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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina head coach Mack Brown met with the media on Tuesday, one week before 2022’s spring practice begins on March 1. Coming off a disappointing 6-7 season in 2021, there were many significant changes made in the offseason, including the addition of defensive coordinator Gene Chizik and co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Charlton Warren to the staff.
>>> News and Notes from Mack Brown’s Press Conference <<<
Brown provided a full roster breakdown, complete with position changes and injury updates, before moving to the Q&A portion of the press conference.
Below are 10 major takeaways from Brown’s time with the media on Tuesday, including a look into the plan for the quarterback competition, defensive position changes, a shift with offensive play-calling, and a new approach to leadership and accountability.
Gregory Hall contributed to this report.
One thing that was very noticeable as Brown went through each position group and the roster during his press conference was the incredible amount of players that will be limited or who will miss spring practice due to injuries, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The list is long.
Tight end Kendall Karr is out. Wide receiver Justin Olson will be limited. Edge rusher Kaimon Rucker is out for spring. Defensive lineman Ray Vohasek is coming back from surgery and will miss spring practice. Defensive lineman Kedrick Bingley-Jones is out for spring (upper body). Freshman defensive lineman Travis Shaw is still working through upper body issues. Defensive lineman Tomari Fox will be limited in the spring with an upper body injury. Defensive lineman Jahlil Taylor is out for the spring. Safeties Ja’Qurious Conley and Giovanni Biggers are out for the spring. Cornerback Dae Dae Hollins is out for spring. Cornerback Storm Duck will be limited at first and defensive back Don Chapman will be limited at first but could be back to full speed soon.
Brown said many of the injuries were carryovers from the 2021 season.
«A lot of these guys had a lingering injury in the fall and they just fought through it and said that they’ll get it fixed and after the season, but they wanted to make it through. And I think that’s the biggest part of this. The ones that were obvious in the fall or are out. But a guy like Gio Biggers wanted to finish the season and then get his procedure so he can go. Same thing with [Bingley-Jones]. And where it affects them in the spring, they’ll still be ready to start summer workout and be ready to go in the fall.»
The silver lining with injuries in spring practice is that younger players and different players will get chances at certain position with starters out. For example, with Conley and Biggers out, redshirt freshman Dontavious Nash and sophomore Cameron Roseman-Sinclair will get more chances to prove themselves.
With new defensive coaches and a new scheme comes changes to positional needs and the type of players that fit the system. UNC will use the spring to begin to figure out who fits where. There are some position changes.
Des Evans will move from an outside linebacker to a «power end.» Chris Collins will play the «Jack» linebacker position. Jahvaree Ritzie will also be a «power end.» Freshman Travis Shaw will start at three-technique defensive lineman, according to Brown, and Malaki Hamrick will be a standup inside linebacker, which is a little bit of a switch from defensive end or edge rusher from his recruitment. A lot of this could change and that is the beauty of spring practice.
«We’re looking at where they might be,» Brown said. «We need better pass rushers. We think Des (Evans) can be a great pass rusher. And he’s a big body now. He’s 261 pounds at 6-foot-5 plus. And we’ve got to have two there at least so you’ve got he and Ritize that can handle the tight end and help in the run game.
«And then you’ve got guys like Chris Collins and Noah Taylor that can really run and they can blitz, but they can drop. You’re not sure the body type of like Malaki Hamrick. I think he came in at 175 and now he’s already 200 pounds. So if he gets bigger, a bigger body type, he would be able to play either jack or linebacker and he pretty much played that at Shelby (High School), he was all over the place.»
It’s a big spring and offseason for Chizik and Warren, who not only have to evaluate tape from last season and every player, but also teach players potentially new roles and new techniques that fit that position.
«So the biggest thing with the Beau Atkinsons, the Gabe Stephens, and the guys who haven’t been in a spot yet… Right now it’s fun for them because they’re asking, ‘Where am I going to play?’ And Gene (Chizik) is basically telling them, ‘Here’s what we see in the offseason.’ If there is video, ‘Here’s what we see on video.’ He’s taken video of that defense, whether it’s the NFL or sometimes at Auburn, and he’s saying, ‘Here’s you.’ And he circles it. ‘And here’s what I see you doing and why.’
«And they have sat down with every defensive player individually. So I think that’s really created a lot of excitement, probably some anxiety, but a lot of excitement about what they can do and what the coaches want them doing and why. And that’s kind of where we are right now.»
