CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina offensive coordinator Phil Longo met with the media Monday for his weekly press conference in advance of the Tar Heels’ opener Saturday night versus Florida A&M at Kenan Stadium.
Longo was asked plenty of questions about the decision to start Drake Maye over Jacolby Criswell at quarterback, but also about some other position groups and players.
Above is the full video from Longo’s presser, and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
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*Longo said he is comfortable using 18-22 players in the rotations in the meat of the game Saturday night.
*The second biggest question of the day, after why Drake Maye was tabbed to start Saturday night, was how much Jacolby Criswell might play, or at least how the staff will handle that position.
“It’s really no different than any other position,” Longo said. “We have a talented running back room, and if a guy’s out there and he’s hot, he’s playing well, we’ll leave him out there. Really, when a guy is hot, the only time you take him out is when he needs a blow or you need to give him a few plays off so he’s fresh.
“I don’t know if the approach is any different at quarterback or receiver or tight end or o-line… We obviously don’t want to rotate at quarterback like you do at some of the other positions because of the nature of the position.”
*Really good question posed to Longo: Is it fair to say it’s (competition) still open?
“It’s fair to say that Drake will take the field first, and then we’re gonna let the game dictate what we do after that.”
*Sam Howell ran for more than 1,000 yards last season without factoring in the lost yardage courtesy of 49 sacks, but it was too much, Longo said Monday. His air raid offense is better when quarterbacks are making plays getting others involved, not just looking to run all the time. So, don’t expect to see Maye tuck it and run a lot Saturday night.
“In this offense, you want the quarterback to be a great distributor of the football,” Longo said. “I talked to Jacolby and Drake about that yesterday. You don’t really want (that) in an air raid offense, or even with a power running game, you don’t want your quarterback to be a thousand-yard rusher.
“Last year, that was a necessity. We lost two 1,000-yard rushers, we replaced them with Ty Chandler, there wasn’t another guy that we felt was playing at that level last year, and it became Sam Howell…
“I will say this, when our quarterbacks do run this year, because it’s a part of our offense, we’re not going to stay up and lower our shoulder and do those types of things. Sam was a warrior for us last year and did the things he felt like he needed to do to win the ballgame… But I want, and I’ve said this to them numerous times this camp, I want Jacolby and Drake to give us whatever they can, and then get down, get up and live to play another play.”
*All three tight ends - Kamari Morales, Bryson Nesbit, and John Copenhaver - comprise perhaps the most solid room on offense at this time. Morales is listed first and then Copenhaver second with an “or” in between. Then Nesbit. But don’t read much into that. Brown called all three blue team guys, and Longo said pretty much the same thing.
“There’s no question they’re all on the blue team and there’s no question all three of them will play,” Longo said. “(Tight ends) Coach (John) Lilly does a great job at rolling through them based on situation and need and based on what the defense is doing.
“And we have some thoughts with respect to Kamari and John Copenhaver and Bryson Nesbit, so some of the plays that we call aren’t necessarily ear-marked for those guys, but we’re going to try towards their strengths while they’re out there.”
*The right side of the offensive line has appeared a bit jumbled throughout fall camp, in part because William Barnes and Zach Rice missed time with injuries, and Spencer Rolland missed some practices because he had some graduate classes to attend. Why did the staff settle on Barnes at right guard and Rolland at right tackle?
“I brought up consistency with the quarterbacks, that’s been the issue with William, and it’s something that I talk to him about regularly,” Longo said. “(Offensive line) Coach (Jack) Bicknell talks to him about it regularly. He’s very, very talented. He’s an athlete, he can be physical when he wants to be.
“So really, the emphasis for him is to continue to improve technique. But I think the number one thing with him, and as soon as he’s able to, and he’s been doing that lately, and we’ve been happy with where he is in camp, is as soon as he is able to lock in from play to play and play consistently in both the run game and pass pro, I think William’s going to be a really, really good offensive lineman.
“With regard to Spencer Rolland, he’s living in a different world. He played at a different level last year in the Ivy League, so I think he’s seeing a different speed in the game right now, and that was an adjustment for him early on. We’re actually very happy with his progress and like where he is right now.”
*True freshman Zach Rice missed five practices with an upper body situation a couple of weeks ago, and it slowed down his process. Longo said Jonathan Adorno will get some work at right guard, which is one of the spots Rice has worked in camp, along with right tackle. So what is the plan for former 5-star from Virginia?
“Zach has gotten reps with the blue (first) group the entire time,” Longo said. “He missed a bunch of days that kind of slowed his development a little bit. Right now, I think the three that you’ll see in there on that side are, initially, will be Spencer Rolland, William Barnes, and Jonathan Adorno. We’ve been very happy with Zach’s progress, I just think the delay he had in camp here slowed him a little bit.”
