University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Rebecca Lawson
GoHeels Exclusive: Brown Meets With Media Remotely
March 24, 2020 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Just as recently as two weeks ago, Mack Brown expected he'd be spending his Monday afternoon preparing for North Carolina's fourth practice of spring ball on Tuesday.
Instead, the Tar Heels' head coach found himself in the same position as so many other people across the United States: hunkered down at his home, hoping to avoid and flatten the infection curve of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
On March 12, the ACC suspended all its athletic activities indefinitely in response to the spread of the virus, putting UNC's practices on hold before they even started. Five days later, the league canceled all spring athletic competitions. The University also announced residence halls will be closed to all residents for the rest of the academic year, with few exceptions.
What's followed since then have been a series of challenges unlike any Brown and his staff have ever faced, as Brown detailed during a video conference with media on Monday.
"We're all having to find a new normal and start over," Brown said. "There'll be some things that come out of this that we've learned for our lives in the future and we'll probably appreciate things more, but to not be able to see you guys and talk to you on an every-other-day basis and not be able to be around our players and our coaches, it's changed our lives.
"I really realize probably I need to do a better job of opening up some other interests because my interests are sports, my family, my faith and my friends, and that's it. That's all I've got. So, I'm having to really be creative and try to look at some new and some different things."
Whether that's been with new hobbies or how he runs his program.
The Tar Heels planned to begin spring practice on March 17, two weeks later than they did last year and later than most ACC programs. That change came after head strength and conditioning coach Brian Hess requested more time for his offseason strength and conditioning program.
Initially, Brown was hesitant about pushing practice back. But during his pre-spring press conference on Feb. 26, he seemed at ease with that decision as he raved about the strides that Hess said Joshua Ezeudu, Kristian Varner and so many others had already made. Any optimism Brown had about their progress, though, has been replaced with concerns of how they might maintain their strength in the time of social distancing.
To help ensure they do, Hess has created a variety of workouts for each position group. Brown said the workouts, all of which are voluntary, will be led by Hess and the other strength coaches on Zoom, the videoconferencing application that the coaches are also using to conduct staff meetings and communicate with players.
In some instances, a player might not have access to weights. That, however, won't prevent them from working out, as Hess has devised a program for them, as well. Backpacks filled with books or sand can be substituted for dumbbells. A gallon of water can become a kettlebell.
"He's creating workouts to make it work for kids, instead of saying, 'I don't have a place to work out. Man, I'm going to be weak,'" Brown said. "He's really overcome that and made it where it's OK."
Hess' online workouts kicked off Monday. So did online classes for all UNC students.
Brown and his staff have been holding Zoom meetings with the team's academic counselors, but tutoring will likely be much harder to come by. Like their classmates, the players will need some time to get adjusted to taking online classes. Many will also face tough decisions following the University's announcement on Friday that students can declare spring courses as pass/fail until Aug. 7.
No matter what, Brown said the next few months will reveal which players are disciplined enough to handle this drastic disruption to their routine.
"Your guys who are really dedicated and work hard all the time will probably be fine," Brown said. "The ones who slack off some when they're on campus are probably going to do the same academically and in the strength program. And they don't have the same nutrition. So, if a guy is too heavy and we had to really work with him or too light and needed to eat more because they had really bad habits, that's all on them and their parents now.
"All of those things are things that are of risk. Unless we can get the guys back on campus this summer, if we don't see them again until we start in the fall, all these will be things that we're going to have to really evaluate before we can put a guy on the field."
Those certainly are reasonable concerns. Time and time again Monday, though, Brown stressed that he's most worried about the health and well-being of his players.
Brown mentioned a few of his players' parents have already lost their jobs with the U.S. economy deteriorating. That alone could lead to increased anxiety and depression. And with so many other factors out there that could negatively affect one's mental health, counselors continue to be made available, not only to the football team, but all Carolina students, faculty and staff. Brown also said he's encouraged his staff to "overcommunicate" with players.
That could prove difficult with players scattered across the country.
Upon receiving the news that UNC was canceling in-person classes, senior Patrice Rene returned home to Ottawa, Canada. But not until he arrived did he learn that the clinic where he was planning to continue his ACL rehab was closed.
