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00:00Ask Mac about that tomorrow.
00:05Aaron Beards Chuckling.
00:10Yes. Hey, Emory, how you doing?
00:11Thanks for joining us.
00:12How you doing?
00:13Doing well.
00:14If you have a question, please raise your hand.
00:17And the first question comes from Gregory Hall.
00:19Go ahead, Gregory.
00:21Emory, when we last talked to you during fall camp,
00:24you discussed your decision to choose number zero
00:27and wanted to make your mark
00:29and just kind of saw your role as that next man up mentality.
00:33Do you feel you were able to do that on Saturday?
00:38Absolutely.
00:39Of course, Bo was out for the game.
00:42So during the week, just going through the week,
00:45knowing he wasn't there practicing,
00:48I just had in my mind just next man up.
00:50I don't know who I could be.
00:52I could possibly be starting,
00:54or I just know I'll probably be more in the rotation this week
00:57just because we're down to men.
00:58So now it's really next man up.
01:00So throughout the whole week, that was just my mentality,
01:03even though it was my mentality throughout the whole season,
01:05this part of the season.
01:06Now it just came true that it was literally next man up.
01:09So I felt like I was ready for that role,
01:13and luckily it worked out good this weekend.
01:16After putting in all that work,
01:18where do you think your game has elevated the most?
01:24More so being physical at the line
01:26or just understanding our playbook more,
01:29understanding the route concept
01:31and just understanding the game as a whole.
01:36This weekend, it kind of more so it was kind of nerve-wracking
01:40until the first snap after I got my first catch.
01:42Then everything just kind of seemed like it clicked,
01:44and everything was rolling.
01:45So I'll just say more so being physical at the line
01:49and understanding our playbook more and the game.
01:54Thank you.
01:56All right, back over to Taylor Vipolis.
01:59Hey, Emery. You and Sam Howell go back
02:01before you guys even got to Chapel Hill.
02:04How do you think that prior relationship
02:06has helped the chemistry between you and him on the field now?
02:11I think it helped a lot.
02:12I feel like since me and Sam knew each other
02:15before coming into college,
02:17he already knew how to feel for me on the field.
02:21But before the game, he had been talking to me,
02:25like, hey, this is your time. Make the best of it.
02:29I was like, you know, we just kind of clicked from there.
02:31And once he gave me my first ball,
02:35then I guess it was just clicking there.
02:38He was like, okay, now we starting to get in the rhythm,
02:41and now he can just give me the ball,
02:42like give me the ball more, trust me more,
02:44to catch the ball, and that was it.
02:48You had a big game on Saturday,
02:50but how challenging is it in the early part of the season
02:53where you feel like you should be out there playing,
02:57but the team is also having the success
02:59that they were able to have?
03:03It's challenging, but you got to be,
03:05you can't be selfish about it. You got to be selfless.
03:07So you got to come out to practice every day,
03:09come out of work like you're about to start
03:12because you never know what could happen.
03:13So I just try to keep that mindset, positive mindset.
03:16I'm always going to be happy for my guys
03:18with whatever they do on the field.
03:20I'm going to support them, cheer them on on the sideline,
03:23hype them up, but you always got to be ready
03:25for the next man up mentality.
03:26So I just go in to work every day at practice
03:30with like I'm starting, and then it just happens.
03:37Appreciate it.
03:39All right, next question from CL Brown.
03:42Hey, Emory, when was the exact moment you found out
03:46that you were going to make the start last week?
03:51Well, I had been working out all throughout practice this week,
03:55well, last week.
03:56With the starters, I was getting some reps here and there,
04:00but I really didn't figure it out
04:02until we had our walkthroughs on Thursday.
04:04Well, Thursday and then Friday.
04:08Thursday's walkthrough and Friday's walkthrough
04:09is when I found out or kind of had an idea
04:12of that I'm starting,
04:15and then it kind of confirmed it that Friday night
04:17before bed check when Coach Galloway came in the room
04:21and was like, hey, you ready for Saturday?
04:22I was like, yeah, I'm ready.
