Mack Brown speaks after UNC's 31-6 victory over Syracuse on 9/12/20
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00:00 Welcome everybody. I'm excited about the win.
00:05 Opening games are always crazy anyway.
00:08 And then you add the pandemic to it. All the things that have happened with
00:13 the social injustice and the roller coaster that these kids and coaches
00:18 across the country have been on.
00:20 It's a true credit to them for them to be able to come
00:24 and play a game and give Syracuse credit. I thought they played hard
00:28 throughout. I really thought the defense played well throughout the game.
00:32 I wish we'd forced some turnovers. We've got to do a better job in that area.
00:37 It was a concern last year and we didn't get any today.
00:40 The kicking game made so many different mistakes the first half. They played much
00:45 better the second half.
00:46 There's some things in our kicking game that can really be powerful and help us
00:50 this year. And offensively I thought we probably scored too quickly
00:55 and felt like it was going to be an easy day.
00:59 We had some lapses against a new defense. They were blitzing and moving all over the
01:04 place. We had inconsistencies and the two turnovers really hurt us.
01:07 Then the second half we settled down and became the offense that we
01:11 thought we
01:12 wanted to be coming into the ballgame.
01:15 I thought with all the things that have happened with Coach
01:19 Babers in preseason with some kids opting out.
01:23 I thought his team played really hard and they should be
01:27 very proud of the effort that they gave.
01:31 I'm proud of our kids, proud of the second half.
01:35 Our goal is to be 1-0. We are and
01:38 we'll get ready for Charlotte here starting tomorrow.
01:41 Questions?
01:44 First up, Andrew Jones. Go ahead and unmute yourself.
01:49 A lot of the talk the last five weeks is about improving the pass rush.
01:53 Seven sacks today, what was...
01:59 Andrew, I couldn't hear the last part but I did hear the part where you asked
02:04 about improving the pass rush. I think I was just trying to make them mad.
02:07 They've got some talent in there.
02:10 I think the biggest difference in our defense
02:14 is that we're too deep and we have fresh legs.
02:17 That really helps us more than last year. Tamaun Fox got really tired last year at times.
02:22 There's a lot of guys out there that can rush the passer now.
02:26 I thought they did a very good job of that today.
02:29 Being able to play too deep on defense will help us in special teams.
02:34 So many of those guys are on special teams.
02:37 It will really help us cover and our pass rush. I was really proud of those guys up front.
02:43 They really didn't give DeVito very much time to throw.
02:46 I can't hear you, Andrew. I'm sorry. I don't know what it is.
02:52 Sorry, Andrew. We have to move on to the next one.
02:54 Dena King, go ahead, Dena.
02:56 Hey, Coach. Dena King, Tar Heel Illustrated.
02:59 You mentioned about the defensive front.
03:01 That was one of your big concerns heading into the season.
03:05 Give a grade on some of those guys. Tamaun Fox, Ray Vahasik, Tamaun Fox.
03:11 How do you think they did?
03:14 I kept seeing - well, we knew Tamaun was a good player.
03:18 He's a good player every day.
03:20 But I kept seeing Tamari show up and Ray Vahasik show up.
03:24 And those guys penetrated. They made some plays for loss.
03:27 And those three guys are really, really good.
03:31 Tyrone Hopper got cramps at one point, so he had to come out.
03:35 We've got to make sure that he and Chris Collins continue to grow at that position.
03:43 And then we've got to bring Desmond Evans, who didn't play today,
03:46 and Kamin Rucker, who played quite a bit in the fourth quarter.
03:49 We've got to bring them on so we can keep fresh guys there.
03:53 Myles Murphy played some in the fourth quarter,
03:55 and I thought he made a few plays.
03:57 And then you've got Zach Gill and Kevin Hester, who I'm not sure he played.
04:02 I didn't think he did.
04:04 Varner might have played a little bit.
04:06 So, there's enough bodies and fresh legs there
04:09 that we should have a good pass rush.
04:11 Thank you. Thank you.
04:14 Okay, let's move over to Jared Fialco.
04:15 Jared, go ahead.
04:17 Mac, I'm guessing right after the game ended
04:19 and you had that large gathering on your field,
04:21 that's in lieu of the post-game speech that you'd normally do in a locker room.
04:25 I was wondering if that's the case,
04:26 and if anything else kind of felt wildly different
04:29 on a game-based perspective/scenario than the normal, I guess.
04:34 I told them that if they wanted me to, I would dance in front of the fans.
04:39 And since there weren't any there,
04:40 it was a great opportunity to do that.
04:42 But that's a joke.
04:45 It wasn't a very good one, but it was a joke.
04:47 No, I thought our two game-like scrimmages really helped us today.
04:55 And I didn't see much difference.
04:57 It seemed like our guys had their mask on when they were supposed to,
05:00 and the coaches did a good job keeping their mask on.
05:04 We didn't have substitution issues, which I thought we would.
05:07 And we communicated pretty well,
05:11 even better in the second half than we did the first half.
05:13 But it's just so weird that there's absolutely no crowd noise.
05:19 Even when you have the music or the noise over the loudspeaker,
05:23 when you're looking up it's like a scrimmage.
05:26 Because you look up and there's just nothing.
05:28 And so the young people have to create their own energy.
05:33 And I said on game day before the show,
05:36 and I think this is really true for all of us,
05:39 we're playing without the traditions that we play with.
05:43 It's still football.
05:44 It's still against somebody else.
05:46 You still want to win.
05:47 It's still very competitive.
05:48 But you don't have the bell tower walk.
