University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Mack Brown Notebook
August 28, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
For the last time before North Carolina faces South Carolina, Mack Brown met with reporters after Wednesday's practice, the Tar Heels' final padded session before Saturday's season opener in Charlotte.
Brown said his team practiced well Sunday and OK Tuesday before impressing him again Wednesday morning. Overall, he appeared pleased with where his team is currently at and the focus it has shown throughout this first game week.
"I thought Sunday and today they were really focused," he said. "I thought (Tuesday) there was some of both, but this bunch has tried since we've been here. I expect them to play hard and the question will be their confidence because they haven't played together as a team.Â
"We've tried to get rid of my past, get rid of their past and it's all about now. If you've practiced well, you should play well, so let's start envisioning playing well. We know it's a good opponent."
Here are five more notes from Brown's availability:
Counting down to kickoff
Although he's coached on much bigger stages during his Hall of Fame career, Brown said he still gets excited heading into the first game of any season.
"You work so hard and so long," he said. "We've been doing this 10 months now with this team, so there's got to be some ownership. I want to see them play. I tell our coaches daily and I told our players after practice today, 'We need the best you. You and your coach own your responsibilities, so you've got to do it. And if you don't do it, it's on you and it's on your coach.'"
Game prep
Asked what a typical game week will be like, Brown said the players will be off on Mondays, when the coaches will develop the game plan. That will be installed on Tuesdays. Wednesdays are then spent removing any details that the coaching staff might not be comfortable with.
He said Thursdays will be used to "polish everything up" and the team will hold its pregame meeting those evenings.
"I think they listen more on Thursday night than they do Friday or Saturday," Brown said. "So, we'll talk to them tomorrow night about what we have to do to win the game and then check those stats on Sunday. And if we've checked those boxes, we've won the game, and if we didn't, it's obvious that we didn't win the game."
The team will go through its walk-through on Fridays. And after playing on Saturdays, a light practice will be held on Sundays to make any corrections and to provide a light scouting report on the next opponent.
This week, Brown said he'll ask his players to watch Thursday's Clemson-Georgia Tech game and half of Friday's Wake Forest-Utah State game to get an idea of the mistakes that are often made in openers.
Keeping composure
When asked what he tells his players before a game to get them fired up, Brown said he tries not to do anything out of the ordinary.
"I think they need to see me as who I am, and if I change drastically between now and game time they're going to think I'm nervous and uptight," Brown said. "Then, they're going to get nervous and uptight. They need to know I've done this before, for 31 years, and I'm going to help them on the sideline and the coaches are there to help them on the sideline. I don't want the coaches' demeanor to change between now and game time.Â
"If a coach is doing his job, his demeanor on the first day of practice when we got here should be exactly like it is Saturday, because you should be coaching gameday speed every day and you don't need a personality that pops out and says, 'Oh my God, he's scared.' They're looking at our body language to see if we're confident in them or not and they're watching closely. They're watching every little thing we do subconsciously and the best thing we can do is be us."
RBs continue to impress
Entering Saturday, Michael Carter and Antonio Williams are listed atop the depth chart at kickoff return. Brown discussed what went into that decision.
"We feel like every time somebody touches the ball, they should have a chance to score," Brown said. "Those guys handle the ball all the time, they've got really good hands, they can catch passes out of the backfield, they're tough."
Throughout this offseason, the running back trio of Carter, Williams and Javonte Williams has drawn significant praise. Javonte Williams has perhaps received the most attention of them all, but Brown made a point of recognizing Antonio Williams and how much he's developed.
"I would think that Antonio Williams has probably improved as much since we've been here as any player on our team," Brown said. "We talked a lot about Javonte when we got here. Michael's really fast, so we talked a lot about Michael Carter. Everybody said (of Antonio Williams), 'Good leader, good guy.'Â
"He's lost weight. He's lost body fat. He's much quicker and faster now than he was when we got here and he has really put extra time into it, so we'll be able to rotate those backs on Saturday. All three of them can be like the best player we've got. That's still our best unit because of those three."
Howell's work ethic
During Tuesday's availability, a few players explained what Sam Howell has done to earn the team's respect since enrolling at Carolina in January. Brown was asked for his opinion Wednesday.
"I think he earned it a lot this summer just from listening to them," Brown said. "In the player-led practices, they said he worked so hard. He's in the office all the time, looking at video. For a young guy, it's just unusual that he works so hard. I do know we just had a leadership committee vote and he got a lot of votes. The team is very, very confident him, especially for a young guy."
Brown then defined what the leadership committee is.
"The leadership committee is a committee that I go to and ask them certain things when I think the team should have ownership of a decision, just like the early morning practices …" Brown said. "They voted 21 players and Sam was in the group."
