**************************************************************************************
Remember, for just $8.33 a month, YOU CAN BE A TAR HEELS INSIDER, TOO!!!
***************************************************************************************
CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media Monday at the Kenan Football Center for his first game-week press conference of the season as the Tar Heels gear toward the opener Saturday night at home versus Florida A&M.
Brown spoke for 50 minutes, initially going over each part of the depth chart, which we are running every word he said about each position in another story. So, above is the full video of what Brown had to say and below are some notes and pulled quotes from his presser as well:
*Note: much of what he said is being reported in other content items.
*UNC’s depth on defense is obvious and has been well documented, but is the talent on that side of the ball what Brown envisioned when he took the job in 2018?
“Yes, we have definitely met the vision with the front guys,” Brown said. “We are two deep and we are in a great position with those guys, we’re really three deep. Jahvarre Ritzie could play power end today. He is a great player, not a good player. You look at Myles Murphy. He’s going to be a high draft choice. And then we are a little thin at linebacker.
“I thought and we’ve had a discussion on where we are going to have to start playing more guys at each position, so they won’t transfer. That got us thin at wide receiver. It got us thin at linebacker. And the transfer portal can get you thin really fast. And at a place like ours where you can’t take many transfers cause they can’t get into school a lot of them, your not able to replenish those positions as fast. So, we are thin at linebacker, and I feel like we are still thin in the secondary.
“We are going to probably lose some of those safeties next year, they’re older. We may lose a corner so we are going to have to do a good job of replenishing those guys and getting deeper there. Because you like to be at least two deep with really good players that you can put in at any time because of the injury situation across the country.
“You lose three guys and all of the sudden you don’t have a good team anymore. It’s our job to continue to recruit at a high level and now we are in a position where we don’t have to recruit everybody. Everybody says why didn’t you take him? We don’t need a defensive lineman. If we do, we get one.
“But we don’t need three like when we first got here. And Travis Shaw, Keeshawn Silver, (Kedrick) Bingley-Jones are all going to be good players. So, we have to look at recruiting specific positions that we need. And that was different when we got here, we were trying to find players like whomever we could get. The first year was ok, second was good, and last year was great. I think this year will be good. It will be good. I don’t know if it will be great, but it’s going to be good.”
*Quarterbacks hit the transfer portal with regularity, so an obvious concern for the program is what Jacolby Criswell might do since he isn’t starting this weekend, and may not play much this season if Drake Maye doesn’t struggle. Brown offered his thoughts on that while offering some insight in his message to Criswell.
“It’s about the team. Be ready to play,” he said. “We brought up an example of Josh Downs. We didn’t play him enough as a freshman. He had Dazz Newsome in front of him, but we did a poor job as a staff cause Dazz was so good, and we were close in every game and didn’t have the opportunities. We should have put him in, but number one he stayed and competed, and when he got his chance in the bowl game, it led him to the next year being the all-time leading receiver in one year in the history of our school.
“So, we used him as an example yesterday and we used Dre’ Bly as an example. I redshirted Dre’ Bly. I redshirted Brian Simmons, Greg Ellis, and Julius Peppers. So, if those guys think they are better than any of those guys, then let’s go visit and get some video and compare yours to theirs at this time.
“But we feel like every position is disappointed if they’re not walking out there first and that’s why we are trying to work towards having a blue team. And really Jacolby would be on the blue team because either one of the quarterbacks can walk out there at any time.”
*One of the reasons the staff didn’t name any starters in any of the battles going on during camp is to maintain everyone’s edge. Each rep in each practice has meant the world, so to speak, so the staff kept sharpening the kids.
“Absolutely,” Brown said. “We’ve announced but they know it. They’ve known this. They don’t know the quarterback, but they’ve known who’s been out there more and the quarterbacks have been exactly the same. So, that’s probably the only one they didn’t know today.
“But what we felt is that we’re not going to talk about who we’re playing anymore because last year we played up or down to the level of competition. We’re going to talk about creating a standard of excellence every day at practice, every day at school, every day in our lives, and that’s going to help you when you get out.
“Get more prepared for your job and being a husband and being a father and hopefully running your company because we are going to teach you that now and we’re not going to let anybody walk on that field that’s not ready to go. We’ve said three things can happen. You’re going to get embarrassed if you walk out there and you’re not ready to go because we got enough talent now, they will embarrass you.
“You’re going to lose your job, if you’re not ready to go every morning because we’re not going to put up with it. And thirdly, you’re more likely to get hurt, if you’re not prepared. So, you need to be at that level, standard of excellence every day before you walk out on that field if you want to play.”
*D.J. Jones will have his opportunity to corral the starting running back spot beginning Saturday night. Brown has high expectations for how Jones will play.
“D.J. has been good since he’s been here,” Carolina’s coach said. “He’s smart and he can protect. He can catch and he’s real fast. He’s doing a better job running up inside behind his pads because really the great running backs get half of their yards after contact. I mean it’s just who they are and so that’s how we’re grading them.
“And that’s where a big strong back has some advantages because we don’t want them to come up second and eight when you hand it off to them. If you don’t block anybody get five and that’s just who we are. D.J.’s problem has been he has been hurt in the past, so he’s had trouble staying out there like Caleb (Hood), so we’re so lucky at that position that we had six that all could play. Every one of them could play and they’re all good.
“Will some leave with the transfer portal? Who knows, I mean that’s a new world for all of us. We didn’t sign a running back this year, we didn’t need one. We’ve got six really good ones, so people said why didn’t you sign one you always got to have a running back, not if you got six. We’re going to play three.”
*Josh Downs is an established star on offense, but other than him, who is there he sees possibly stepping up?
“All three tight ends for different reasons,” Brown said. “Nesbit is the best receiver because he’s faster, but the other two can really catch. I’m really excited about the camp that Kobe Paysour and Gavin Blackwell had. Gavin is really fast. Kobe’s a very good player.
“J.J. Jones is big and strong. I think Dre Greene at some point will be a potential super star. He’s big and fast. So how long will it take those guys to come? And then Caleb Hood’s had some outstanding moments, he’s just had trouble staying healthy. We’ve told him, ‘We can’t coach you if you can’t stay healthy…
“George Pettaway is really fast, and he has been here 15 days in the spring and this fall camp, so it’s like you’re really a second-year player. Omarion (Hampton) just got here. He’s really fast, big, strong, and he’s done some very impressive things. How fast can you get him ready to play because he hasn’t been here long enough? And how will those guys respond when they walk out there?”
*Deana King contributed to this report.