04:27So that was more so the confirmation right then
04:30than just walking out on the field on Saturday
04:32when it was time for the offense to go out,
04:34and he would call a blue zone.
04:35He was like, Emory, I was like, all right, here we go.
04:39How hard is it, I mean, you talked about mentally
04:41staying ready, but how hard will it be now,
04:46you know, when Bo comes back,
04:48like to go back to having to come in for more spot duty
04:54as opposed to being out there for a lot more snaps?
04:59I don't think it's going to be that hard.
05:02Bo is a senior. He's the upperclassman.
05:04So at least now I feel like now I've did my due diligence
05:09as far as with coaches.
05:11They can trust me now to put me on the field,
05:13but when Bo comes back, that's perfectly fine.
05:17But at least I'll know that they trust me to put me in.
05:19Whenever he's tired, I can go in and spare him a little bit
05:23to keep his legs fresh.
05:26All right, thanks, man.
05:28All right, let's go over to Ross Martin.
05:31Hey, Emory, you had a pretty interesting recruitment.
05:33You were committed to Indiana, then UNC,
05:36then Penn State, then back to UNC.
05:38Correct me if I'm wrong on that, but what kind of convinced you
05:41to come back and commit to UNC?
05:43I guess when Mack Brown and Sam committed as well.
05:49Actually, it was Coach Brown who got me to come back
05:53because pretty much he came like midway December
05:58before the early sign-up period,
06:00and I was telling my dad, like, he was like,
06:02hey, Coach Brown, I want to come and talk to you
06:03for a little bit.
06:05I'm like, no, I ain't trying to go through this again.
06:08Like, we done did it twice,
06:09so I think I'm going to stay true to this one
06:11and try to keep it and try to stay with Penn State,
06:14but he was like, y'all, just hear him out.
06:15Hear him out. I was like, okay.
06:17So he came to the house.
06:19I was just thinking it was going to be Coach Brown,
06:21and he brought in. That was not the case.
06:23He brought everybody. It was Hill, Coach Block,
06:27Coach Gee, Coach Stig.
06:28I was like, oh, no, he pulling out all the stops for this one.
06:32He pulling out all the stops, so he sat down and talked to me,
06:35and what I love about Coach Brown,
06:37he's just a genuine guy.
06:40He cares about his players.
06:42It was more so about how I felt and about my family
06:47and getting to know me as a person
06:48and not just me as a football player,
06:49so that's what kind of brought me back to Carolina,
06:52and since it was already my ideal school to come to
06:54because this was the only school I wanted to come to
06:57in the state of North Carolina,
06:58then that was just a plus on top of it.
07:02How did Sam's commitment, did that affect it,
07:04or did you all commit around the same time?
07:05I don't really remember the order there.
07:07I think I committed first.
07:11And then he committed.
07:12I think he committed after the Strongbow.
07:13I think we spent time at the Strongbow, if I'm not mistaken.
07:17I think that's how it went.
07:18Me and him was at the Strongbow together.
07:21Matter of fact, it was I committed first,
07:22Chauffeur committed after me, and then at the Strongbow,
07:25we were trying to get him to, like, hey, go ahead,
07:27and I know you trying to make the decision now,
07:30but you might as well go ahead and stay here with us.
07:31Go ahead and stay here with us,
07:33and then he committed after the Strongbow.
07:35Great. Thanks, man.
07:36Yes, sir.
07:38All right, we'll close out today with Gregory Hall.
07:40Go ahead, Gregory.
07:42Henry, I'm curious what you've seen
07:43from Virginia's secondary.
07:45They've been, they've allowed a lot of yards so far,
07:48so I'm just curious what you've seen from them on film.
07:52Long range, you guys, good at the line of scrimmage.
07:58All of them, I think, majority of their defenses
08:00came back this year,
08:01so their experience, their season,
08:05but it's still some things you could pick in
08:08with any defense, anybody's defense,
08:12but from their secondary standpoint
08:14with the DBs, long, lengthy guys, quick, real twitchy,
08:18and, yeah.
08:21Perfect. Thank you.
08:23All right, Henry, thank you for your time.
08:26Thank you.
08:27Appreciate it, Henry.
08:28Anytime.