Freshman Don Chapman planned on visiting his sister in Mississippi before returning home to San Diego. The cost of a plane ticket and having his class schedule significantly altered due to the three-hour time change led him to stay in Chapel Hill, though. He's now rooming with senior Myles Wolfolk off campus.
The number of odd scenarios is just as plentiful on the offensive side of the ball, as freshman offensive lineman Wisdom Asaboro, from Nigeria, is staying with a host family in Asheville and quarterback Jacolby Criswell, from Morrilton, Ark., is staying with fellow early enrollee John Copenhaver in Roswell, Ga.
"We've got some really unique situations right now where families are taking care of each other and people are reaching out," Brown said. "But as far as we know, everybody's healthy. I'm proud of the way they're trying to fight through this."
That's about all anyone can ask for in the face of this pandemic. Anything related to football is secondary at best, but that doesn't mean questions don't linger about the 2020 season.
Brown said a proposal has been sent to the NCAA asking for a 10-day window during the summer to practice. That, however, could be wishful thinking, with more preventative measures being put in place each day to prevent the spread of the virus. The longer that continues, the more schools will likely have to ponder the idea of an abbreviated fall schedule.
Brown isn't sure if it'll reach that point.
"My feeling is I'm planning on us possibly having some summer work," Brown said. "I'm planning on all of our guys coming back for, if not the first session of summer school, the second session. And I'm planning on us starting a regular preseason and playing all of our games. That's the mindset I've got right now.
"Obviously, I have no one in positions of power outside of our world here at the university. That is totally an opinion of mine. But that's what I'm telling our coaches to prepare for. And then if anything is adjusted beyond that, then we can adjust down a lot easier than we can adjust up."
Asked during his videoconference if he's ever encountered a situation quite like this, only one could come to mind: 9/11.
"I think the biggest difference in this one for me is that we've got a pretty good handle on what's happening right now with us and our routine," Brown said. "The biggest problem is you're not sure when it ends, and we can't get those answers at this point."
Just as recently as two weeks ago, Mack Brown expected he'd be spending his Monday afternoon preparing for North Carolina's fourth practice of spring ball on Tuesday.
Instead, the Tar Heels' head coach found himself in the same position as so many other people across the United States: hunkered down at his home, hoping to avoid and flatten the infection curve of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
On March 12, the ACC suspended all its athletic activities indefinitely in response to the spread of the virus, putting UNC's practices on hold before they even started. Five days later, the league canceled all spring athletic competitions. The University also announced residence halls will be closed to all residents for the rest of the academic year, with few exceptions.
What's followed since then have been a series of challenges unlike any Brown and his staff have ever faced, as Brown detailed during a video conference with media on Monday.
"We're all having to find a new normal and start over," Brown said. "There'll be some things that come out of this that we've learned for our lives in the future and we'll probably appreciate things more, but to not be able to see you guys and talk to you on an every-other-day basis and not be able to be around our players and our coaches, it's changed our lives.
"I really realize probably I need to do a better job of opening up some other interests because my interests are sports, my family, my faith and my friends, and that's it. That's all I've got. So, I'm having to really be creative and try to look at some new and some different things."
Whether that's been with new hobbies or how he runs his program.
The Tar Heels planned to begin spring practice on March 17, two weeks later than they did last year and later than most ACC programs. That change came after head strength and conditioning coach Brian Hess requested more time for his offseason strength and conditioning program.
Initially, Brown was hesitant about pushing practice back. But during his pre-spring press conference on Feb. 26, he seemed at ease with that decision as he raved about the strides that Hess said Joshua Ezeudu, Kristian Varner and so many others had already made. Any optimism Brown had about their progress, though, has been replaced with concerns of how they might maintain their strength in the time of social distancing.
To help ensure they do, Hess has created a variety of workouts for each position group. Brown said the workouts, all of which are voluntary, will be led by Hess and the other strength coaches on Zoom, the videoconferencing application that the coaches are also using to conduct staff meetings and communicate with players.
In some instances, a player might not have access to weights. That, however, won't prevent them from working out, as Hess has devised a program for them, as well. Backpacks filled with books or sand can be substituted for dumbbells. A gallon of water can become a kettlebell.
"He's creating workouts to make it work for kids, instead of saying, 'I don't have a place to work out. Man, I'm going to be weak,'" Brown said. "He's really overcome that and made it where it's OK."
