GoHeels Exclusive: Football Notebook
March 27, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Midway through spring practice, North Carolina football coach Mack Brown said he's encouraged by how players are retaining the new offensive and defensive schemes.
But there's still plenty the Tar Heels can improve upon between now and the spring game on April 13.
"We still don't have great attention to detail," Brown told reporters after Tuesday's practice. "We've got too many mental mistakes, and we've got too many missed alignments on defense. We're really cutting down on the number of penalties – we've had ACC officials at every practice, so we think that we're making progress there.
"But like today, we dropped too many balls, our quarterback-receiver connection was not good. We would not have won the game today on offense if we had played."
Fortunately, UNC doesn't play a real game until Aug. 31, when it opens the 2019 season against South Carolina in Charlotte. But Brown and the rest of Carolina's coaches are gradually gaining a better understanding who they'll be able to trust when that game arrives.
"I think you're finally getting to see some guys are stepping up and some are stepping back, and we've got to find out who steps back now and who steps up now," he said. "You don't want it in the fourth quarter against South Carolina.
"So practice has to be so hard that if a guy's going to give in to it and he doesn't want to play and he doesn't want to compete, let's find out now. Let's not wait until next fall."
Here are four more notes from Tuesday's media availability:
Scrimmage thoughts
On Saturday, the Tar Heels held the first of four spring scrimmages, including the spring game. Brown was asked Tuesday about his takeaways from the scrimmage.
"I thought it was good," he said. "We only had 30 plays and we didn't have a down and distance because we felt like we needed to play. Obviously, (offensive coordinator) Phil's (Longo) playing fast on offense, but I thought it was pretty good."
Afterward, Brown said he and the rest of the coaches watched every play. As they did, he said each coach explained "exactly who his guys are" and where they're supposed to be.
"The player is a mirror image of the coach," Brown said. "And if your player is not lining up right, it's you not lining up right. We had a real tough staff meeting (Monday), so the coaches were getting after them better today."
Looking for leadership
With Allen Cater, Tyrone Hopper and Jason Strowbridge missing spring practice with injuries and Myles Dorn and Myles Wolfolk limited to non-contact, UNC is currently without five veteran leaders. Subsequently, Brown said the coaches are looking for other leaders to emerge.
"We've got about five guys who we'll need on defense who aren't playing this spring, but that's when you've got to develop depth," he said. "And we've got to get these young guys to step up and do that. It's kind of like a roller coaster. We've got to be consistently good. You can't be great unless you're consistently good, and that's the thing that we're telling them."
Brown said strong leadership is needed at every position for the players to meet the standards set by the coaches.
"You've got to have at least one strong leader in each position room, and they lead that group," he said. "If you can get more than that, then that's important, too. … There are some guys trying, but by and large we haven't had vocal leaders and I think that comes with confidence, too. And this has not been a confident team."
Cotman medically retires
Carolina announced on Tuesday that rising junior cornerback C.J. Cotman will medically retire due to recurrent migraines. He'll continue to assist the football program as he pursues his degree.
After appearing in six games on special teams and at defensive back as a true freshman, Cotman recorded six tackles, including a tackle for loss, in two games last season. He was expected to contend for the starting cornerback spot opposite Patrice Rene entering the 2019 campaign.
"C.J. is disappointing because he was playing really well," Brown said. "I hate that for him and I hate it for us. We needed him, and we didn't know that really until (Monday), so this is new for us. We've got to really look at our numbers there and see if that changes recruiting, as well."
Cotman's retirement comes less than a week after K.J. Sails announced on Twitter that he was transferring. With Corey Bell Jr. recently switching to wide receiver, the Tar Heels currently have five scholarship cornerbacks on the roster. Brown said it's unlikely, though, that a player will move from a different position to cornerback.
"We signed a couple, so we'll look at those guys," Brown said. "Storm Duck is playing corner, and he's doing really well. We'll just have to work through it and see what we've got."
Twitter talk
Brown was also asked Tuesday about why he's so active on Twitter. He said he primarily uses it to connect with recruits and fans.
"If I wasn't doing those two things, I'd probably get off," he said. "But ESPN wanted me to do it. They wanted me to stay active, and I did. But I'm more active now because I want to send the message that we've got here to the prospects. I want them to feel like they're inside our indoor area, they're practicing with us and they're here every day. And then I want them to come and see us if they haven't.
"(It's) the same thing with fans. We're trying to get a huge crowd to the spring game. So I want them to be excited about what they see out here."
Brown, who in recent weeks has spoke to the women's basketball team and thrown out the first pitch at a softball game, said he also relies on Twitter to stay up-to-date on other UNC teams.
"I want our other sports to know that I support them completely," he said. "That's important to me."
