CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina's football program held its summer press conference last Wednesday at the Kenan Football Center, in which every assistant coach and 11 players were made available to the media.
Graduate outside linebacker Noah Taylor started in 31 of the 45 games in which he played at Virginia before transferring to UNC last December. He registered 12.5 sacks for the Cavaliers, and is credited by PFF for 36 QB hurries and 86 STOPs, which are plays that result in failures for opposing offenses. He was charged with just 17 missed tackles against 169 tackles in his four seasons.
As we roll through each interview, here above is the full video of Taylor’s presser and below are some tidbits from his interview:
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*Taylor committed to UNC in the middle of last December while Jay Bateman was still the defensive coordinator, but once Gene Chizik was hired as the new DC. Taylor spoke with him at length about what his role will be, and it went well right from the start. In addition, Taylor was highly impressed with Chizik’s confidence in doing things his way and clearly communicated everything the Tar Heels will do on that side of the ball.
*Taylor has previously discussed why he ended up at UNC instead of using the COVID year to stay at UVA. One thing he emphasized last week was after Bronco Mendenhall retired, Taylor wanted to see how another program was run, so he zeroed in on Carolina.
*So, six months in as a Tar Heel and no longer a Wahoo, Taylor said everything has gone as well as he could have hoped for.
*Taylor is an outside linebacker but the term being used is that it’s the “Jack” position. There are elements of the hybrid part of Bateman’s defense, but it’s far more OLB oriented, as Taylor explained.
*Taylor is excited to play in a defense that will usually have four defensive linemen with their hands on the ground. UVA employed a 3-3-5, and at times it struggled, so Taylor outlined why he likes the current scheme with the Tar Heels a lot.
*Perhaps the most interesting question Taylor got was about the perception he and his Virginia teammates had of UNC. He paused before saying exactly what they thought. His answer might surprise some people, or it might not. A teaser: Taylor said he did “not like” UNC and that “it was probably my most hated school.”
*Another reason Taylor is excited about spending this season at Carolina is because he can focus on playing one position, not several, which was the case at UVA. He wants to play in the NFL, and believes going to Chapel Hill can help him achieve that dream.