Hess' online workouts kicked off Monday. So did online classes for all UNC students.
Brown and his staff have been holding Zoom meetings with the team's academic counselors, but tutoring will likely be much harder to come by. Like their classmates, the players will need some time to get adjusted to taking online classes. Many will also face tough decisions following the University's announcement on Friday that students can declare spring courses as pass/fail until Aug. 7.
No matter what, Brown said the next few months will reveal which players are disciplined enough to handle this drastic disruption to their routine.
"Your guys who are really dedicated and work hard all the time will probably be fine," Brown said. "The ones who slack off some when they're on campus are probably going to do the same academically and in the strength program. And they don't have the same nutrition. So, if a guy is too heavy and we had to really work with him or too light and needed to eat more because they had really bad habits, that's all on them and their parents now.
"All of those things are things that are of risk. Unless we can get the guys back on campus this summer, if we don't see them again until we start in the fall, all these will be things that we're going to have to really evaluate before we can put a guy on the field."
Those certainly are reasonable concerns. Time and time again Monday, though, Brown stressed that he's most worried about the health and well-being of his players.
Brown mentioned a few of his players' parents have already lost their jobs with the U.S. economy deteriorating. That alone could lead to increased anxiety and depression. And with so many other factors out there that could negatively affect one's mental health, counselors continue to be made available, not only to the football team, but all Carolina students, faculty and staff. Brown also said he's encouraged his staff to "overcommunicate" with players.
That could prove difficult with players scattered across the country.
Upon receiving the news that UNC was canceling in-person classes, senior Patrice Rene returned home to Ottawa, Canada. But not until he arrived did he learn that the clinic where he was planning to continue his ACL rehab was closed.
Freshman Don Chapman planned on visiting his sister in Mississippi before returning home to San Diego. The cost of a plane ticket and having his class schedule significantly altered due to the three-hour time change led him to stay in Chapel Hill, though. He's now rooming with senior Myles Wolfolk off campus.
The number of odd scenarios is just as plentiful on the offensive side of the ball, as freshman offensive lineman Wisdom Asaboro, from Nigeria, is staying with a host family in Asheville and quarterback Jacolby Criswell, from Morrilton, Ark., is staying with fellow early enrollee John Copenhaver in Roswell, Ga.
"We've got some really unique situations right now where families are taking care of each other and people are reaching out," Brown said. "But as far as we know, everybody's healthy. I'm proud of the way they're trying to fight through this."
That's about all anyone can ask for in the face of this pandemic. Anything related to football is secondary at best, but that doesn't mean questions don't linger about the 2020 season.
Brown said a proposal has been sent to the NCAA asking for a 10-day window during the summer to practice. That, however, could be wishful thinking, with more preventative measures being put in place each day to prevent the spread of the virus. The longer that continues, the more schools will likely have to ponder the idea of an abbreviated fall schedule.
Brown isn't sure if it'll reach that point.
"My feeling is I'm planning on us possibly having some summer work," Brown said. "I'm planning on all of our guys coming back for, if not the first session of summer school, the second session. And I'm planning on us starting a regular preseason and playing all of our games. That's the mindset I've got right now.
"Obviously, I have no one in positions of power outside of our world here at the university. That is totally an opinion of mine. But that's what I'm telling our coaches to prepare for. And then if anything is adjusted beyond that, then we can adjust down a lot easier than we can adjust up."
Asked during his videoconference if he's ever encountered a situation quite like this, only one could come to mind: 9/11.
"I think the biggest difference in this one for me is that we've got a pretty good handle on what's happening right now with us and our routine," Brown said. "The biggest problem is you're not sure when it ends, and we can't get those answers at this point."
Players Mentioned
Defensive Line
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ Football
Tight End
/ Football
Quarterback
/ Football
Offensive Line
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ Football
Defensive Line
/ Football
Defensive Back
/ FootballTar Heels in the Community pres. by NC Electric Co-ops - Share Your Holiday 2025 - December 18, 2025
Friday, December 19
WBB: Post-UNCW Press Conference - Dec. 17, 2025
Thursday, December 18
UNC Women's Basketball: Brooks, Toomey Blow Heels Past UNCW, 84-34
Thursday, December 18
Blue Heaven: 2025 UNC Field Hockey, Episode 5
Wednesday, December 17