Mack Midweek: Practice, Center, Rucker, Pub For Williams & More

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media Wednesday morning to discuss how his team is preparing for Saturday’s home game versus Wake Forest, penalties, freshman Kaimon Rucker, Ty Murray and the backup center position, promoting Javonte Williams and more.

Here is the video of Brown’s full interview plus some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:

*Second-year center Ty Murray has decided to take a medical hardship and will not play football anymore. He will remain on scholarship but not count against UNC’s allotted 85, and he will remain with the program working with the OL as he works toward his degree.

Murray was injured in early August so this news won’t alter what UNC has been doing at center. Brian Anderson is the starter and Quiron Johnson the primary backup. In fact, after Anderson left the Duke game with an injury, Johnson went into the game. True freshman Jonathan Adorno is behind Johnson.

Brown said it’s unlikely UNC will look for a center to fill out the 2021 class now that a spot has opened up, instead he said the staff will try to land one in the 2022 class.

“It’s late and we can’t have any visits,” Brown said, referring to possibly trying to land a center in the 2021 class. “So, we’ll probably start looking for that more for next year.”

*Brown reiterated what he said Monday that this week is about the Tar Heels getting better. Yes, they are preparing for Wake’s schemes as they do for each opponent, but UNC’s main focus is to just get better every time it steps onto the field. Carolina’s coach noted devastating mistakes in the losses to Florida State and Virginia as things that cannot happen, so the focus is very much internal right now.

“We’ve got to play well,” Brown said. “It’s about us, and it’s not about our opponent.”

*We talked in our postscript podcast about how getting so many players into the game at Duke would have a positive affect in how the Tar Heels practice this week. With everyone’s spirit up, it’s only natural to understand the human nature element here. So, how have the Tar Heels practiced this week?

“This is the best week the entire team has practiced,” Brown said. “I told the staff yesterday it’s 100 percent because the younger guys got to play, or the guys that hadn’t been playing a lot got to play.

“It gives them more confidence, it gives them more hope that they’ll get in more, and now they’ve got to be prepared to play. And when they’re practicing well against each other, it makes the entire team’s preparation better.”

*True freshman Kaimon Rucker has played 97 snaps on defense and graded out at 74.2 for the season so far, according to PFF, so what are Brown’s thoughts about the 6-foot-1, 260-pounder seven games into his college career?

“Kaimon’s a guy that we liked from day one,” Brown said. “He’s a National Honor Society student, he’s a leader in his school and his community and on his team. And he’s up to 260 pounds (arrived at around 220), and he plays really, really hard every play.

“He’s just a special young man and we think he will be a great player for us before he leaves.”

*Javonte Williams leads the nation in touchdowns scored with 17 and has run for 767 yards on the season, so what is UNC’s approach in promoting its players for national awards?

“It’s one of those things that goes through Jeremy Sharpe’s office,” Brown said, referring to the program’s Director of Football Communications and Branding. “We talked to the coaches and talked to the players, and Michael Carter’s also going to be a drafted player. So you really want to make sure that both of those young guys get a lot of publicity.

“But I think if Javonte comes back next year, and he could obviously leave for the NFL because he’s had such a good season, but if he comes back next year, you would have to look at guys like Sam (Howell) and Javonte for all the national awards and you would start pushing them from the beginning.

“Sam’s already been up for all those awards and his name is mentioned but Javonte hasn’t. But starting this year, he wasn’t in a position that we would have talked about him nationally from the beginning… I do think he’s getting a lot of publicity now, people are recognizing how good he is.”

Brown also noted he will sit down with Williams and the seniors, since they get the year back if they choose, and give them information on where they might go in the NFL draft. And if the player can leave after this season and make a lot of money, they will be encouraged to do so. If they may not make a lot of money, they will be welcomed back.