University of North Carolina Athletics
Five With Fedora - Sept. 11
September 11, 2017 | Football
By Jeff Greenberg, GoHeels.com
1. After the game you mentioned that Louisville's receivers were running wide open too often. Now that you've seen the film, what stood out as the reasons for those gaps?
"I think there was too much miscommunication between our players in terms of clarifying the coverage calls. And those are mental mistakes. On defense all eleven guys have to know what each other is doing. If one guy isn't on the same page it can leave a gap, particularly in coverage. When you leave a gap in coverage it can be exploited by a great quarterback, and their quarterback is a great one. But we had guys going to the wrong coverage areas because of the miscommunications between them. That can't happen on Saturday. Mental errors won't help you win games. You can overcome physical errors because sometimes the guy is just going to beat you or make you miss. They had a guy that can make you miss. But making a mental error is just shooting yourself in the foot. It's pretty simple really. If we're not seeing the players do what we need them to do on the field then it's on me to get it corrected during the week. I need to do a better job of coaching the players and I need to do a better job of coaching the coaches too. We can't let mental errors disrupt what we're trying to accomplish on the field. Until we're seeing them eliminate those errors on the field we have coach them better in practice to fix the situation. "
2. Some of the players mentioned the communication problems after the game. Was it miscommunication from the sidelines or between the players on the field?
"It was what the guys were calling out to each other on the field, or what they thought they were supposed to do in coverage based on those calls. And that's what was evident on film after seeing what was called from the booth and signaled in from the sidelines. Guys didn't get the calls right with each other on the field. Our guys were not on the same page with each other because of that miscommunication. Now, everything I saw was correctable. Mental errors and miscommunication is correctable. What's not correctable is when you have a guy in position to make the play and the other guy beats him. So that shows you how small the margin of error is between making the play or not. You can't beat yourself and expect to make the play."
3. Louisville had 11 possessions, not counting the last one. The defense was successful in forcing them into 10 third-and-long situations and 3 fourth down attempts. What does the defense need to do moving forward to take advantage of those situations and get off the field?Â
"Guys need to step up and just make the play. In the first game we kept third down conversions under 50% but gave up too many third-and-long conversions. Same with this game. You're just making things harder on yourself. You do a good job and get them into those low percentage down and distance situations. You need to step up and make the play to get you off the field. Make the routine plays you've seen all week and prepared to stop. That down has to mean something to you. You have to want it more than the guy across from you. It's where you make a statement as a defense."
4. There were positive steps forward on the offense in the passing game from week one to week two. What did the film show in that regard?
"First and foremost, both quarterbacks had much better games than the week before. I think Chazz Surratt did some of the things we were hoping to see from him. There were a few plays he wished he could have back but overall his play was promising and something we can build off of moving forward. I think Brandon Harris did well when his number was called too. Like Chazz, he wishes he could have a few throws back but I think he looked more comfortable this week moving the chains and making some big-time throws. The wide receivers took positive steps forward. They took the challenge to get more separation from the defenders and I really think they accomplished that in this game. Austin Proehl and Thomas Jackson had big games with some crucial catches. I think that you got to see some of the reason why we're excited about Dazz Newsome. You also saw the tight ends make an impact and get us into the end zone this week. Improvements were made in a lot of areas and we will need to make more improvements to get a win."
5. You mentioned wanting to have some plays back like the fourth-and-shorts or third-and-short on offense. What was the thought process in calling the quick passes instead of maybe calling a run-pass option on those plays?
"There were a few things that went into that plan. First, we were dealing with two different quarterbacks who are at different stages of what needs to be called to put them in a better position to succeed. Second, based on what we were seeing in their coverages up until that point led us to the decision that those calls could work. In those situations we wanted to minimize the mental hardship on our quarterbacks. We just didn't execute well on those plays. But I told them there isn't anything we can do now about Louisville. We need to watch the film and identify our mistakes that we will fix this week. We better become a better team based on those corrections. We all need to show up on Tuesday with a great work ethic and a great attitude. We all have to take advantage of this week's reps and fight forward. I thought their attitude was great. They were obviously down about the loss and how they played in certain situations. There were guys that were really upset and I can understand why. But they don't have time to be upset because the next game doesn't wait on you."Â
1. After the game you mentioned that Louisville's receivers were running wide open too often. Now that you've seen the film, what stood out as the reasons for those gaps?
