THI TV: Chizik Talks Coverage, Improvement, Irish & More

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik met with the media Monday for his weekly press conference at the Kenan Football Center in advance of the Tar Heels’ home game Saturday versus Notre Dame.

With the team coming off an open date, Chizik discussed what the points of emphasis were during the bye week, working to improve communication in the secondary, his thoughts about Power Echols’ love for football, how gauging quality defensive numbers has changed over the last 10-15 years, the Fighting Irish’s offense, and much more.

Above is the video of Chizik’s presser, and below are some notes, pulled quotes, and time markings of what he had to say:

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*The coaching staff did a full re-evaluation of all aspects of the team’s first three games during the open week. Among the things they focused heavily on was the communication issues that have at times plagued the secondary.

Chizik is pleased with what he saw and says he can gauge there was some progress, but seeing it in the game is the obvious telltale.

“I really believe over the last four practices I think we’ve made a lot of strides,” Chizik said. “I think the communication’s gotten better. I think to get a breather and go back and look at when you were playing poorly, why, and you can put it all together and not just look at a single event or a single game, but put three of them together, I think it’s pretty glaring.

“So, I feel like in the last four days, we definitely have improved in that regard. Now, we’ll know more Saturday night. But I feel really good in terms of the players seeing what we need to do a better job of collectively together.”

Chizik noted it’s not just the secondary, it’s the entire defense. But the secondary, in particular its communication, has been a topic each week, and something UNC Coach Mack Brown has hit on several times as needing to improve.

*The level of execution is a primary focus to Chizik. So, when asked if fixing the issues is a matter of tweaking scheme, he went right to the execution of what they have been taught all along. It’s simply a matter of getting better at what they’ve been coached to do, but the staff does have three games of intel to know about their guys, and approached the open date with that frame of reference.

“That always needs to get cleaned up and improved, for sure,” he said. “But also, when you have some time off, you have the ability to maybe tweak some things schematically that you feel like can help you.

“After three weeks, you can look at different players and see what their strengths and weaknesses are in games. So, it was really a combination of all of that.”

So, they weighed what they see their players are best at and applied what they had been teaching but with some tweaks here and there. But the base of the operation stays the same.

“We’re not altering a lot of anything,” Chizik said. “Just little subtle tweaks here and there that we think can help us.”

*3-min mark: Chizik was asked if there were any specific changes he could share with the media.

*An area of noted concern with the PFF grades of Carolina’s pass coverage (ranked No. 104 in the nation this week) and its cornerbacks, Chizik was asked about how he likes using his corners. He has played a decent amount of press coverage in the past, but has used the corners in a variety of ways.

“It depends on the players,” Chizik said. “It obviously depends on the scheme with what we’re trying to do with the rest of the defense. But we never like to give easy access throws, but in some coverages it requires you play more off coverage.

“So, we like to be able to do both. We like to press and challenge guys at the line of scrimmage and disrupt timing of releases, and be able to cover the deep balls. That’s the thing you get into when you’re pressing all the time, do you have the ability to handle the deep throws. We’ve been inconsistent, let’s say that. That’s why you’ve seen some off, some on, some press. But we’ll mix it up.”

*5-min mark: Chizik discusses the challenges in facing Notre Dame with a backup quarterback who they have film on from just one game.

“I think he’s a very talented young man,” Chizik said about Drew Pyne, who started for the Irish in their win over Cal this past weekend. Pyne was 17-for-23 with 150 yards, and two TDs. He was 3-for-6 with 20 yards in the loss to Marshall. He threw 30 passes last season and three in 2020.

Chizik said Notre Dame’s “staple” is the run game and it will lean heavily on its offensive line in this game.

*Chizik was asked about Power Echols, not just his play on the field, but his growth off of it, noting the moment he rallied the defense on the sideline late in the win at Georgia State. Chizik “You coach football to be around (dudes) like that… I don’t know” that he’s been around a guy who loves football as much as Power Echols. Says he loves the dirty stuff and not just game day.

Chizik also said Echols is “a calming force” during chaos.

*9-min mark: Chizik discusses Irish TE Michael Mayer, one of the top TEs in the nation who is a major NFL prospect.

“He’s a great player and our guys will always know where he’s at,” Chizik said.

*10-min mark: He articulated how things can go so well in stretches and then it goes off the rails for a while.

“It’s been kind of an enigma, to be honest with you,” Chizik said.

In addition:

“Knowledge is power, right, and you go back and show them things that happened…”

And:

“Have to go back and find out why they happened and use them as teaching moments.”

Chizik concluded by noting the defense’s best game may come soon.

*Brown said Monday the defense hasn’t shown everything yet, so what is Chizik’s philosophy about unveiling aspects of his defense as he goes through a season.

“It’s more what are we ready for,” he said.

Some games dictate they do less because of formations, tempo, etc. “So, when you have those types of games it limits you…”

And:

“You don’t ever want to do too much, so we’re finding a good balance with our guys.”

*14-min mark: The offensive explosion in college football over the last decade-plus has changed how quality defensive performances are viewed, Chizik said. But there is a constant:

“The metrics for defense has changed, but scoring defense has not,” he said.

*17-min mark: All fans want to know why more guys don’t play, and Chizik said they aren’t at practice, so they don’t see what the coaches do. But sometimes a kid gets inserted into the lineup and plays very well. He did say, “We would love to play more at every position,” but explained why that doesn’t happen.

*True freshman defensive lineman Travis Shaw played 17 snaps at Georgia State. Expect to see him get more and more time moving forward.

“We made a concerted effort to” get him in the game. “I was proud of him,” Chizik said.

He said they did that with RaRa Dillworth as well.

*20-min mark: More on Notre Dame.