THI TV: Brown Offers Updates, Talks Bly & Jason Jones

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media Monday afternoon at the Kenan Football Center to offer a few updates on the program and introduce new cornerbacks coach Jason Jones.

Brown spoke for about 10 minutes and did not take any questions.

Above is the video of Brown’s presser and below are some bullet points from what he had to say:

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*Spring practice begins March 5 and the spring game in April 15. Brown isn’t sure if it will actually be a typical spring game or some limited 11-v-11 stuff with plenty of drills and activities for fans.

*Brown said offensive guard Ed Montilus has decided to continue playing football. Initially, Montilus decided to retire and focus on finishing his academics this spring and move on. But, after thinking it over, and seeing his teammates working out, Montilus missed it and wants to play his final year of eligibility.

“He said, ‘I miss it. I miss my guys, I miss the work outs, I miss every day,’” Brown said. “He said, ‘It’s who I am.’”

Montilus will participate in spring practice, but he will have an operation on his wrist and won’t be full contact.

“That means we’ll have four of five starters back on the offensive line, which is great news for us,” Brown said.

*Brown had the difficult decision of parting ways with Dre’ Bly after four years coaching cornerbacks. Brown outlined what needs fixing at that position, while also articulating Bly was also looking for something different.

“He and I talked about all the wonderful things he’s done for this place,” Brown said about Bly. “He’s like a son to Sally and me. He’s an icon. He’s one of the best players that’s ever played at our school… he helped us so much in recruiting, he helped us get hype here when we were down four years ago.

“And he hadn’t coached before. I threw him into a tough world of coaching he hadn’t been in before. So, what he and I talked about, he’s ready to branch out, and he would really like to try his hand at the NFL.”

*What must change in the secondary? Brown said, “better communication… make more plays… gotta play the ball better… make more tackles.”

*So, what led Brown to Jason Jones, who spent the last three seasons at Indiana, and before that was at FAU for a year, and Ole Miss for six seasons? The list narrowed down to three candidates:

“(He was) the only one I talked to, because he was exactly what we wanted and it fit perfect for us, and that was Jason Jones,” Brown said.

A few more notes from Brown:

*Jones played at Alabama.

*Jones worked with Sparky Woods at Alabama.

*Worked with Charlton Warren at Indiana.

*He knows some of the terminology already used on Carolina’s defense.

*Jones has coached in the Big 12, SEC, and Big Ten.

*Jones will coach corners, Warren will coach safeties.

*Jones’ wife is from Chapel Hill. She graduated from Chapel Hill H.S. and was a cheerleader there with Mack’s daughter Katherine.

“In the small world, Katherine sent pictures of Keisha at their house on sleep overs,” Brown said. He also said he had no idea about the connection to Jones’ wife before he was hired.