Five With Fedora: Nov. 27

By Jeff Greenberg, GoHeels.com

1. In a closely contested game, what were the turning points in your mind that determined the outcome?
"This was a close game. Our guys battled hard, no matter who was on the field, and more importantly, no matter who was lined up in front of them. Our guys fought from start to finish, as they have all season long. First, having the fumble we caused and then returned into their territory called back was big. Turnovers are big and that would have been a huge momentum shift at that point in the game. Then, we didn't adjust correctly on the long run we gave up at the end of the third quarter. I thought our guys had a done a great job up to that point on the stretch runs. But we didn't fit that gap. We got hung up inside and then missed the chance to get the guy on the ground and move on to the next play. Those plays were ones that I felt like turned the momentum in the game. However, I was proud of how our guys then fought back too. We went back down and scored and still had a chance to get a stop and rally at the end. They just made some more plays than we did."

2. When looking at the available players from both teams going into this game, some might have said it was a mismatch on paper due to the injuries on your team. Did it play out that way on the field?
"No. I don't think we were mismatched on the field at any position. I thought our guys matched up with the guy across from them and played extremely hard. No matter which guys we put on the field at any point in the game, those eleven guys got after them. We had many guys step up and step in for us that made critical plays. We just didn't make enough plays in our favor to win the game."

3. Looking at the defense, 76 of the 86 tackles made by your team in this game were made by underclassmen. What does that make you think about the guys coming back on that side of the ball?
"That's something I've said all year long. Some of these guys were pressed into action well before they expected to be. We knew that and we knew we were going to have to live through those growing pains. We haven't had the success we wanted to have this season. But each rep we got with the guys we have coming back was valuable to their development. I think that showed here in the last month of the season. You saw guys not repeating some of the mistakes they made earlier in the year. You had guys making plays due to better technique and better eye discipline than they did earlier in the year. A lot of that has to do with the game experience they were getting. There is only so much you can simulate in practice. When Saturday arrives, it's a new level of intensity. I felt like we had young guys in this game that were no longer playing like young guys. That bodes well for the future and I do believe the future is bright for these guys."

4. Speaking of the future, how does the amount of game reps, and how many more guys than expected got those game reps, affect what you can get out of the spring session compared to what you may have planned for before?
"Well that's true. One of the things that the adversity we experienced this season caused was a ton of guys getting reps that didn't expect to get reps. So now, instead of trying to bring them into the fold and prepare them for bigger roles next season, they've already taken more steps forward before the spring and the offseason even begins. They're more seasoned now and have more experience. Instead of just watching other guys on film or talking in hypotheticals with them, you can now draw on their game experience. They've been in the trenches on Saturday and been in the fight. They've made mistakes and they've made great plays too. The learning curve for most of these guys has accelerated now, which is great. It really should elevate the level of what we're able to do this spring."

5. Sitting here on Monday, November 27, what are your top priorities over the next few weeks?
"Recruiting. Recruiting is my first priority. It's my second priority. It's my third priority. And yes, it's my fourth priority as well. That's it."

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