FIve With Coach Brewer

How fun was the NFL Draft for you this year? – "The draft was extremely fun for us this year. You had the excitement of not knowing where Mitch was going to go in knowing that there were teams that wanted him that made that known to the public and teams that wanted him that were playing their cards close to the vest. Then we had three outstanding men that I personally coached get invited to the NFL Draft combine, which rarely happens in the same year at one position. So waiting to see their dreams come true was both exciting and nerve-wrenching at the same time. It's a grueling process that I've witnessed before with other players. It's a tough day and an exciting day all at the same time. So it was rewarding to see their opportunities present themselves and now all three of them are in NFL camps right now and they're doing well. As a coach and as somebody that cares about these guys, you can't ask for more than that."
How has that success this year in the NFL Draft for so many UNC players impacted your conversations or reception out on the recruiting trail? – "I think everybody we interact with and have built relationships with were genuinely excited for those guys first and foremost because they know those guys are good people. Secondly, I think people have recognized what that says about our program and what guys can do and accomplish when they come to UNC. The ability to take a guy that started one year and also take three receivers and two running backs and send them to the league in the same draft is special. Having a player that was taken second in the entire draft is heavy stuff. It's a standard we knew we had and strived for internally, but now I'm seeing that recognition externally as I interact with folks on the road. If anything, it has validated our message about what we have here at UNC to prospects, their families and their coaches. It has been fun out on the road."
The good news is those guys are in the NFL, but the flip side of that is now you have to replace that talent. Did the next guys up show you the progress you wanted this spring? – "I would love to give you a resounding yes, but my standards are pretty high. Those are standards that have been built on the guys that came before them like Hakeem Nicks, Quinshad Davis and the three guys we just mentioned in Switz, Bug and Mack. Now that they've set that standard, I can't settle for less than that and be happy. It's a high bar and these young men we had this spring haven't really had the chance to play enough to reach that bar at this point. What I liked was their attitudes and their work ethic. We got better this spring. The overall level of competition was raised throughout the spring. Nobody jumped out and declared themselves 'The Man,' but what you saw were guys working together to make each other better and create some quality depth in that room. Now we have six or more guys ready to contribute. One day this guy would have a great day and the next day maybe another guy would be the guy. So we enter this summer with guys trying to step up and take over that mantle left by guys like Switz, Bug and Mack."
What name or names that fans haven't heard much about have a chance to put themselves on the map this season?" – "A bunch of guys fit that description. The name people already know would be Austin Proehl. He's had a ton of snaps and is a solid ACC player with a chance to accomplish great things this season. He runs outstanding routes and is a great teammate. From there you have Thomas Jackson, who popped on the scene last year and became a playmaker for us. You have Anthony Ratliff-Williams who converted from QB to wideout and is still learning the position but was a great contributor on special teams last season. He had a good spring and can give us some good things down the field. Juval Molette is a young player who was highly-touted out of high school. Now, two shoulder surgeries later, he has his strength back and is in a position to show people what he can do on Saturdays. Jordan Cunningham is a transfer from Vanderbilt who now as a senior is somebody we need to make plays for us. Then you have guys like Devon Perry and Josh Cabrera who have been in the program for a while now and are ready to show what they can do. It's time for them now to be a contributor on Saturdays. Roscoe Johnson and Rontavious "Toe" Groves, before he was injured, had great springs and showed some exciting things that they can do and that we will need this season. Finally, we have two young guys in J.T. Cauthen and Beau Corrales that I'm excited about seeing what kind of leaps they can make in learning our system and how fast they mature at the position. So as you can see, I mentioned a lot of names because the guys that moved on to the NFL have turned the spotlight over to this group. Now it's just a matter of seeing who takes that spotlight first and holds onto to it, or the combination of guys that will take it. We'll see soon enough."
What do the guys in your room need to do or show you in fall camp to be ready for the first game against Cal? – "A lot of that is experience. They don't have it yet. I equate that to a person who just graduated college. Yes, they have that great degree from Carolina, but you have no experience in the working world. You'll be going up against folks who have been doing their job in the real world. You have to find or create your own break. Well now these guys have that break and it's their opportunity to step up. Mitch had that same opportunity after sitting behind a great player in Marquise. When his number was called he took advantage of it. Did he make some mistakes? Of course, everybody does. But he learned from them and got better. These guys will make mistakes and learn along the way and get better when the action starts on Saturdays. I'm looking forward to that journey with them. Really, that can be applied to our whole offense when you look at having to replace nine guys. We're reloading and looking for many guys to take advantage of this chance.

Extra point: How does your mindset as a coach change when you go into a season like this with so many new players stepping into starting roles for the first time? – "I never mind the challenge. We've had to rebuild before, although I've never lost the whole offense at one time. There's a bunch of pieces we're trying to figure out both in playing and execution abilities, and also in terms of figuring out who's going to be the next leaders on the offense. I enjoy the process and getting to know these kids more now that they have the chance to be the playmakers. It's fun to develop new guys and see how bad they want it. They're going to have to want it as bad as the guys sitting on NFL rosters now for us to be as good as we've been the last few seasons."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Josh Cabrera

J.T. Cauthen

Beau Corrales

Jordan Cunningham

Thomas Jackson

Roscoe Johnson

Austin Proehl

Anthony Ratliff-Williams

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