CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media Tuesday at the Kenan Football Center to discuss spring practice as it comes to a close Saturday afternoon.

The Tar Heels have practiced 12 times, and have three more left to go: Thursday will be a normal practice in full pads; Friday will be in shorts and somewhat like a walk-through the day before a game; and Saturday is the spring game.

Brown said the staff hasn’t fully determined what the team will do Saturday, though he said it likely will be like last year, when they did a bunch of live drills, and then held a scrimmage, but not a game. It is free to the public, and fan fest begins at 1 PM.

Some notes from what Brown spoke about and was asked by the media:

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*Sophomore RB George Pettaway sprained an ankle two weeks ago and has not practiced since.

*The transfer portal for football opens Saturday, and Brown has no feel for whoever

*The staff will evaluate Saturday’s film and Monday will put together the depth chart, which will remain in place until fall camp begins in early August.

*Brown says both sides of the ball have played well this spring, one hasn’t controlled the other.

*The running backs need to show the staff who can break more tackles and make yards after contact, and that can only happen in full contact, not thud. So, there will be full contact. But an issue is without Pettaway and Caleb Hood available, and British Brooks limited to thud, there isn’t much that can be learned the staff doesn’t already know at this time. As of now, the top two backs are Omarion Hampton and Elijah Green.

*The staff wants six WRs in the rotation, and right now have four: Tez Walker; Nate McCollum; Kobe Paysour; and Gavin Blackwell. J.J. Jones is out this spring. Brown said redshirt freshman Andre Greene is coming on, and had his best scrimmage last Thursday.

Brown said Walker reminds him of Dyami Brown. “He’s really dynamic out there,” he said.

*Redshirt freshman QB Conner Harrell had an outstanding scrimmage last Thursday, and then was fantastic in practice Tuesday morning, and has won the QB2 battle, beating out true freshman tad Hudson.

“This has been clear cut for us,” Brown said.

*There is a ton of competition for playing time in the secondary. Brown listed just about every scholarship name when speaking about the corners, safeties, and stars. East Tennessee State transfer Alijah Huzzie appears to be the only slam-dunk starter at this time.

*Once again, Travis Shaw drew praise from Brown. Redshirt freshman power end Beau Atkinson has had a very good spring, and Brown said he’s in the mix for some playing time. Also, Kedrick Bingley-Jones, the former 4-star DL, is finally healthy, and now is the time for him to secure a spot in the rotation.

“It’s time for him to play now, and it looks like he’s doing that,” Brown said.

*Brown was asked about the defense’s performance last year and Gene Chizik, in particular. Part of Brown’s reply: “He wasn’t happy last year. He wasn’t happy with himself.”

*The last part of the presser focused on NIL and the portal, and Brown had some encouraging things to say: The NIL stuff has calmed down some; rules will be put in place regarding immediate eligibility with respect to transferring; and that the NCAA is watching, and players who take money outside of collectives or legitimate NIL deals will eventually be deemed ineligible.