University of North Carolina Athletics
Russell Athletic Bowl Saturday Notebook
December 26, 2015 | Football, Carolina Outreach
ORLANDO --- Carolina's second full day in central Florida was a busy one, as the Tar Heels participated in a trip to Give Kids The World Village, a nonprofit resort that houses sick children and their families for a week of fun in a stress-free environment. Players manned a number of game stations that included football tosses, archery, cornhole and mini-basketball while also posing for photos and handing out gifts.
UNC then completed its normal "Wednesday" practice at The First Academy before returning to the Hyatt Regency to shower and change. A pair of Tar Heel alums were in attendance at the afternoon practice:
Great to have Brian Simmons and Jonathan Perry at practice. #GoHeels pic.twitter.com/sOg9tMqjlq
— Bubba Cunningham (@BubbaUNC) December 26, 2015
Saturday night brought the much-discussed shopping spree at Best Buy for the Carolina players. Beforehand, head coach Larry Fedora met with the media after practice and discussed the matchup with Baylor as well as his long-standing respect for Art Briles.
"I have the utmost respect for Art and what he's done," Fedora said. "I was at Baylor and that's when I met Art. He was the high school coach at Stephenville High School and was on his way to winning four state championships. I was recruiting his quarterback, so I got to know him that way. He was great back then and he's still great. When I saw him today, it was just like seeing an old friend. He's very competitive and a hell of a football coach.”
Senior quarterback Marquise Williams, who was profiled in this week's edition of CAROLINA, also spoke to the media and sounded like a recent college graduate at peace with his legacy at UNC. While still very much motivated to get the Tar Heels a program-record 12th win, Williams described himself as "the guy that overcame adversity, who was always smiling when you saw him, who was never down and could come in a room and brighten your day with his smile."
