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Environmental Changes

A new artificial turf field is just one of many changes Mack Brown has made appealing to his players' needs and desires.
A new artificial turf field is just one of many changes Mack Brown has made appealing to his players' needs and desires. (UNC Football)

CHARLOTTE – Mack Brown is a man of his word, many of North Carolina’s Tar Heels swear.

When he says he will do something for them he follows through. Mark it down.

For Brown, it’s part of earning trust from his players, all 105 of them, most of whom played for Larry Fedora and his staff a year ago. It’s also a means to succeed.

“You’ve got to be the cool place,” he said this past spring, noting that appealing to recruits is paramount to success because it increases a program’s chance at landing a quality class. But being the cool place for the current players is also part of that.

So is being a comfortable place, so much that kids want to be around the facility all the time. And with that comes better chemistry, a higher standard and more accountability. It also means respect, a process Brown began working to earn mere moments after initially meeting his new team last November.

“He told us that he was going to take care of us (and) the day after, he asked what we could change. A month later, we saw it,” senior safety Myles Dorn said.

“He's a man of his word. That's something that you can't compare to anybody else.”

Brown set out to make the players feel good about being a part of the program, especially after winning just five total games over the last two seasons. He built a giant checklist of things to do for the players based on their requests and stated needs before beginning the quest of fulfilling a commitment of meeting those desires.

“You need to be able to come in and give them some things they don’t have,” Brown said. “The first thing we (said) was say, ‘What do you want? What’s wrong? We’re going to play within the rules, but what’s wrong, what do you want?’


UNC's new locker room.
UNC's new locker room. (Carolina Football)
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“‘The food’s bad – tell me why the food’s bad. Write it down.’ We gave them all (writing) pads. We went to the food people and said we gotta have good food. I ate there for two-three months and I walk over there and say, ‘This is dry, it’s unacceptable.’ The players would see me do that.”

So, Brown took care of what might be the most important thing to a college-aged young man, their stomachs. The fun stuff was next.

“Then we said, ‘Why don’t you go to the players’ lounge,’” Brown said.

“‘There’s nothing in there we like.’

‘So what do you want, here, write it down.’”

Not long after, some Pop-A Shots showed up in the players’ lounge. Then they got some sleep pods and so on. Brown’s wife, Sally, even changed the carpet in the lounge.

“The carpet looked old and had stains on it,” Mack said.

Next was the locker room, which has been completely renovated. After that came a new weight room, both of which they saw this past Monday night for the first time.

In fact, until then, the players hadn't so much as gotten a peak at either because the rooms had been boarded up and locked. Monday night was a celebration of their new digs, which was followed by a team party and dinner.

“The locker room looked tired and old,” Brown said. “We built it 22 years ago and it needed fresh things. And then we felt like the weight room was too busy and it didn’t have the weights that (strength and conditioning coach) Brian Hess wanted because the (previous) strength coach did his own thing. So we threw all those out so we gave them Olympic sports and he put in exactly what he wants.”


UN's new weight room.
UN's new weight room. (Carolina Football)

The players need those amenities because it makes them feel important, that their daily grind matters and that they also needed to see many signs that change was coming, Brown said. Not just in the styles they are playing, terminology and new voices yelling at and encouraging them, but a new program with new successes on the field.

Oh, and there’s a new field, too.

“I really don’t notice a difference when I’m out there playing,” UNC senior offensive tackle Charlie Heck said about playing on artificial turf, which was installed inside Kenan Stadium this summer. “All I know is UNC’s field is beautiful right now.”

Heck said that with a sincere look of pride on his face. And why not?

Carolina practiced inside Kenan the last two years, frequently having the entire playing field replaced two days before home games only to tear it to shreds in rain storms and with overuse. Last season’s final game at home versus N.C. State was a mud bath. It rained that day and the field was in terrible condition.

That won’t be the case anymore. Add that to the many other things that staff has done to elevate the infrastructure of the program, including the players’ psyches, and the intent is significant.

“Number one, it tells them that we’re going to do what we told them we’re going to do,” Brown said. “And number two, it shows the importance from the administration.”

Brown told them they and the program would matter when he took over. So far, he players know he’s delivered.


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