CHAPEL HILL – Mack Brown wants to win football games, that is undeniable, but he also wants his players to have fun.

So, with seemingly the rest of the college football universe adopting celebratory trinkets for defensive players that get turnovers, the North Carolina coach joined the ranks. And it didn’t take much pondering, either, when he was recently presented with the idea.

“One thing we’ve got to remember is these are young people that need to have fun,” Brown said earlier this week. “Coaches have tremendous pressure on them and players have tremendous pressure on them – I wanted to come back to have fun and I want the kids to have fun.”

When junior safety Myles Wolfolk picked off a pass in the fourth quarter during Saturday’s 24-20 victory over South Carolina, he became the first Tar Heel to grab hold of the new turnover belt celebrating his big play.

A few minutes later, Wolfolk picked off another pass, and this time held the belt high in the air, as if he was making up for not putting on enough of a show the first time. Not yet ready to let go, Wolfolk took the belt to postgame interviews outside of UNC’s locker room, draping it over his left shoulder.

“This is a nice little addition to have for us, a little motivation for the Rude to get a pick, for everybody on defense to get a turnover,” he said. “We are aiming to get this every week, and this week was mine.”

Rude meaning the Rude Boys, a nickname bestowed upon UNC’s defensive backs when one of its current assistants was playing himself into the College Football Hall of Fame as a Tar Heel.

Dre’ Bly was a three-time All-America from 1996-98 before a distinguished NFL career, and is in his first year as a college assistant. A friend had a belt designed for Bly’s induction into the Hall of Fame, so they thought creating something similar for UNC’s defense would be a nice addition to the hype already infused into the program since Brown was hired last November.

Bearing the resemblance of a WWE or boxing champions’ belt, it dons the classic interlocking “NC” in the middle in Carolina blue and is decorated with the appropriate bling. It’s for show and it’s for fun, but it also represents a statement the Tar Heels wanted to make on defense.

“We had to do something to let everybody know that turnovers are a big part of the game and we’re going to celebrate when we get them,” Wolfolk said.

It took a while before anyone earned the right to hoist the new toy into the air because the Tar Heels didn’t force any turnovers over the first 57 game minutes. Brown was beginning to wonder if anyone would ever raise that belt.

“It’s kind of funny,” Brown said. “I kept saying to the defense, ‘I don’t know why we got this belt, it’s just sittin’ back there, guys. Somebody at least pick it up or do something.’”

UNC was dead last in FBS intercepting passes over the previous three seasons, so it’s appropriate the mega newness of the Carolina program and introductory appearance of the turnover belt came via a pick.

And as a result, the Heels had some fun.

Note: Two Myles Wolfolk inrterviews below