GoHeels Exclusive: Day #1 Training Camp Notebook

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

Photo by: Grant Halverson

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications

August 2, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers

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By: Pat James

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

Mack Brown and the rest of his coaching staff know only so much can be determined during North Carolina's first four training camp practices, none of which will be in full pads.

But the head football coach still seemed pleased with where his team is at after Friday's first practice.

"When you look at the first practice, my thought has always been that when you learn to swim you have to have a pool and when you learn to play football you have to have pads," Brown told reporters inside the indoor practice facility. "So the first two days you're trying to get organized, trying to see who's in condition, you're trying to look at your new guys and see what they look like because you haven't been out there on the practice field with them (since the spring).

"All of that looked good. We're a much better team now than we were the day that we left after the spring game. We're deeper. The guys are in better shape. They're stronger. … If you're stronger and you're healthier, you'll be more confident. And then what you've got to do is you've got to play game speed every play in practice against other good players on your team and then you become a more confident football team.

"By and large, you should be pleased with the first day. And we were."

Here are five more notes from Brown's availability:

Back in action

After sitting out all of spring practice with injuries, Allen Cater, Tyrone Hopper and Jason Strowbridge went through Friday's workout, marking the first time the coaching staff watched them practice. Brown expressed excitement about all three, especially Strowbridge, who could form a formidable 1-2 punch with Aaron Crawford at defensive tackle.

"He's really quick and he's big and he's got the long arms for pass rush," Brown said. "Our guys had trouble blocking him in the pass-rush drills. I was really impressed with him. And of course, Aaron is tough and a big run-stopper inside. Those two can be really good players for us."

Myles Dorn and Myles Wolfolk were also full participants in Friday's practice after being limited in the spring.

Better leadership

Throughout the spring, Brown said the Tar Heels were looking for leaders. Since then, some have emerged – and they're also being more demanding.

"One of the things that we talked to our guys about when we first got here after visiting with them, they all got along," Brown said. "They're all buddies, but nobody would ever call anybody out. And if somebody wasn't doing their job, it was, 'He's OK, man. It'll work.' Coach (Brian) Hess told us this summer a lot guys were not being rude, not being out of line, but they were saying, 'That's unacceptable. Pick it up.' I think we've crossed that line."

Brown mentioned Cater, Dorn, Hopper, Strowbridge and Wolfolk as some of the leaders on defense. On offense, he said it's difficult for any of the quarterbacks to lead until a starter is determined. But players such as Charlie Heck, Nick Polino, Antonio Williams and the tight ends have stepped up.

Gaining strength, confidence

Brown praised Hess and the rest of his staff multiple times for the work they did with the summer strength and conditioning program. When asked what he wanted to get out of that, Brown boiled it down to one word: Confidence.

"That's something we haven't had, and it's even evident when you ask the players," Brown said. "They said, 'We have to get more confidence.' When you're in better shape and your body is better and you feel better about yourself, you can have more confidence. Antonio Williams, as he was walking out a few minutes ago, said, 'You know, I was dying in the spring because of tempo. I thought I was in shape. I'm in so much better shape today.'

"I think part of it is understanding what's expected and having a full summer to work toward that. The young ones will go through that now. They'll get really tired here the first 10 days and get worn down and we'll have to figure out how to keep them here and then try to get them separated to see who is going to play."

QBs settling in

Brown reiterated Friday that there's no set timetable for naming a starting quarterback and Cade Fortin, Sam Howell and Jace Ruder will split reps evenly until one or more builds separation. He also shared some thoughts on how they performed.

"I thought that they did a good job," Brown said. "They're probably, with new receivers in some cases, it probably takes them longer on a day like today to get settled because they have more to do. Just watching them, they're all three very talented, they're all three good enough."

Brown told the team after practice not to worry about reps or their spot on the depth chart, especially since there isn't a set one at this time. But he and Phil Longo have made the quarterbacks well aware that they're competing.

"We've told the quarterbacks, 'Every pass is either getting you closer to moving up or down,'" Brown said. "So they have more pressure than anybody else right now to get it fixed."

Kicking concerns

Since the start of spring ball, Brown has said the kicking game is one of his biggest concerns entering this season. That still seems to be the case after Friday's practice.

"I didn't get to watch the punting enough today because we did so many drills," he said. "The kicking was inconsistent today, which worried me a little bit. The kickoffs were good, but we missed a couple of field goals and that's unacceptable."

He added that all three phases of the kicking game will have to work themselves out over time.

"It's kind of like the quarterbacks," he said. "You bring in a young walk-on from Virginia (Jonathan Kim), and you've got (Michael) Rubino from Appalachian State along with (Noah) Ruggles, so we've really got to look at all three of those guys."