Fedora on South Bend: ‘I’d Rather Go In There and Make Some History’

Head coach Larry Fedora leads a Carolina football team that has earned the dubious distinction of being one of the most penalized teams in the ACC, and in turn, the nation. But Coach Fedora says the mistakes are correctable with a road trip at No. 6 Notre Dame looming.

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It’s an old cliché, but it’s never a good sign to hear coaches reference the ‘shooting ourselves in the foot’ saying.

On Monday, Coach Fedora went to the well one more time when discussing the myriad mistakes committed by the UNC offense in Saturday’s 34-17 home loss to Virginia Tech.

“You name it. Whether it was a guy flinching, jumping off sides, missed assignment here – it would be easy if it was just one guy. But that’s not the way it is. We take turns shooting ourselves in the foot right now. The good thing is that everything is correctable. We just got to get it corrected,” Coach Fedora says.

With back-to-back games against two of the remaining 10 undefeated teams in the FBS, the Tar Heels had better get the sloppiness out of them sooner rather than later.

Coach Fedora says for right now, his players are battling within themselves. He says until the mistakes are corrected, the Tar Heels have more pressing issues to worry about than their next opponent.

“The focus for us was going back, breaking down the film and looking at all the mistakes we made. We see that we look like a team that if we could our mistakes corrected and take care of the things within our team, we could be a decent football team. Until we do that, it’s going to be tough,” Coach Fedora says.

With that said, the Carolina skipper recognizes the huge opportunity afforded to UNC this weekend. Coach Fedora says playing at Notre Dame in front of a national T.V. audience is exciting.

“We have a tremendous opportunity ahead of us this week. We get a chance to go to Notre Dame and play on national T.V. It’s exciting and should be a lot of fun,” Coach Fedora says.

Snagging the program’s first top-10 victory since a 31-28 win over No. 4 Miami in 2004 would make the trip all the more fun. But with three straight defeats, it’s easy to question the confidence level in the UNC locker room.

Coach Fedora, though, insists his players maintain belief.

“I’m not a guy that wavers up and down in my confidence based on one game. I don’t know how you do that. There’s frustration involved, but I don’t think there’s a lack of confidence in what we do or how we do things,” Coach Fedora says.

The UNC defense appears to have steadily improved, with far better tackling and energy, since the debacle at ECU a few weeks ago. Coach Fedora agrees with that assessment.

“I think they’ve taken the challenge. They’re doing a better job of maintaining their gaps and not trying to do too much. When the ball’s thrown, we’re getting pressure on the quarterback. They’re also doing a good job of retracing and getting back down the field,” Coach Fedora says.

Coach Fedora, who will be making his first trip to Notre Dame, was asked if he’d let the team soak in the rich tradition and history at South Bend this weekend. He says there won’t be time for sight-seeing and offered a more attractive alternative.

“We don’t get that opportunity. We stay an hour away. We’re there a couple hours before the game and leave after the game, so there’s not a whole lot of time for soaking up anything. I’d rather go in there and make some [history],” Coach Fedora says.