University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Weekly Press Conference Notes
September 17, 2018 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Larry Fedora met with reporters for his weekly press conference Monday inside the Kenan Football Center. But like so many people across the states of North and South Carolina, his mind was on something much larger than football.
Fedora spent almost his entire press conference discussing Hurricane Florence, which continues to have devastating effects as its remnants move out of the Carolinas. Below is his opening statement, followed by five more notes from the press conference:
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the people who were affected by Hurricane Florence. There's been quite a bit of devastation throughout this state and South Carolina and we're thinking about all those people. I want to commend the University and our chancellor (Carol Folt) and (Director of Athletics) Bubba Cunningham for the decision they made this past week to keep all of our students safe on this campus. I thought they did a tremendous job with that.Â
"The worst is maybe not over, there's still things to come. I'd like to commend the University for opening up the Friday Center as a shelter. I believe there are over 400 people who are staying there who have been affected by the storm right now. I think they're doing that along with the Red Cross and I think we are prepared to open up the (Cone-Kenfield) Tennis Center as a shelter also to help people out. We are trying to do everything possible.Â
"I talked to quite a few coaches this morning over on the eastern side of the state who have been directly hit and who are trying to find out where their teams are. Their players are displaced. They've had contact with some and some they haven't. So our thoughts and prayers go out for those people, also.Â
"We're willing to do anything we can to help anybody in the state right now. Our equipment truck will be in front of the Smith Center this week to load up supplies so that we can take those supplies over to the people who have been affected."
Player safety
After Wednesday's practice, Fedora said players were allowed to leave Chapel Hill, if they needed to. He said half stayed and the rest went elsewhere. At the time of the press conference, "the majority" was back on campus.
"We have a few guys who are still traveling," Fedora said. "We didn't really have anybody who went back east. We kind of talked to them about that and they had other places to go. Some of them went with other players on the team. Luckily for us, they're back here safely so far."
Fedora said family members of players from the eastern part of the Carolinas left their homes before the storm. He also spoke with a few high school football coaches from those areas who have been displaced.
"You've heard Wilmington is basically an island and the roads are cut off, so they have no way to get back over there," Fedora said. "Some of them still don't know what kind of damage there was to their homes."
Helping Reddick, New Bern
Among the many locations that the Carolina football equipment truck will be delivering supplies is New Bern, the hometown of former Tar Heel linebacker Kevin Reddick.
Reddick started a GoFundMe campaign to help people from New Bern. Fedora said he spoke with Reddick on Sunday about delivering items such as water and Gatorade to the city.
"That's what he's looking for because he wants to transport it over to New Bern and to get it out to the people who have been affected," Fedora said. "So we're going to help out as a team. Our team is going to have the opportunity to donate money so that we can go out and purchase as much water and Gatorade to get to those people as possible."
My hometown New Bern was one of the places that got hit pretty hard. I will be starting a go fund me account to buy essentials like food, water, first aid items, diapers ,baby formula, toiletries, and other necessities more info on the page. Please repost https://t.co/21xKNFsGHl
— Kevin Reddick (@kev_red52) September 15, 2018
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'We're blessed'
When asked if the storm and its effects can put things in perspective, Fedora said he would emphasize that to the players when they met Monday.
"We're playing a game that we all love, and you can see we're blessed," Fedora said. "We really were not affected very heavily by the storm. But there are a lot of people who are, and I want our guys to really understand that and what that means."
Schedule adjustments
As UNC and UCF athletic department officials continue discussing the feasibility of playing Saturday's canceled game at a later date this season, Fedora said the Tar Heels are also examining the possibility of playing another opponent.
"I know Bubba is in constant contact with other schools, and we're talking about that and trying to take advantage of any opportunities that are out there," Fedora said. "We'd like to have a twelfth game, yes."
Regarding the schedule for this week, Fedora said the team would hold a practice Monday, typically an off day, after going four days without one. UNC canceled classes Monday.
Pitt preparation
After learning last Tuesday that the UCF game wouldn't be played Saturday, Fedora said he and the rest of the coaching staff were able to start watching film on Pittsburgh, this Saturday's opponent, earlier than usual.Â
Fedora was asked Monday if having time off could give the Tar Heels an advantage against the Panthers.
"We've got to make it that way," he said. "It's an unforeseen break, and we've got to turn it into a positive. It enabled some guys to maybe get healed up, get extra rest, as we go into the rest of the season."
Since the Panthers joined the ACC in 2013, Carolina is 5-0 against Pittsburgh. All five games have been decided by seven points or fewer.
"Every game we've played against Pitt in the past has always been close, every single one of them …" Fedora said. "I think (Panthers coach Pat Narduzzi) is going to have his team prepared to play, we've got to have our team prepared to play and we're going to have to do the best job we can."
