CHAPEL HILL – UNC football coach Larry Fedora met with the media Monday in advance of the Tar Heels’ Dec. 30 Sun Bowl matchup versus Stanford in El Paso, TX.
The head coach discusses what’s been going on with his team, its preparation for the Cardinal, and about Stanford in general.
The Tar Heels (9-3) take on Stanford (9-3) on Dec. 30 at 2 pm. The game will be televised by CBS.
Here are some notes from Fedora’s press conference:
*The Tar Heels will get in 11 or 12 practices before playing the bowl game. Teams are allowed up to 15 practices, but Fedora said he’s never been associated with a team that got in all 15. He said final exams and holiday time away from campus are the primary reasons teams don’t get in all 15 practices.
“We just finished finals on Friday, and so we try to make sure not to practice during finals,” Fedora said.
*The practice schedule for the game: The Tar Heels have already practiced five times, no practice Monday – the team is doing community service – but they will practice three more times this week before going home for a few days for the holidays. The team leaves Christmas Day for El Paso where they will have a normal week of practices.
*Fedora said he has gotten information from NFL teams and scouts about Naz Jones, who has already announced he’s lthat I know of.eaving early, but also Mitch Trubisky, M.J. Stewart, Donnie Miles and Elijah Hood.
*Asked if any seniors or draft-eligible juniors will not play in the bowl game, Fedora replied, “Not that I know of.”
*Stanford star Christian McCaffrey announced Monday he will not play in the Sun Bowl so he can instead prepare for the NFL Draft. Fedora was asked what he thinks about that decision and kids in general making such a decision.
“I don’t really know the specifics about it other than he’s not going to play, I don’t know what the reasons are,” the coach said. “Somebody said to prepare for the draft. It’s each individual’s right to do what’s best for them. If he feels like that’s what’s best for him, I’m sure that David Shaw and their staff support him.
“It’s unfortunate for us and the game and the bowl itself because he obviously is a great player. I would have loved to have lined up against him, but it’s not going to happen. I know the next guy Bryce Love (Wake Forest H.S. in NC), is a guy that we recruited, and we’re very familiar with him and know how explosive he can be, and I’m sure he’s excited about the opportunity.”
*Fedora said Stanford won’t change at all without having McCaffrey. “They’re going to do what they do,” he said. And that’s to run the ball, play-action plays, etc.
“Mitch and I have had multiple conversations, but he’s got a decision to make and will make it at some point. My role in that is to give him as much information as possible and to support him and his family in their decision. And I’m sure he will make a very good, educated decision. He’s got a very thorough process, he’s not just doing this off the fly. He’s putting in a lot of time and effort in talking to a lot of people. So, I think he’s doing a really good job with it.”
*Fedora said he has an opinion about quarterbacks going into the NFL with just one year of experience but isn’t going to publicly share it because he doesn’t want Trubisky to read it in the newspaper.
*Fedora also said he’s shared a great deal of information with Trubisky and is happy to get him whatever information he requests as well as the other Tar Heels considering leaving early.
“I make sure they know, this is their decision,” he said. “It’s them, their families, it’s their decision. It’s not me, it’s not anybody on the coaching staff. It is them doing what is best for them.”
All potential early entries into the draft have until Jan. 16 to submit their names to the NFL.
*Fedora expressed dissatisfaction with how the offense performed down the stretch of the regular season, in particular November losses at Duke and at home to N.C. State.
“I think we underachieved offensively,” he said. “I don’t think we met our expectations offensively, (and) I think that was a big part in why we weren’t successful in those games. Not to take anything away from the opposing teams, because they did a great job in defending us, but we’ve got high expectations for what we do on offense and I didn’t think we performed like we normally do.
“And a lot of that was just making ordinary plays that we make. And I said that at the time, we just didn’t make ordinary plays. We didn’t score enough points, we didn’t score more points than they scored. So, to me I think we underachieved in the month of (November) on offense.”
The staff will really dig into the season and breaking down every aspect of the program from what happened on the field to the offseason own to what and when players eat, sleep, hydration, everything.
*7 Tar Heels graduated Sunday and Fedora said all are doing a great job of maintaining focus and leading the rest of the team up to the bowl game.
“I think this game is important to them,” he said. “I think they all want to finish their careers here the right way. I think their energy level in practice and the way they’ve led has been really good every practice that we’ve had to this point.”
*Fedora avoided getting into the issue regarding the HB2 law being repealed.
“I don’t know a whole lot about politics, so I’m not really going to talk about politics,” Fedora replied. “I think I said it before that I hated that we had to move the ACC championship game, and I guess there were some other games that had to be moved out of the state, and I hated that for the state of North Carolina.
“I don’t know enough about bill to be able to comment on the bill itself to be able to comment on the bill itself or anything about it.”
