University of North Carolina Athletics
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GoHeels Exclusive: Nick Polino Q&A
August 3, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
As one of one the few players on North Carolina's offensive line who boasts significant playing experience, Nick Polino's leadership will likely be key to his unit reaching its potential this fall.
Speaking with reporters after UNC's second training camp practice on Saturday, Polino discussed his leadership role and what he's seen from the underclassmen along the offensive line, among other topics. The following is an excerpt from the interview.
Q: Mack (Brown) was talking a bit yesterday about how when he first got here he felt like guys weren't holding each other accountable. When did you kind of sense that change?
Nick Polino: I think in the summer. I think the leaders, the guys who have been here a while, just kind of made a collective decision that we're not going to try to go out the way we did the past two seasons. So we all kind of buckled down and just kind of eliminated all the little things that come to bite you in the butt, like guys pulling up before they get through the line, stuff like that. Just holding guys accountable. Focusing on the small things has been a big thing that Coach Brown has been about ever since he got here. Fix the small things and the big things will kind of take care of itself. You work toward the big things, but you fix the small things along the way. I think that has been a really big positive change with our team as far as that.
Q: He said guys were too friendly, I guess, before. Has anybody kind of stepped up and it's been like, 'Wow, where did that come from?'
NP: Not really. We've always had vocal leaders. It's not even necessarily like you don't have to rip somebody up if they're doing (something wrong). You just say something to them and let them know. You get on them, but you don't have to be mean to them. You just kind of say, 'Hey, pick it up. We see that. Come on, we're not doing that.' That sort of thing. It's not necessarily going after guys as it is making sure everyone is upholding the same standard.
Q: This is your fifth season. Have you had time to reflect on this year and look back at your Tar Heel career?
NP: Yeah, definitely. I'd say the first couple days of camp, it was kind of crazy because I remember being a freshman coming out and putting on knee braces for the first time and that sort of thing. It was actually yesterday, the first day of one-on-ones, AC (Aaron Crawford) kind of moved somebody out of the way and was like, 'Nah, we've been doing it for five years. We're going to get the last one in.' Just stuff like that. It's cool seeing the guys who I came in with, all the guys who are still here, and the stuff they've been able to do during their careers. It's pretty surreal. It flew by, though, for sure.
Q: On the offensive line, you and (Charlie) Heck are obviously leaders. How is that going with the younger guys?
NP: We definitely have some young talent. We've got a good freshman class. We've got some younger guys who have been developing. So, for us, we obviously have to set the standard. We can't slip up. If you're going to try to coach guys and lead them, you have to be able to do it yourself. So you have to stay on top of your stuff first, but we're pretty much assistant coaches at the same time. We do have some really talented young guys who are right there, and if they can come along and they can develop, they can help us this season. We've just been trying to push them and work on them. When Coach (Stacy) Searels is coaching the big stuff, we might pull a guy aside and be like, 'Hey, do this.' Little technique stuff or football IQ things, just kind of helping them along the way.
Q: Who are some of those younger guys?
NP: All the freshmen who came in, with Ty Murray, Triston (Miller), Asim (Richards) and all those guys, they've all come out and done a great job ever since they got here. Obviously, they're still young freshmen and still have some time to develop. But they are talented and they have the kind of football IQ and wherewithal to be good players. And then some of the redshirt freshmen are coming along, like Ed Montilus who has been great, (William) Barnes. They're all starting to develop. I think the goal is to go into the South Carolina game with 8-10 guys who can play pretty consistently and keep everyone fresh. I think so far we've been on a pretty good track to get that accomplished.
As one of one the few players on North Carolina's offensive line who boasts significant playing experience, Nick Polino's leadership will likely be key to his unit reaching its potential this fall.
Speaking with reporters after UNC's second training camp practice on Saturday, Polino discussed his leadership role and what he's seen from the underclassmen along the offensive line, among other topics. The following is an excerpt from the interview.
Q: Mack (Brown) was talking a bit yesterday about how when he first got here he felt like guys weren't holding each other accountable. When did you kind of sense that change?
Nick Polino: I think in the summer. I think the leaders, the guys who have been here a while, just kind of made a collective decision that we're not going to try to go out the way we did the past two seasons. So we all kind of buckled down and just kind of eliminated all the little things that come to bite you in the butt, like guys pulling up before they get through the line, stuff like that. Just holding guys accountable. Focusing on the small things has been a big thing that Coach Brown has been about ever since he got here. Fix the small things and the big things will kind of take care of itself. You work toward the big things, but you fix the small things along the way. I think that has been a really big positive change with our team as far as that.
Q: He said guys were too friendly, I guess, before. Has anybody kind of stepped up and it's been like, 'Wow, where did that come from?'
NP: Not really. We've always had vocal leaders. It's not even necessarily like you don't have to rip somebody up if they're doing (something wrong). You just say something to them and let them know. You get on them, but you don't have to be mean to them. You just kind of say, 'Hey, pick it up. We see that. Come on, we're not doing that.' That sort of thing. It's not necessarily going after guys as it is making sure everyone is upholding the same standard.
Q: This is your fifth season. Have you had time to reflect on this year and look back at your Tar Heel career?
NP: Yeah, definitely. I'd say the first couple days of camp, it was kind of crazy because I remember being a freshman coming out and putting on knee braces for the first time and that sort of thing. It was actually yesterday, the first day of one-on-ones, AC (Aaron Crawford) kind of moved somebody out of the way and was like, 'Nah, we've been doing it for five years. We're going to get the last one in.' Just stuff like that. It's cool seeing the guys who I came in with, all the guys who are still here, and the stuff they've been able to do during their careers. It's pretty surreal. It flew by, though, for sure.
Q: On the offensive line, you and (Charlie) Heck are obviously leaders. How is that going with the younger guys?
NP: We definitely have some young talent. We've got a good freshman class. We've got some younger guys who have been developing. So, for us, we obviously have to set the standard. We can't slip up. If you're going to try to coach guys and lead them, you have to be able to do it yourself. So you have to stay on top of your stuff first, but we're pretty much assistant coaches at the same time. We do have some really talented young guys who are right there, and if they can come along and they can develop, they can help us this season. We've just been trying to push them and work on them. When Coach (Stacy) Searels is coaching the big stuff, we might pull a guy aside and be like, 'Hey, do this.' Little technique stuff or football IQ things, just kind of helping them along the way.
Q: Who are some of those younger guys?
NP: All the freshmen who came in, with Ty Murray, Triston (Miller), Asim (Richards) and all those guys, they've all come out and done a great job ever since they got here. Obviously, they're still young freshmen and still have some time to develop. But they are talented and they have the kind of football IQ and wherewithal to be good players. And then some of the redshirt freshmen are coming along, like Ed Montilus who has been great, (William) Barnes. They're all starting to develop. I think the goal is to go into the South Carolina game with 8-10 guys who can play pretty consistently and keep everyone fresh. I think so far we've been on a pretty good track to get that accomplished.
Players Mentioned
Defensive Line
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Offensive Line
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Offensive Line
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