CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media Tuesday morning to discuss his program as it gears toward the summer while also fielding questions from the media.

Among the things Brown discussed centered on the importance of June for hosting prospect camps, visits from recruits, the parameters regarding COVID and vaccines for those visits, his roster moving forward, the health of the team once summer workouts begin in late May, specifics about some position groups, and how the staff will plan moving ahead with respect depth, roles, and the skill sets of certain players.

We are breaking the Mack Report into three parts: The first will focus more on a state of the program and issues moving forward as the Tar Heels gear up for fall camp and the 2021 season; the second will focus more on position groups and players; and the third will be about recruiting next month when the dead period ending and UNC hosting camps, official visits and more.

Above is the entire press conference and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what Brown had to say:

*Among the missions for spring practice was to build depth with pass rushers from the line of scrimmage. Brown has been clear the staff wants to generate more of a conventional pass rush from the guys up front, which will allow defensive coordinator Jay Bateman to dig deeper into his bag of schemes and looks.

It will also allow for UNC to not as frequently give up a defensive back on a blitz, which could leave pass coverage in a bind when the blitzes are unsuccessful. This should lead to improved coverage and perhaps even more forced turnovers. Brown believes they were successful in this quest.

“We felt like we’ve come up with six or eight pass rushers on defense, now, that we can really start working with to improve in those areas,” he said. “And we want to be smart enough that we’ve got some guys that are role players, and if you’re a run defender, let’s make sure we’ve got you in there when we think high percentages are (they’re) going to run the ball.

“But if it’s a passing down, let’s don’t have anybody on the field that can’t run down the screen, the flare, can’t rush the passer. And we’re in a better position to do that now than we were.”

*Brown said the secondary is much better. It has depth, a player sky rocketed in his development and is challenging for serious time, and one specific area has progressed significantly.

“We’ve really improved in our secondary,” Brown said. “Our communication is better with our safeties and we’re playing the deep ball a lot better with our corners. Everybody that’s talked for years about the 50-50 ball, when you’re trying to defend the deep ball now wants it to be 80-20…

“And that’s how games are won now. People are putting enough people in the box to stop the run and people are throwing back shoulder balls and fade balls and takeoffs and posts, and you’ve got to be able to play those one-on-one if you’re going to be a high caliber team. So, we felt like that’s much better.”

The most improved player in the spring, Brown said, was junior safety Gio Biggers. The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder from Woodbridge, VA, appeared in all 12 games last season playing special teams and at times getting into games on defense, playing a total of 84 defensive snaps. Brown heaped praise on him Tuesday morning.

“Gio Biggers was our most improved player since we’ve been here, and I told the team that right at the end,” UNC’s head coach said. “He has come from nowhere. He has come from a special teams guy that was okay to a guy that can step out there and start right now. He had an outstanding (five) weeks of spring.”

*Tight end is manned by veteran Garrett Walston, who took advantage of the NCAA rule not counting last season against players’ eligibility and is back as a super senior. But the rest of the room has stepped forward, as well. Sophomore Kamari Morales played 187 snaps last season catching two passes, including one for a touchdown, and redshirt freshman John Copenhaver played 19 snaps in three games. Both players had very good springs.

“We feel like we’re better and have more depth at tight end than the two years there,” Brown said. Morales really came on and he can step in and play at any time now. Garrett Walston is really good, and John Copenhaver’s really coming on. He had an outstanding spring. Kendall Karr has just been banged up some so he’s gotta get well so we can go forward with him.”

*As we reported multiple times throughout the spring, the offensive line closed the spring in excellent shape. It has depth with some young guys stepping forward and will get Joshua Ezeudu back as well.

“We have eight guys that can play and we’re working toward ten,” Brown said. “I thought you could tell in the spring game there’s less difference between the blue team and the white team than there’s been since we’ve been here. They can be more competitive, and that’s what you want it to be.

“So, (offensive line) Coach (Stacy) Searels thinks there’s some of those younger lineman that can step in and play now that couldn’t have last year. And we feel like we will probably lose a couple of linemen next year, there’s a potential to do that, so we’ve got to keep growing so we won’t have a big drop off when we lose some of those guys.”

*The spring didn’t determine much at running back, as Brown said there wasn’t “great separation” in that room.

“Summer will help Ty Chandler as the first guy to walk out there right now,” he said. “And then you’ve got Kamarro Edmonds coming in that’s playing for a state championship this weekend. And then you’ve got all the other guys that we’re looking at. We want D.J. Jones to stay healthy. You want Elijah Green to stay healthy and learn more about pass protection and catching the ball better, which he’s doing out of the backfield.

“You’ve got Caleb Hood who made tremendous progress, but he’s still a quarterback trying to be a running back, so he still has trouble figuring out how to take a handoff and a few things like that by fall he should be ready to do. And we’ve got the older heads that we’ve talked about.”

*Additionally, there wasn’t much separation in the wide receiver room, though Brown noted Downs was “great” multiple times during the spring and Beau Corrales and Khafre Brown will be back this summer fully healthy.

“You’ve got Emery Simmons who’s played, you’ve got Beau Corrales, who will be back, he will be 100 percent, he’s played,” Brown said. “You’ve got Khafre Brown, who should be 100 percent healthy by summer, he’s played. And then you’ve got Josh Downs, who probably had the best spring of all of our receivers.

“And then a lot of other talented young guys behind them. But we’ve got four or five guys that have played, and that helps you in that area as well.”

*Placekicker Grayson Atkins was 38-for-39 on field goals this spring, and as for the return games: Kickoff right now in the mix are Ja’Qurious Conley, Josh Downs, and Ty Chandler. In the mix at returning punts are Downs and Chandler.

“We felt like as good as our returners were last year, the addition of two young ones and then Ty Chandler really helps us, so there shouldn’t be a significant drop off,” Brown said.

*Also as reported multiple times, the battle for the backup spot behind Sam Howell at quarterback will truly begin with summer workouts. The coaches cannot watch the players, but they can get reports from them. A decision there isn’t expected until well into fall camp, which is expected to open Aug. 4.