THI TV: Mack Brown Summer Presser & Report

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Mack Brown met with the media Tuesday at the Kenan Football Center for him summer press conference updating aspects of the program and fielding questions from the assembled media.

Brown discussed summer activities, offered his thoughts on the team’s togetherness, the staff, the importance of the first four games, pressure on Drake Maye with all the hype surrounding him heading into the season, the health of the team, and so much more.

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

*Brown said the team is back home this week and school is currently in between summer sessions. The players will return next week and return home for several days after the second summer school sessions ends July 27. They report to fall camp August 1, and the first day of practice is August 2.

*Ten freshmen enrolled last January, the rest have come in over the last week. Last Monday, Ty Adams, Kaleb Cost, Chris Culliver, Aiden Duncanson, Jordan Louie, Tre Miller, and Joel Starlings arrived.

Yesterday, Rodney Lora and Julien Randolph arrived. They were a week later because their school years ended a bit later than the others.

Georgia State grad transfer Antavious “Stick” Lane arrived last Tuesday. Brown said he caused two fumbles against UNC last season and intercepted a pass versus the Tar Heels the year before. He also likes having a defensive back with Lane’s nickname.

“You like a safety named ‘Stick,’” Brown said. He also said Lane has “looked really good.”

*Aside from jack/OLB Malaki Hamrick, the expectation is that the rest of the Tar Heels will be healthy when practice begins in August, and that includes Sebastian Cheeks, who missed most of last season and was very limited in the spring.

*Player-led practices this offseason have gone really well. Brown says the team has been “business-like” in their approach, and that they are on a mission to change the narrative about them.

“We have a chip on our shoulder, there’s an edge out there with people calling us soft,” he said.

*UNC’s first four games are versus South Carolina in Charlotte, home against Appalachian State and Minnesota, and then at Pittsburgh. Four quality opponents gives the Heels a chance to get off to a strong start against a schedule that will give them credibility.

“We need our fans to be with us those first three games for sure,” he said.

*Kevin Donnalley is handling much of what’s taking place with the players this summer. They have weekly speakers and also sessions on how to handle, since they are now earning NIL cash.

*Maybe Brown’s funniest quote of the day had to do with him giving a bit of a shot at coaches who told recruits Brown was going to retire. He said quite a few were doing it a year ago, and also happened to have been fired at the end of the season.

The shot at other coaches? “They need to worry about their own jobs.”

Brown reiterated what we have reported multiple times, he isn’t going anywhere. There is no succession plan and he will be around for a while.

*Brown and other coaches pushed hard this spring for the NCAA to grant hands-on coaching access to analysts and those in quality control, but it didn’t go through in April. Brown says the push is even harder now, but the next vote on it doesn’t come up until January.

*The staff monitors just about everything the players do in the summer by checking if they’re going to classes, eating the right stuff, and the team leaders make sure guys aren’t going out at night doing silly stuff and are ready to roll for morning workouts.