During his opening comments, Brown mentioned changes being worked into the offense. Upon elaboration, those changes include being more intentional in their play-calling efforts, improving red zone efficiency, reducing sacks and tackles for losses, and the head coach himself being more involved in the offensive staffing room.
The combination of an air raid passing attack with a power run game isn’t changing. It’s the details that are.
“We have entirely too many sacks, and I’m going to fix that, period,” Brown said. “And I’ve asked them to fix it, and they haven’t, so I’m going to. We have entirely too many tackles for loss. And people want to say, ‘well, how do you fix it?’ Come and spend the last three months with me. You look at things that can fix it. Is it personnel? Is it play selection? Is it the way you’re coaching them? Is it getting everybody on the same page, because this guy wants this, and this guy wants this? Yes, there’s so many different pieces to this. That’s where it gets very complicated…
“We’ve done so many good things offensively. I think we can be great. And we’ve been sporadically great, which means you’re inconsistent. And I have said we’ve got to do a better job in situations. And we haven’t. I have said we’ve got to do a better job in the low red zone scoring touchdowns instead of field goals. We haven’t. So those are areas that I’m getting involved with that we need to fix.”
It doesn’t mean Brown will be on the sidelines calling plays. That duty still is in the hands of Phil Longo. What it does mean is he’ll be in the offensive meeting rooms more to ensure there is improvement in calling plays with regards to matching up against personnel.
“We can do a better job with matchups,” he explained. “If we’ve got a right tackle that’s going to dominate their defensive end, run right. It’s not complicated, it’s simple. But I think sometimes we just run plays. I want us to run plays for a reason and I want us to have an advantage with every play that we run.”
In 2022, Charlton Warren will take over the defensive backs room with Dre Bly assisting with the cornerbacks. There are going to be some new names out there in spring practice as many defensive backs come back from injury. Additionally, there will be a new scheme to teach, new techniques and new ways of playing each position.
Building depth in the secondary will also be important this spring. That position room has been hit the hardest by the injury bug over the last few years. Building depth begins with getting the young guys ready to play.
«For our staff, this will be the most anticipated spring practice I’ve been in including the first one — we’re going to get to look at a lot of new young guys,» Brown said. «So the fact that Ja’Qurious Conley and a Giovanni Biggers are out, Dae Dae Holland is out, we know what they do. So we need to see what these young ones can do.
«And with the transfer portal you need to create depth and this is a great way to create depth. I wish the others were out there and we could hold them out. And a lot of them like Don Chapman will be involved with a lot of stuff. But this is going to force us to see how is Dontavius Nash. How is Cameron Roseman-Sinclair? How is Christopher Holliday? How is Tymir Brown?… These may be guys that aren’t ready to play yet that need to be ready to play.
«And the other thing we’ve got is whether it’s Conley or Tony Grimes or Gio Biggers, Cam Kelly, Don Chapman, we’ve got a lot of guys that could be leaving over the next two years in that secondary room. So we got to find some guys to fill those spots. So this would be a good spring for that as well.»
Brown acknowledged that his coaching staff didn’t do a great job of getting players ready to play every week last fall. That’s a level of self-reflection that can be difficult for college head coaches, but not so for the Tar Heel head coach.
«I thought that we as a group probably – I mean, staff, coaches and players – read those headlines about how good we were,» Brown said. «We all talked about losing the great players that we lost. We addressed it, but I’m not sure that we did as good a job in any area of attacking it.»
The result was that UNC underperformed, failing to live up anywhere close to its Top-10 preseason rankings and stumbling to a third losing record in five years. There’s no time for that type of backslide, so Brown is intent on correcting those issues directly and getting back to enjoying the game.
«I really enjoyed the first two years,» he said. «I didn’t have fun last year. I didn’t know who was going to show up. I didn’t feel like I did a good job, so that means our staff didn’t do a good job. And that’s all on me. I take this very serious, I left a really good job to come back and make sure that I took care of Carolina football and got us where we wanted to go. And the first two years I thought we exceeded those expectations. And last year, we were short on our goals. And that’s 100 percent on me.»
The formula to winning football games is rather simple to Mack Brown. He has mentioned multiple times that in his experience, the team who wins the run game is the team who comes out on the other side with a win. So when it comes to the players learning and adopting new defensive coordinator Gene Chizik’s defensive scheme, it starts with stopping the run.
“You start with stopping the run,” Brown said. “And we’ve said that every year. If you can’t stop the run — this game is simple, and people are complicated. You have got to stop the run on defense, and you’ve got to run the ball on offense. If you’re second down and long and third and long, you’re probably going to lose games. You get your turnovers when it’s second and long and third and long, and their quarterback has to throw it, and you can put pressure on the quarterback and either sack him or tip a ball or have a light throw or get an interception. So it’s all put together.”