"I think there was too much miscommunication between our players in terms of clarifying the coverage calls. And those are mental mistakes. On defense all eleven guys have to know what each other is doing. If one guy isn't on the same page it can leave a gap, particularly in coverage. When you leave a gap in coverage it can be exploited by a great quarterback, and their quarterback is a great one. But we had guys going to the wrong coverage areas because of the miscommunications between them. That can't happen on Saturday. Mental errors won't help you win games. You can overcome physical errors because sometimes the guy is just going to beat you or make you miss. They had a guy that can make you miss. But making a mental error is just shooting yourself in the foot. It's pretty simple really. If we're not seeing the players do what we need them to do on the field then it's on me to get it corrected during the week. I need to do a better job of coaching the players and I need to do a better job of coaching the coaches too. We can't let mental errors disrupt what we're trying to accomplish on the field. Until we're seeing them eliminate those errors on the field we have coach them better in practice to fix the situation. "
2. Some of the players mentioned the communication problems after the game. Was it miscommunication from the sidelines or between the players on the field?
"It was what the guys were calling out to each other on the field, or what they thought they were supposed to do in coverage based on those calls. And that's what was evident on film after seeing what was called from the booth and signaled in from the sidelines. Guys didn't get the calls right with each other on the field. Our guys were not on the same page with each other because of that miscommunication. Now, everything I saw was correctable. Mental errors and miscommunication is correctable. What's not correctable is when you have a guy in position to make the play and the other guy beats him. So that shows you how small the margin of error is between making the play or not. You can't beat yourself and expect to make the play."
3. Louisville had 11 possessions, not counting the last one. The defense was successful in forcing them into 10 third-and-long situations and 3 fourth down attempts. What does the defense need to do moving forward to take advantage of those situations and get off the field?Â
"Guys need to step up and just make the play. In the first game we kept third down conversions under 50% but gave up too many third-and-long conversions. Same with this game. You're just making things harder on yourself. You do a good job and get them into those low percentage down and distance situations. You need to step up and make the play to get you off the field. Make the routine plays you've seen all week and prepared to stop. That down has to mean something to you. You have to want it more than the guy across from you. It's where you make a statement as a defense."
4. There were positive steps forward on the offense in the passing game from week one to week two. What did the film show in that regard?
"First and foremost, both quarterbacks had much better games than the week before. I think Chazz Surratt did some of the things we were hoping to see from him. There were a few plays he wished he could have back but overall his play was promising and something we can build off of moving forward. I think Brandon Harris did well when his number was called too. Like Chazz, he wishes he could have a few throws back but I think he looked more comfortable this week moving the chains and making some big-time throws. The wide receivers took positive steps forward. They took the challenge to get more separation from the defenders and I really think they accomplished that in this game. Austin Proehl and Thomas Jackson had big games with some crucial catches. I think that you got to see some of the reason why we're excited about Dazz Newsome. You also saw the tight ends make an impact and get us into the end zone this week. Improvements were made in a lot of areas and we will need to make more improvements to get a win."
5. You mentioned wanting to have some plays back like the fourth-and-shorts or third-and-short on offense. What was the thought process in calling the quick passes instead of maybe calling a run-pass option on those plays?
"There were a few things that went into that plan. First, we were dealing with two different quarterbacks who are at different stages of what needs to be called to put them in a better position to succeed. Second, based on what we were seeing in their coverages up until that point led us to the decision that those calls could work. In those situations we wanted to minimize the mental hardship on our quarterbacks. We just didn't execute well on those plays. But I told them there isn't anything we can do now about Louisville. We need to watch the film and identify our mistakes that we will fix this week. We better become a better team based on those corrections. We all need to show up on Tuesday with a great work ethic and a great attitude. We all have to take advantage of this week's reps and fight forward. I thought their attitude was great. They were obviously down about the loss and how they played in certain situations. There were guys that were really upset and I can understand why. But they don't have time to be upset because the next game doesn't wait on you."Â
Players Mentioned
Quarterback
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Wide Receiver
/ Football
Quarterback
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