05:50 You don't have your recruits here.
05:52 You don't have fans cheering you when you come in and not –
05:55 you don't have students.
05:56 You don't have the band.
05:58 It's just – so all of the pageantry that we have is just gone right now.
06:04 And we've got to understand that.
06:05 That's the only way we can play.
06:07 But we felt like that we would go in at halftime because it was quite easy.
06:14 But if you go in after a win and everybody is singing in a smaller dressing room
06:18 and they're really excited and some may not have their mask on,
06:22 that it was just a safer move for us to do all of our talking outside.
06:26 So we've said as long as there's no fans in the stands
06:30 and there's not weather issues,
06:32 then we will meet outside after the game before we go in.
06:34 I talked to Dino Babers before the game last Wednesday I think
06:40 and just said he and I waved after the game was over.
06:43 Our players and their players waved because again, it's just safer
06:47 if you don't get a lot of guys together hugging and with their buddies
06:50 and high-fiving.
06:52 And I think a few of the coaches might have had some conversation.
06:55 But we wanted to be really, really safe after the game was over.
06:59 Thank you, Mac.
07:00 Thank you.
07:02 Let's move over to Bridget Condon.
07:03 Go ahead.
07:05 Hey, Mac, going off on that, I know you had a big push this week
07:08 and the past couple of weeks about having players' parents there.
07:12 What was the biggest thing that you didn't notice?
07:13 And could you kind of feel players and maybe big moments look up there
07:17 out of routine looking for their parents?
07:21 I couldn't feel the team looking for their parents
07:24 because I just stayed too busy.
07:25 I didn't think about it.
07:26 In fact, when I walked out, we ended up giving –
07:30 we had 25 tickets and we gave them to our seniors for their families.
07:34 And that's all we had.
07:35 So those – there were 25 people in the stands.
07:39 And that was it.
07:40 So – and I let Corey Holliday and the leadership committee decide
07:43 how the seniors would divide the tickets.
07:45 I think they got two each.
07:48 So other than that, there were just absolutely no fans.
07:51 In fact, when I looked up and saw a couple sitting in there, I said, "Who's that?"
07:55 And then I remembered our seniors did get in.
07:58 And it's still very disappointing for me and for our team
08:03 not to have the families of our players there.
08:06 I don't think it's safe for their mental health to watch them play.
08:12 Many of these parents have told me they've –
08:14 this is the first time they've ever missed any sporting event in their life
08:18 and their history.
08:19 So I hate that for them.
08:20 And then we've told the players you're going to go out with your parents tonight
08:24 because many of them came to town and just couldn't see the game.
08:27 So be smart and be careful and still wear your mask.
08:30 And we want to play next week.
08:31 And don't make decisions tonight while you're really excited
08:35 that could hurt you next week.
08:40 Okay, move over to Greg Barnes.
08:42 Greg, go ahead.
08:44 Mac, you've talked about how mistakes are going to happen
08:47 given how things have played out this offseason.
08:50 Obviously you'll fix the corrections.
08:52 But is this a game where you focus more on the positives
08:55 and don't worry about the negatives so much?
08:58 Greg, in your first ball game you usually are fixing so many things anyway.
09:03 And with us, we felt like it's probably a great opener for us
09:09 because there's a lot of things we've got to fix.
09:11 And at the same time they can see that we have a chance to be really good.
09:15 Because there were so many positives that we can build off of.
09:19 But you can coach them much harder and be a lot more critical of them
09:24 with the concerns that you have when you win.
09:27 And we played a lot of people, so that's always good for morale as well.
09:32 So we'll celebrate tonight, we'll be really excited tonight,
09:36 and then tomorrow we'll really get after them.
09:39 If you heard our meetings tomorrow, you'd think we would have lost the game.
09:44 Thanks.
09:46 Next up is Brendan Marks.
09:47 Brendan, go ahead.
09:50 Hey Mac, Sam was sacked twice, took a couple of other hits.
09:54 Josh didn't end up playing today.
09:56 Where were the breakdowns coming there for you?
09:58 And how much is your level of concern with the offensive line and protecting them?
10:03 I will have to wait and see that, it was hard to see.
10:06 They were doing a lot of twisting and bringing an extra player.
10:10 So I'm sure it was probably just somebody that missed.
10:14 I know in fact on a run on third down and four, we got hit in the backfield
10:19 and we had an offensive guard just absolutely whiffed.
10:22 Because they were trying to move every play and they were undersized compared to us.
10:27 So I thought Sam did a really good job changing up his snap count
10:31 to keep them off balance, but they moved and blitzed every play
10:34 and earlier in the game we just missed some.
10:38 And Sam did a good job of getting rid of the ball most of the day.
10:43 But we don't want to throw two interceptions
10:45 and we don't want to have those sacks.
10:46 I mean, that's just who we are.
10:49 What is your level of concern with Josh?
10:54 With Josh?
10:56 With Joshua?
10:58 I'm sorry, I can't hear you.
10:59 Josh is new to you coach.
11:01 Oh, I have none.
11:03 He will be back soon, so.
11:07 Thank you.
11:08 Yeah, I'm sorry, the biggest concern I have with him is that he didn't play.
11:12 And he's our best offensive lineman and he can substitute in four spots.
11:16 So that really hurt us.
11:18 And hopefully he might play next week, but if not, the open week,
11:23 he'll definitely be able to play for Boston College.
11:25 But that will be up to the medical team and Jerr.
11:30 Gotcha, thank you.
11:31 Thank you.
11:33 All right coach, thank you so much for your time today.
11:35 Thank you all.