Summer Quotables

Over the summer Tar Heel Illustrated has spoken to numerous North Carolina coaches and players, and with game week upon us as UNC gets ready to play Elon in Saturday's opener, take a look back at some of our favorite quotes.

"It's definitely just total attack mode all the time. You can score a touchdown on any given play. There's no setting up. It's all go, go, go. And seeing myself in it, just an aggressive player, blocking downfield, setting up long touchdown runs, whatever it is, it's real exciting."

---Sophomore tight end Sean Fitzpatrick on the UNC offense

"He (Coach Fedora) said he was a 350 pound bencher, and I said, 'Well hey, you need to get down there in the weight room with us. You need to show us something,' because for 50 years old, that's a lot of weight. I'll tell you that now. It would (embarrass some players), because you can put a lot of guys in there that might not be able to do that much weight."

I don't know too many 50-year olds that first of all look like that, let alone can lift 350 pounds. He said he was going to do it next year, so hopefully if I'm not around I'll be able to come back get a chance to see it or at least get it on tape, because I'm excited to see it myself. You can tell he's been working out every day.

---Senior defensive tackle Sylvester Williams on head coach Larry Fedora's weight lifting prowess

"You can focus more on football and not about what everyone's saying about you, which I think gets everyone's mind on the thing that it wants to be on, and that's playing football. Just being out here with everybody is kind of helping everyone have a good time."

---Junior left tackle James Hurst on how training camp helped the UNC players get away from the distractions of the summer onslaught of negative media coverage

"The offensive line is great. They're moving faster. They're learning plays. Everything is getting down pat. We're just all working hard all together."

---Redshirt freshman running back Romar Morris on the Tar Heel offensive line

"Roy has done a great job. We had him in this summer so he could get adapted to it. You can't say enough about him. He just makes plays. (Last week) he caught an 'out' route and took it to the house. He catches the ball. He's learning on the fly. The thing is, all these wide receivers want to work, and that's what we need."

---Junior quarterback Bryn Renner on walk-on wide receiver Roy Smith.

"Coach Lou (Hernandez) put together a great program for the boys, and it got everybody fired up and it got everybody bigger, faster, and stronger. Nobody has missed any workouts. It was a great offseason. Personally, I went up on my bench amazingly from what I was. So it was an awesome summer."

---Sophomore linebacker Travis Hughes on UNC's offseason workout program

"He's very versatile. I've got a lot of trust in him. He's a hard worker on and off the field. He gets the job done in the classroom. He goes to class every day. Tim is one of those guys you want to have on your team. He does the right things. He's definitely a good guy. And guys should definitely look up to him. I'm pretty sure Coach (Deke) Adams has made the right decision, and I trust his judgment, moving Tim to tackle."

---Junior cornerback Jabari Price on the move of fellow junior Tim Jackson from defensive end to three-technique defensive tackle

"They're awesome. Gio is awesome. A.J. is awesome. Romar is going to be awesome. I'm excited. We're going to run a lot."

---Senior offensive tackle Brennan Williams on the UNC running backs

"Those guys, we're best friends. We talk all the time. It feels good to go to war with those guys each and every day. They bring a lot to the table. We have a lot of playing experience. We pick each other up, because we've seen pretty much every scenario there is. And each and every day we just pick each other up and let each other know that we've seen it all at this point."

---Junior defensive lineman Tim Jackson on his relationship with fellow UNC defensive linemen such as Sylvester Williams and Kareem Martin

"I think he's had a really good fall camp. I think he did a great job over the summer trimming his body down. I thought he went through the spring kind of heavy and wasn't at his best, and he got with the nutritionist and strength guys over the summer and changed his body."

"He's been a leader vocally. His effort, his leadership example every day and his body, and just his body is in better shape so he's making more plays. He's been a bright spot. He's definitely really going to give us a lot more depth at that position and more leadership, which is hard to come by."

---Offensive coordinator Blake Anderson on junior running back A.J. Blue.

"They have veterans like Erik Highsmith and Sean Tapley and Reggie Wilkins. These guys have played. They know the system. Mark McNeill and Roy Smith, guys you would have never thought of, they're stepping up and taking ahold of their new responsibilities."

---Junior cornerback Jabari Price on the Tar Heel wide receivers

"Me and Travis (Bond) and David (Collins), we all came in together. We kind of sat down and talked about it, and it was like, 'Wow. These four years really flew by.' The friends we're going to leave behind next year, we just want to have a really great season this year to remember."

---Senior right tackle Brennan Williams on the fourth-year Tar Heel offensive linemen