Players Appreciate Brown Standing Up For Them

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CHAPEL HILL – If there is anything positive North Carolina’s players took away from their 45-32 loss to Notre Dame on Saturday at Kenan Stadium, it is that they know their head coach has their backs.

Mack Brown’s eruption on the officials and ensuing unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for protesting a pass interference call early in the third quarter gave the sellout crowd a jolt, and certainly resonated with the Tar Heels nearly an hour after the final second had ticked off the clock.

“Seeing coach out there fired up for us and defending us was a big moment for the team because we were like, ‘Coach is behind us,’ even though we already knew he was behind us,” junior receiver Josh Downs said. “He showed it again today.”

Setting the scene: With 10:28 left in the third period, Notre Dame was at UNC’s 3-yard-line but opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal. Running back Chris Tyree darted over the middle while being covered by UNC junior linebacker Cedric Gray, who appeared to make a play getting the stop until a flag was thrown.

Brown went ballistic losing his hat and head set in the process.

“The kids were fighting their guts out,” Brown said after the game. “We asked them to be a player-led team. We've asked them to push each other. We've asked them to call on each other. I've seen coaches get in fights on the sideline.

“This is really important. And if it's not working well, you want to fight your guts out to make sure everybody understands you are doing the best that you can do. What I asked the team and the staff is to give them everything they got and that's what I wanted to give them back, so really and truly, that’s called passion in a lot of cases.”

The passion fueling the 71-year-old coach was obvious, as was the disappointment. The Tar Heels (3-1) were gashed by Notre Dame’s run game, and twisted into a knot by its passing attack all day. And on the other side of the ball, the Tar Heels couldn’t generate much of a ground game.

Yet, if they got the stop there instead of the flag, the Heels would have taken possession of the ball trailing 31-14. Certainly, a large deficit, but not insurmountable given Carolina's offensive firepower. Instead, the Irish scored on the next play building too big a margin for UNC to overcome.

Looking back, Downs didn’t hesitate expressing disagreement over the call while also embracing his coach’s passion for the team.

“It was a bad call and he wasn’t going to stand on that,” Downs said. “(And) he was willing to do anything for us.”

Gray’s reaction to the call was one of those picture-tells-a-thousand-words snap shots in time. Later, he was grateful Brown stood up for him.

“I was definitely happy watching my head coach trying to defend me,” Gray said. “Sure, it might have gotten us a penalty, but for the team morale you like the coach having your back. So that is a positive we can take from that moving forward.”

The players made available to the media that were asked about their coach’s reaction said it’s something they can move forward with using it as a positive. As poorly as the game went, at least they have that.