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CHAPEL HILL – Next Thursday, Mack Brown will lead North Carolina to its 36th bowl game when the Tar Heels travel to Charlotte to face South Carolina in the Dukes' Mayo Bowl.
Ahead of next week's game, Brown fielded questions from the media, and among the things discussed were the Heels' bowl itinerary, members of the 2022 class arriving early, a look ahead to South Carolina, and much more.
Above is the full video of Brown's presser and below are notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
*With the holiday season approaching, Mack Brown has ramped up the physical nature of practices to help prepare the young guys for spring practice. However, when the Heels arrive in Charlotte, the goal is no longer player development, but it's to win the game.
"We're giving the guys off from this morning until Christmas night until they arrive in Charlotte," Brown said. "We've had really good preparation. We've got a lot of work with the younger ones, and that's been fun to prepare them for spring practice, and let them start competing for jobs. It's been fun to watch them, we actually scrimmaged the younger ones this morning and had the coaches step out of the way and the older players coached their position, so that was fun we had about 16 plays pretty much at the end clear that was a lot of fun to watch.
“I could yell at players like I yell at the coaches. The coaches enjoyed watching me say come on Sam Howell, come on Coach Howell get it back. Man, they're too close to the line. So that was fun but they will report on Christmas Day for dinner, so they will be at home but we wanted them to be at their place for Christmas, so they can enjoy their families and then they'll all show up in Charlotte that night.”
*North Carolina has yet to win a Thursday game in Mack Brown's second stint with the Tar Heels. However, the Hall of Fame coach believes the previous experience will help his group adjust to a short week. And, with the team essentially beginning South Carolina prep on a Sunday, and the game being the following Thursday, they are treating it like they have previous Thursday affairs.
"When we get to Charlotte, we'll practice on Sunday," said Brown. "It'll be very, very much like the practice for the Pittsburgh game, because you start on Sunday and you end on Thursday so it's a very short week after you get down there but our guys are used to that, so they should be able to handle that well."
*UNC recently added depth to its offensive line when it was announced the Tar Heels signed grad transfer Corey Gaynor. A two-year starter and team captain at Miami, Gaynor brings experience and leadership to a position that struggled to stay healthy last season.
"People have talked so much about our offensive line and it's been missed that we led the ACC in rushing," said Brown. "We rushed for about 220 yards a game, so these guys did a lot of great things. The thing that's been obvious is we've had entirely too many sacks and those (happened) for a lot of different reasons.
“I wouldn't coach the offensive line, if anything happens bad on offense it's the offensive lines' fault and they want the offensive line coach fired. It might be the running back protection, might be the tight end, might be a call by the center and not all of them, it might be the quarterback held it too long. might be a bad check by the quarterback. Maybe nobody is open so there are a lot of different reasons.
“We've only taken one grad transfer and that was Ty Chandler and it worked out really well. When we took Corey Gaynor who Stacy recruited at Miami and Coach Searels our offensive line coach. He coached him at guard, he started as a freshman and he's been a captain for them.
"We explained to our team why we were looking for a grad transfer and why you would bring them in because it could be disruptive to your locker room. We told Quiron Johnson and we told Brian Anderson who are centers. Cayden Baker is a young guy trying to work at center some, that Brian was not healthy all year he had a procedure and in the preseason. Quiron gets his high ankle sprang in the first quarter of the Virginia Tech game. Now we don't have a center, so we go from having depth at center to none. Q had been playing a lot more guard than center. Then for Duke, we had to move Cayden Baker in it and let him play, he never played center a down in his life.
“We told the guys to bring in a guy like Corey, he is older he's a center and a guard, he's used to playing in this league, he's a captain so he gives us immediate leadership in that group. It also gives a step that guard and center which we need. We're constantly pushing playing more players, so the other message is that if you bring in a grad transfer at your position maybe you're not old enough to play well yet, maybe you haven't stepped up and aren't strong enough yet, maybe you're not consistent enough yet, maybe you're not good enough in your position.
“Those are facts and our job is to win games, and we've gotta do whatever we can do within the rule to win games, and we've gotta have more consistent play in the interior of our line. We felt like Corey gives us a step forward in doing that and it'll also help the other guys play harder.”
*The debate over who is the "real Carolina" will continue, but the discussion will get more intense as the game between the two schools approaches. According to Brown, the debate doesn't stop with the fans, but it's an ongoing dispute between the programs.
“I'm used to Texas and Oklahoma that, border rivalry matters and it's the Carolinas," he said. "We both like to use Carolina football and each one thinks the other ones foolish. When I first got here I called Joe Morrison who we lost, I called his office to ask something and his assistant said Carolina football, and I said no ma'am we are Carolina football. She and I got in an argument I didn't know who she was.
“My first game when I was here was in Colombia against South Carolina, our first game back was in Charlotte against South Carolina. It's fitting that with Sam making a decision after the game and the seniors. It was the start of this senior group it'll be the end of the senior group. I think we play in Charlotte in two years so it's a series that's been very, very good. It looks like the weather is great, I hope there's a tremendous crowd and it should be a fun game."
*The NCAA recently made a rule, that high school seniors who graduate in time with proper documentation can practice with their college team for bowl preparations. A few members of the Heels' talented class of 2022 are taking advantage of this new rule to get a jump start to their UNC careers.
"The NCAA says if you are coming in early, and if you have graduated, and if you get an email from your high school, that says you completed all your work, all your grades are in. Then you can come and only practice on the campus, for the bowl," Brown explained. "You can't get bowl gifts and you can’t go to the bowl site. We've had Trevyon Green, we've had Beau Atkinson, and we had Conner Harrell here since Sunday.
“Then they have to be two days in shorts, the three days in shells, then they can go full pads. Beau has had a sore ankle, and Connor has had a sore ankle from their playoff games, Trevyon Green actually practiced in shells today, so it was good for him. Then Malaki Hamrick came yesterday and he was able to practice today even though he was in shorts while the rest of the guys were in pads. I asked each one of them and they said it was a wonderful experience. I think what will help them do, it will get them a physical, it gets them in the meetings with their other teammates and coaches.
“They've seen practice, but they're actually involved, they can see the speed of the game. They get to move into their dorm room, they get to move all their stuff in that they will be bringing back in January. So more than anything else I think it will help settle some of the anxiety before they come back in January. But I think it's a really good idea for the guys to come in and just get a feel. It's just hard for them to graduate early enough for them to come to practice.”
*According to a 2017 study done by football scoop, a team's chances of winning drop 16-22 percent every time they turn the ball over. South Carolina's defense thrives in taking the ball away, and with seven seniors on its defense, the Tar Heels can’t depend on the Gamecocks to make mistakes.
"When you start looking at South Carolina now they've got seven seniors starting on defense," Brown explained. "They’re 13th in the country in turnovers gained and that's the way you win football games. They've done a tremendous job in that area; they've got 15 interceptions and that ranks 10th nationally. Their secondary is really good and confident, and Kevin Harris is a really good running back.
“They've got a big strong offensive line; they've changed up quarterbacks throughout the year. I'm really proud of Shane Beamer he's a superstar happening. I'm proud because I watched his dad and mom raise him. They're tremendous people he's got a great consultant in Frank (his dad Frank Beamer), and I think I said this last time, but this will be the first time that I have ever coached against a father as a head coach, then coached against his son as a head coach too. That means you have been doing this a long long time.”