For the last time before North Carolina faces South Carolina, Mack Brown met with reporters after Wednesday's practice, the Tar Heels' final padded session before Saturday's season opener in Charlotte.
Brown said his team practiced well Sunday and OK Tuesday before impressing him again Wednesday morning. Overall, he appeared pleased with where his team is currently at and the focus it has shown throughout this first game week.
"I thought Sunday and today they were really focused," he said. "I thought (Tuesday) there was some of both, but this bunch has tried since we've been here. I expect them to play hard and the question will be their confidence because they haven't played together as a team.Â
"We've tried to get rid of my past, get rid of their past and it's all about now. If you've practiced well, you should play well, so let's start envisioning playing well. We know it's a good opponent."
Here are five more notes from Brown's availability:
Counting down to kickoff
Although he's coached on much bigger stages during his Hall of Fame career, Brown said he still gets excited heading into the first game of any season.
"You work so hard and so long," he said. "We've been doing this 10 months now with this team, so there's got to be some ownership. I want to see them play. I tell our coaches daily and I told our players after practice today, 'We need the best you. You and your coach own your responsibilities, so you've got to do it. And if you don't do it, it's on you and it's on your coach.'"
Game prep
Asked what a typical game week will be like, Brown said the players will be off on Mondays, when the coaches will develop the game plan. That will be installed on Tuesdays. Wednesdays are then spent removing any details that the coaching staff might not be comfortable with.
He said Thursdays will be used to "polish everything up" and the team will hold its pregame meeting those evenings.
"I think they listen more on Thursday night than they do Friday or Saturday," Brown said. "So, we'll talk to them tomorrow night about what we have to do to win the game and then check those stats on Sunday. And if we've checked those boxes, we've won the game, and if we didn't, it's obvious that we didn't win the game."
The team will go through its walk-through on Fridays. And after playing on Saturdays, a light practice will be held on Sundays to make any corrections and to provide a light scouting report on the next opponent.
This week, Brown said he'll ask his players to watch Thursday's Clemson-Georgia Tech game and half of Friday's Wake Forest-Utah State game to get an idea of the mistakes that are often made in openers.
Keeping composure
When asked what he tells his players before a game to get them fired up, Brown said he tries not to do anything out of the ordinary.
"I think they need to see me as who I am, and if I change drastically between now and game time they're going to think I'm nervous and uptight," Brown said. "Then, they're going to get nervous and uptight. They need to know I've done this before, for 31 years, and I'm going to help them on the sideline and the coaches are there to help them on the sideline. I don't want the coaches' demeanor to change between now and game time.Â
"If a coach is doing his job, his demeanor on the first day of practice when we got here should be exactly like it is Saturday, because you should be coaching gameday speed every day and you don't need a personality that pops out and says, 'Oh my God, he's scared.' They're looking at our body language to see if we're confident in them or not and they're watching closely. They're watching every little thing we do subconsciously and the best thing we can do is be us."
RBs continue to impress
Entering Saturday, Michael Carter and Antonio Williams are listed atop the depth chart at kickoff return. Brown discussed what went into that decision.
"We feel like every time somebody touches the ball, they should have a chance to score," Brown said. "Those guys handle the ball all the time, they've got really good hands, they can catch passes out of the backfield, they're tough."
Throughout this offseason, the running back trio of Carter, Williams and Javonte Williams has drawn significant praise. Javonte Williams has perhaps received the most attention of them all, but Brown made a point of recognizing Antonio Williams and how much he's developed.
"I would think that Antonio Williams has probably improved as much since we've been here as any player on our team," Brown said. "We talked a lot about Javonte when we got here. Michael's really fast, so we talked a lot about Michael Carter. Everybody said (of Antonio Williams), 'Good leader, good guy.'Â
"He's lost weight. He's lost body fat. He's much quicker and faster now than he was when we got here and he has really put extra time into it, so we'll be able to rotate those backs on Saturday. All three of them can be like the best player we've got. That's still our best unit because of those three."
Howell's work ethic
During Tuesday's availability, a few players explained what Sam Howell has done to earn the team's respect since enrolling at Carolina in January. Brown was asked for his opinion Wednesday.
"I think he earned it a lot this summer just from listening to them," Brown said. "In the player-led practices, they said he worked so hard. He's in the office all the time, looking at video. For a young guy, it's just unusual that he works so hard. I do know we just had a leadership committee vote and he got a lot of votes. The team is very, very confident him, especially for a young guy."
Brown then defined what the leadership committee is.
"The leadership committee is a committee that I go to and ask them certain things when I think the team should have ownership of a decision, just like the early morning practices …" Brown said. "They voted 21 players and Sam was in the group."
Players Mentioned
Running Back
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Running Back
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Running Back
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