CHAPEL HILL – Mack and Phil, the saga.

At least that’s what many observers made of a little chat the North Carolina head coach had with his offensive coordinator in the final seconds of regulation in the Tar Heels’ six-overtime loss at Virginia Tech last past weekend.

Mack Brown, Carolina’s head man and a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, had a question for Phil Longo, his offensive coordinator, following a fruitless offensive series that began with 38 seconds left and freshman quarterback Sam Howell running a draw play from the Tar Heels' 20-yard-line.

Then Howell was sacked before running another draw, a three-play sequence netting the Heels no yards and leaving 13 seconds on the clock when television cameras caught Brown approaching Longo appearing to ask him “what the (heck) was that?”

The exchange has been uber analyzed in the several days since, as pseudo body language experts offered their two cents. But the reality, Brown said earlier this week, is moments like that will happen at times because differences of opinion do occur. Football is the real world, too.

“I think we’re good with all of our coaches,” Brown said. “If Phil and I are here 10 years, there’ll be things we disagree on.”

Brown rose to prominence in the coaching ranks in the early 1980s as an offensive coordinator. So, he admits to demanding more from his OC than perhaps the other coaches on the staff.

“It’s harder to be an offensive coordinator for me than the defensive coordinator because I love play calling,” he said. “That was one thing I was passionate about and I love doing.”

The stalled possession and appearance of disagreement between the coaches raised a question about how long it takes for a head coach and offensive coordinator to get on the same page. This is a new staff and Longo had never worked for Brown before. He also brought his version of the air raid offense to Chapel Hill, so while they spent the winter, spring and summer months meshing, Brown was also learning air raid through Longo’s eyes.

At the same time, Longo had to become familiar with Brown’s instincts, tendencies and preferences. It takes time.

“It’s something I try to do in preseason,” Longo said. “I don’t want to be learning what the head coach wants in season. We get to each situation, we work them all a bunch in camp and Mack and I have a lot of conversations about many, many different situations that will arise in a game.

“You want to make sure you get that stuff hammered out before so that you’re on the same page on game day. I don’t think we’ve had an issue being on the same page at all.”

The series in question wasn’t as many watching thought. Long didn’t simply call for his only scholarship quarterback to plow forward into a pile of Hokies to run out the clock or whatever else was insinuated. They were pass plays with a draw tag. In other words, if the pass routes weren’t there, Howell was to take off and try to get a first down, which would stop the clock for a few seconds and give the Heels a fresher life with four more downs at their disposal.

The sack was a straight pass play and the third-down draw was like the first-down play. That’s when Brown approached Longo triggering a round of conspiracies that instantly found a home on social media.

Brown knows what’s been said and written and isn’t bothered by it.

“I never think about the crowd and I never think about the camera, and I never look at it,” he said. “I don’t go back and see what I looked like on the sideline or what I said. I’m not ever going to say anything in my mind that’s inappropriate.”

Longo didn’t appear pleased in the clip, but that his offense just fizzled out at that juncture could have been the bane of his pain more than Brown’s questioning.

He appreciates Brown’s demands but that he also allows coaches to be themselves and work in their own comfort zones and styles. Brown isn’t a control freak in that sense, but he does make them accountable.

“He lets you coach,” Longo said. “He’ll challenge all of us at the end of the week. If we win 40-0 or lose 40-0 he’s going to challenge anything that he thinks could be better. It’s good for us as a staff and good for the roster because the players and staff are held accountable and we’ve got to be better every week.”

So, saga there’s not. Wasn’t, isn’t and likely won’t be.

It was just a head coach doing what a head coach does, only that is was captured on TV.