternoon at the Kenan Football Center to discuss his role with the Tar Heels, why he chose to come back to his alma matter, Mack Brown, and so much more.
Christensen brings 43 years of coaching experience to UNC, including 27 years in the NFL, where he won two Super Bowls and coached quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and Jameis Winston, amongst others. He came to Chapel Hill following a four-year stint as the quarterbacks coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Christensen previously served as the offensive coordinator for both the Bucs and the Indianapolis Colts.
While in Tampa Bay, Christensen won a Super Bowl and helped Brady lead the NFL in a number of passing categories. He also mentored Winston to a season where he led the league in passing and set franchise records for passing yards, TDs and completions.
During his 14 years in Indianapolis, Christensen won a Super Bowl and served in a number of roles including assistant head coach, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and wide receivers coach. He worked with Manning when he set franchise records for completions, attempts and yards and guided Luck to a standout rookie season, when he set NFL rookie records in passing yards and 300-yard passing games.
*So why UNC, why Mack Brown, and why now?
“One, it’s my school (and) I love my school,” he replied. “Two, my wife is from Winston-Salem, and she’s got some parents that are getting up in age, so we really made a commitment to get her back closer to them.
“And I wasn’t sure if retired is kind of a strong term, so I don’t know that that was ever an option, I knew I was going to do something. And Coach Brown asked me to come up, we visited, and it’s just a chance to get involved.
“And frankly, I love the place, I love what they’re doing here, I’ve always wanted to work for Coach Brown, have always admired Coach Brown… A chance to be a part of that was special.”
Christensen also said he will go hard this spring, but afterward will sit down with Brown and figure out what his role would be moving forward with respect to time and commitment.
“It’s been a bunch of fun,” he said. “It’s awful good to be back. My wife and I drove in here, and I think I feel ten years younger reminiscing. I met my wife here, some awful good memories, and being around younger people, not 45-year-old quarterbacks, (much) younger folks, makes you feel younger again.”
*While Christensen is just now returning to Carolina in a professional capacity, he has always taken the Tar Heels with him wherever he’s gone in the NFL. Saturdays are laid back days in the NFL, as teams have prepared for their game for the next day, and sometimes travel if it’s an away game. And there’s a lot of razzing and competition among coaches and players representing their schools.
*Naturally, one of the things all fans and media that cover UNC want to know from Christensen are his early impressions of Drake Maye.
“I watched a bunch of the Tar Heels…,” he said. “I admired his toughness. I’ve come up a lot of times, we have some grandkids in Durham; we come to North Carolina a lot. I’ve been at the last couple of spring practices for at least a couple of days and watched him and met him and knew him. They let me sit in the quarterback room a few times and visit with the team a few times.
“It wasn’t like I was not familiar with him… I knew he was going to be a good player just watching him when he was a backup to Sam (Howell). Just a talented guy… Love how he plays, love his toughness, and now sitting in these and being a fly on the wall; a bright, sharp kid. I’ve really enjoyed it, and looking forward to getting to know him better and getting to know his football better.”
*More from Christensen about what stands out about May’s game.
“It stands out how smart he plays, that he’s athletic, that he has a little bit of Andrew Luck in him that he’s a deceivingly good athlete, can pull the ball down and run, can make all the throws. He’s a big guy. You don’t see a ton of quarterbacks in a pro style, and he’s one of them that can really sit in the pocket or get outside the pocket…
“I like his humility. The great ones I’ve been around all have a level of humility that you wouldn’t expect. The guys that I’ve had a good fortune to be around have all had good humility, and I think he carries himself with a humility that’s attractive and warrants being a good leader and people following him.”
*Going from coaching legends to now much greener college kids, even someone as talented and accomplished as Maye, isn’t as much of an adjustment as some believe, Christensen said.
“I’ve never looked at it in any – coaching is coaching,” Christensen said. “If you’ve got a chance to improve somebody, whether it’s a high school kid, or a junior high kid at camp, or it’s Tom Brady, who’s 44 years old when we get him, there’s just something to figuring out how do we get them better, how do we improve them, how to we encourage them as men.
“Everyone asks what’s the difference, and there never has really been a difference for me whether it’s Holy Cross, whether it’s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or whether it’s the Carolina Tar Heels. Coaching is coaching.”
*Christensen was a suite mate with Lawrence Taylor during his time at UNC at Eringhaus. He wouldn’t share many LT stories, obviously, but did speak about him, as the two still have a relationship.
“That always was the eyebrow raiser in the NFL,” Christensen said, smiling. “Stevie Streater and Lawrence, LT, we were in suites that time, it was over in Eringhaus, which is still standing, and hopefully air conditioned by now. We all lived in there.
“So, LT has always been a loyal, loyal guy, and a loyal friend.”