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CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman met with the media Monday afternoon to discuss how their units are preparing to take on Virginia Tech in the season opener this Friday in Blacksburg, VA.

Full videos of both pressers along with notes and pulled quotes are below:

Sam Howell has mentioned the emphasis of getting the ball out quicker this season to avoid sacks, which was an issue a year ago, as UNC allowed 36 on the campaign. Howell said him holding onto the ball too long was one of the reasons for the high ack total. How has Longo seen those improvements being made?

“I think it’s something we constantly work on. I think it’s something we constantly talk about,” Longo said. “When we’re making quick decisions throwing the football, and we’re throwing in rhythm, and not holding onto the ball, I think it changes the entire feel of practice.

“I challenge our quarterbacks every day, we need to get better, and we need to stay consistent in regards to making quick decisions, and being decisive with our throws. When we do that I think it lends to a lot more rhythm in the offense, and I don’t think that’s any different in a game.”

With no real crowd presence last season due to the pandemic, how have they gotten prepared to go into a sold-out crowd in Blacksburg, and how helpful is it to have veterans in key spots to help manage the crowd?

“I think the crowd noise is no more of an issue than it’s ever been,” Longo said. “When you have the veterans that we do up front, and you have the veteran at quarterback that we do, I think we’re able to handle that communication, I don’t think that’s a big issue.”

Longo looked back on the feeling of playing games with no fans last season.

“I still say after the Syracuse game, it was the most eerie feeling I’ve ever had. We had players run down to the end zone and sing the fight song to nobody. There was absolutely no noise after the game, it was surreal.”

Longo also noted the difference between last year and this year.

“This year I think we’re more excited. My point is we’re more excited even in an away game with a more hostile crowd, we’re just gonna be fired up that we’re back in a normal atmosphere with full stadiums, playing ball like it’s designed to be played. I think it’ll be a positive for our guys in this locker room.”

With wide receiver Beau Corrales officially listed as out for Friday, who does Coach Longo see stepping up at the wide receiver position?

“I would say that we are enjoying the benefit of having some depth now,” Longo said. “Right now we got Emery Simmons who’s playing great football, we have Antoine Green who’s playing great football, we have Khafre Brown, Dyami’s brother, who’s running around. He’s probably as fast, if not faster than Dyami…He’s definitely a vertical threat.

“You got younger guys like JJ Jones who are stepping up and doing a nice job. Right now there are 4 guys I think that we feel like we can lean on and count on that are getting reps, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw any 1 or any 2 of those 4 in the game on Friday night.”

The backup quarterback competition has been an intriguing one, how has each guy handled the competition, and how will they ultimately determine who is the backup week to week?

“I want them both preparing to be the backup,” Longo said. “You want them both to be ready to play, you wanna have the ability to go to both of them. We’ll forever have a backup competition here behind the starter, and we’ll play the guy who’s prepared that week to backup Sam in the event that we would actually need them.

“I like that they both compete with each other, they both work with each other. They’re both learning from Sam which is fantastic. I’ve urged them both, look, squeeze out everything you can from Sam Howell because when he leaves it’s a lost opportunity if you don’t, so take advantage of it while you have it...They’re doing a good job of sponging off of Sam, and I think the 2 of them are really doing a good job of being great teammates and great competitors.”

- Noah Stabrowski

*A point of emphasis this past offseason was fixing an issue the Tar Heels had last season allowing opponents to score very late in the first half of games. Eight of UNC’s opponents scored inside the final 1:28 of first halves: Boston College and Notre Dame kicked field goals as time expired, Duke booted one with one second left, and Florida State (:17 left), NC State (:54 left), Virginia (1:14 remaining), Wake Forest (1:28 left), and Texas A&M (:20 left) all scored touchdowns.

Bateman said it was absolutely addressed.

“One thing I think Coach Brown does a great job of, among a lot of things, is we address problems. During the season last year, we kept saying, ‘we don’t know why this is happening.’ And we frankly made it a period in practice… We call it ‘the middle eight,’ right. The last four (minutes) of the first half, and first four of the second half; we’ve got to win the middle eight.

“And I think our players understand now; I think we’ve done a better job as coaches explaining to them how important those possessions are, how there is a forced change of possession at halftime and how the possessions that go around that matters.

“I do think our ability to play more people will allow us to put fresher pass rushers in the game in that situation. But I think experience in the secondary, and I think more experienced pass rushers, and I think our players understanding the seriousness of how that time affects us. The games we lost last year, we lost in that span of time. We’ve put a lot of emphasis on that.”

*UNC released its depth chart right before Monday’s press conferences, and one thing that stood out was junior Chris Collins listed as one of the starters at outside linebacker. Behind him is super senior Tyrone Hopper.

Collins came to UNC as a 4-star prospect and was sort of thrown to the wolves as a true freshman on a team that was struggling, but he has made considerable progress, especially over the last year, a reason he’s listed as the starter.

“I think Chris is a really, really complete football player,” Bateman said. “He's a good pass rusher, especially when we get him on tight ends and running backs. He's a really, really smart, understands the game, linebacker. I think Chris could play any of the linebacker spots and know what to do.

"When we're in regular defense, when we're in 3-4, he's going to play a ton, but he's going to play a lot as a defensive end, linebacker, and some of the other spots. He is really improved, I really like him, I think there's another great example of a leader. A guy that spends extra time and demands other people do it too.

"I told him probably two weeks ago when we first started to work on Virginia Tech. I told him in warmups I said, 'you're going to have to play great for us to win this game.' I think he understands how big of a role he's going to have and what we're going to ask him to do."

*So much has been made over the last month about the increase of depth on the defensive side of the ball and at pretty much every position. So, what young players does Bateman see as getting on the field Friday and ones he and the staff already trust?

“I think (DL) Jahvaree Ritzie is just getting better every day, and I think he'll play against Virginia Tech for sure, but I think his playing time it's just going to increase. I think the two young linebackers, Power Echols and RaRa Dilworth, are going to be tremendous players. I think you'll see them play. Especially playing in some packages where we can kind of let them do what they do best right now.

"I think there's one guy you would say like, man, compared to last year, how much better he is; I think it's probably (sophomore OLB) Desmond Evans. Last year he was a good player for us, playing a decent amount.

"I thought every game he played; he played his best game. Just kept improving, and then I think, you know he had a great spring physically developing. He's big now, and he's playing with a lot of confidence, and I think we expect him to have a great year."

- AJ

*Brandon Peay contributed to this report.