CHAPEL HILL – Tuesday was North Carolina’s 13th practice this spring, but with no spring game this weekend and the 15th and final practice Saturday, this was the final media opportunity to speak with Coach Larry Fedora and some of the Tar Heels until the ACC Kickoff in July.
Fedora spent a lot of time fielding questions about the quarterback position, which is in the interview above but will be drawn up later, and he also darted around speaking about several other players and the team’s overall disposition.
Quarterbacks Nathan Elliott and Chazz Surratt were also made available to the media after Fedora for the first and only time until probably fall camp kicks off in August.
The following are some tid-bits from what the seventh-year UNC coach had to say:
*As noted, this was Carolina’s 13th practice this spring, so with things coming to a close Saturday, what has been most encouraging to Fedora about what his team has done over the last month?
“One this is just the energy level alone,” he said. “It’s out 13th practice and we’re working individual and on fundamentals and techniques and they’re still getting after it. They are really trying to be masters of their craft.”
*The Tar Heels lost seven games last season in which they led at some point in the second half. Injuries were a factor, but two of those defeats came before the rash of injuries hit. So how do they learn to finish off games in the spring?
“We hope you learn from the mistakes that you made from before," Fedora said. "Everything that we do in the offseason program and practice is about finishing, so hopefully we’re learning those things right now as we go.”
*Fedora said that junior defensive tackle Aaron Crawford has had the best camp this spring of any Tar Heel.
“If I had to pick one guy right now this spring that’s had the best spring it would be AC *Crawford)," the head coach said. "He’s really gotten after it. There’s times we’ve pulled plays from the scrimmage just to show his effort – 315 pounder – I mean he’s making tackles 30 yards down field and doing what it takes to be a great player.”
*Mason Veal has regularly worked with the first team throughout the spring, but keep in mind, he will have to battle William Sweet for the left tackle spot in August. The odds are that Sweet, who missed the last nine games a season ago, will win the job. Nevertheless, Veal has gotten a ton of quality reps this spring.
“The best thing that Veal’s got is he knows everything," Fedora said. "He can play guard, he can play center, he knows them all; he knows the whole concept of everything we’re doing up front. He does a good job of communicating with the other younger guys that are up there, the guys that don’t have as much experience. So you kind of lean on him to make sure those guys are doing things the right way.”
*The last question asked of Fedora for this spring was if he feels better at this point this spring than this time a year ago. Of course, the question was about his team, etc. In classic Fedora fashion, he was his response:
“Am I feeling better? Uh, I never feel great or good or you know, I’m never happy," Fedora replied. "I probably feel about the same. I’m sorry to tell you that. My wife would probably give you the same answer about me. I’ve never happy about, I don’t know, it’s just the way I am. We’ve got a long way to go.
“But, I will just tell you I’m happy with our effort, I’m happy with the way they’re approaching practice each and every day, I’m happy about those things. But, if there’s a mistake I’m unhappy, so we’re never going to be perfect, so I’ll never be happy.”