In 2021, UNC was 6-2 when outrushing its opponent and 0-5 when it had fewer yards on the ground than its opponent.
Brown spent a good portion of his roster breakdown examining the offensive line and who will play where. As is customary in this day and age, there is some position cross-training among the offensive line. It is the best way to build depth.
Asim Richards will play tackle and guard. Cayden Baker will play tackle and center. William Barnes will play guard and tackle. Quiron Johnson will play center and guard.
Brown said that center Brian Anderson is fully healthy: «I don’t think he was ever healthy last year.» Anderson, along with transfer center Corey Gaynor, have been providing «outstanding leadership» for the offensive line room.
Ed Montilus is also a name of note for UNC’s offensive line. The senior has made 15 starts at guard and been a key reserve for UNC over the last three seasons.
«Ed Montilus looks different. He looks really good. And he’s stepping up as a leader as well,» Brown said. «So we feel like that those guys will help us with leadership roles. It’s obvious with three older centers. We’ve got to find the young center moving forward.»
Brown likes what he sees from the two early enrollee freshman offensive linemen: Zach Rice and Trevyon Green. «They have looked really, really good in the preseason workouts. They haven’t hit anybody. But from what we’ve seen, they’ve sure passed the test for work ethic and how they bend and their attitudes,» Brown said. «Trevyon is 6-foot-7, 355-pounds. And Zach is 6-foot-6, 315 and the guys can move their feet, so it’ll be fun to watch them when we start next week.»
UNC will add freshman Justin Kanyuk in June and the thought is that he will get a shot at center. The Tar Heels will also add Harvard offensive lineman Spencer Rolland after the spring semester ends.
Wyatt Tunall and Trey Zimmerman will both take a medical hardship waiver to stay at UNC, but end their playing career.
UNC’s star player is gone. Sam Howell won’t be suiting up in Carolina blue next fall. Jacolby Criswell and Drake Maye competed for the backup spot last season and never separated as each earned equal reps in practice and in games.
Now, that competition is for the starting role.
«We’ve got to, No. 1, be really hard on them and put them in difficult situations,» Brown said. «I don’t want the Florida A&M game to be the first time that our quarterbacks feel pressure. I’ve talked to Coach Chizik and Coach Longo about putting them in game situations throughout the spring. Sam Howell did a great job his first year.”
In addition to the pressure, there will be a lot more situational football run throughout the spring. When it comes time to pick a starter, Brown says the quarterback that can make those plays the most will be the guy who plays. As far as a timeline is concerned, he said it will be in the fall – barring any dramatic separation in the spring – because of the practices during preseason camp.
The Tar Heel head coach wants better leadership. Whether it was a lack of communication on the offensive line or among the defensive players on the field or in general in the locker room, the concept of leadership arose a lot last season.
To fix that, the staff is changing the approach to creating the player leadership committee.
“Last year at this time, we had a leadership committee that we appointed,” Brown said. “We did not feel like we had great leadership throughout all of the season last year. So we’re working really, really hard to teach leadership and bring in different thoughts, bring in different speakers.
“We’re not going to appoint our leadership committee until after spring practice because we’re going to make them earn it. And then we will appoint them as a staff, and we feel like there will be fewer because we want to put a huge emphasis on leadership.”
In the fall during preseason camp, players will vote on who they think are the best leaders on the team.
Brown said the main priority during this offseason is resetting the standard. There will be a focus on discipline and doing a full reset to work hard every minute of every day and competing constantly.
“The first two years we played with a chip on our shoulder, we played hard, we overcame a lot of adversity, we came back in games and had some super comebacks,” the UNC head coach said. “This year we had some of that, but we weren’t as consistent with who we wanted to be. We’re going to go back and create that edge and make sure that we’re not walking around acting like we’ve just been to the Orange Bowl and we’re eighth in the country. Right now we haven’t proven anything, so we’re starting over as a program.”
Brown said there won’t be talk of winning every game. The message is this team hasn’t won a game and it has never lost a game. The focus and priority will be doing the little things to be in a position to win.
He pointed to it slipping last year, which resulted in too many penalties (7.3 per game, 109th FBS), too many turnovers (14 total, 30th FBS) and not enough turnovers forced (15 total, 84th FBS).
“There’s a winner and loser in everything you do, and we’ve got to get that mentality back,” Brown said.
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