CHARLOTTE – Media Day for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl took place Tuesday morning at the Charlotte Convention Center, and among the four North Carolina players available was senior jack Kaimon Rucker.
The Tar Heels meet West Virginia for a 5:30 PM kickoff Wednesday at Bank of America Stadium. The game will air on ESPN.
THI sat down with Rucker and spent some time with him discussing the vibe around the team heading into the game, it being an opportunity for many guys, the story behind how he announced his return, and much more.
Above is video of Rucker’s interview, and below is the full transcript of what he had to say:
UNC Coach Mack Brown is calling this the “Opportunity Bowl,” what does it mean to him?
“I feel like opportunity bowl comes in a couple of ways. One, it’s an opportunity for a lot of younger guys that haven’t played throughout the year, they finally get their playing time in this game for the very first time. Guys like Amare Campbell, Kaleb Cost…
“And it’s another opportunity for us to set a new trend. I know the last couple of years we haven’t been successful in bowl games. But now, we have an opportunity to change pace a little bit.”
The political answer to this question would be everybody, but is there someone, especially on defense, he’s really looking forward to seeing play Wednesday?
“You’re right, the political answer is everybody, so I am looking forward to everybody going for that. But the two guys I’m really looking forward to showing out is Kaleb Cost and Amare Campbell. Those guys have been practicing their butts off ever since they got moved up to starting spots. Those guys are very physical, they’re eager to play, and will put their best product on the field tomorrow. So, I’m looking forward to them having a heck of a game.”
What are some of the things about them that just pop?
“Just how young they are and how fast they are able to process the plays. We have some guys that are two, three years in the system, and sometimes there are certain plays they have a hard time processing. Those (two) guys, the second they were given the opportunity, they took advantage of it, they understood what their responsibilities were, where they needed to be to make the right play.”
Gene Chizik said last week one thing that is intriguing about Kaleb Cost is that his baseball skills really show in that he can track the ball and has great hand-eye coordination. Has Rucker seen the same thing from him?
“Most definitely. The best way to put it is he’s a great overall athlete, and you want to put your best athletes on the field, and I know Kaleb Cost is definitely one of those guys. I feel like his baseball background has played into it in football more often than not. He’s going to put a good product on the field.”
Has he seen Conner Harrell change the last two weeks?
“No, same old Conner Harrell.”
He said he was going to work on being a little bit louder, is he louder now?
“It’s not hard for him, (but) you have different types of leaders. You’ve got guys that are very loud, you’ve got guys that will lead a certain way with a certain magnitude. Then you have guys that lead in silence; they lead by example. Conner is one of those guys. He’s one of those guys that’s even-keeled; go in, put in the work, show what he can do, and leave.
“That’s something he doesn’t need to change. That’s something who he is and it’s carried him to this point.”
Mack Brown said he’s brought up the game two years ago in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl a few times. How much can Rucker personalize it heading into this one?
“I think the same thing is just get everybody on the same page. I know last time there were a few different factors. You had Covid, you were trying to figure out who’s playing and who’s not. So right now, that’s out the window, so now we just have to really focus on everybody being on the same page understanding this is a game we can win.
“And lock in on every single thing we have going on. For me being a part of that team that wasn’t as successful. Just making sure that nobody gets out of their way to mess up what we’ve got going on.”
Your announcement to return, was that your idea?
“Yep.”
Rucker said the way he did the announcement he was returning was to “get a couple of laughs, scare some people,” and he wanted to trick people some. Also, he knows a lot of people didn’t watch the whole video.
“I had some texts that said, ‘Oh my gosh, congratulations. I know you’re going to do well.’ And I’m like, ‘You didn’t watch the whole video, did you?’ They were like, ‘Wait, are you serious?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, go watch it again.’”
