Although Mack Brown’s hour-long press conference Friday previewed the opening game at Minnesota Thursday night, it covered a lot more than that.
He first said, “We’re planning on playing two quarterbacks” – Conner Harrell and Max Johnson – but later clarified that by saying, “We will have both quarterbacks ready and play them based on how the game would dictate when (the other one would) go into the game.”
Subtle difference, but I guess it means whoever starts will stay in as long as he is moving the offense and doesn’t get hurt. Brown did say he has an idea which one will start, but there is still a week of practice and preparation left.
Minnesota is not releasing its two-deep either, and the Gophers defense will have to prepare for the 6-5 Johnson, who passes better than he runs, and the 6-2 Harrell, who runs better than he passes (but does both pretty well). A big key is how the UNC offensive line with one returning starter (5-11 senior Willie Lampkin, who made third-team All-ACC last season) pass and run block.
“Right now it’s a two-man race. But we feel like we can play either one of these guys and win. We’ve gotta figure out what they’re doing . . . and handling it during the game and which system within our system that one of them would run, would be the one to give us the best chance to win,” Brown added.
Carolina has to help itself by improving from No. 125 (out of 133 teams) in penalties committed (93 for 862 total yards and 66.3 per game) in 2023. Brown keeps praising his program being No. 1 in the ACC and third in the country in APR (Academic Progress Rate), and that should make his team smarter on the field. Minnesota was No. 2 in penalties.
Building depth continues to be a problem for Carolina, whose late season swoons the last two years was in part caused by injuries. Most coaches believe you build depth by using more players even if they are inexperienced.
“We’ve hit more, we’ve scrimmaged more, we’ve tackled more during practice and scrimmages than at any time since we’ve been here,” Brown said, “because we’ve got more depth. And part of that is we’ve recruited better. And part of it’s that is we’re developing better. So we’ve got a lot more guys that are playing and young guys have to tackle old guys.” All-star running back Omarion Hampton is an exception, as Brown wants him ready for the Gophers veteran defense that tries to stop the run and make opponents pass.
“Omarian’s been hit enough,” Brown said. “He gets hit some, but he carried the ball enough last year. Why are we gonna beat him up in a scrimmage? He just needs to get his ball security. He knows what to do and be fresh for the game. So we’ve hit all the other backs a lot in live scrimmages. Omarion will get his first contact next week. But the young linebackers need to tackle and they’ve got to scrimmage. You can’t put them in a thud (non-contact) situation and throw ’em out there in a ball game and expect them to tackle well.
North Carolina running back Omarion Hampton (28) breaks away from Campbell place defensive lineman JT Whitmore (42) as he runs for a touchdown in the first half of an NCAA college football game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
“So we’ve scrimmaged more than we’ve ever scrimmaged, and we’ve stayed healthy. We’ve told the guys, unless you practice on Sunday (which will be like a Tuesday practice for a Saturday game), you’re not going to make the trip. As of right now, we think everybody’s gonna be ready to practice.”
Brown spent much of the Tar Heels’ 2023 season talking about their schedule, saying the first four games (South Carolina at Charlotte; App State and Minnesota at home and at Pitt) were as tough as any he had as a head coach and did not like the ACC sending Carolina to Clemson and N.C. State to end the schedule. This season, the Heels are No. 65 in strength of schedule, with only SMU and Syracuse having easier slates in the ACC.
Brown makes no excuse for the three FCS home games (UNC-Charlotte, N.C. Central and James Madison) following Minnesota. If nothing else, they should help the Tar Heels build depth by playing depth. “The schedules were all done before I was got here,” he said. “I’ve had no input into scheduling.”
However, he does not think such a soft slate will hurt their chances of making the new 12-team college football playoff if they win all of their games or most of them.
“It’s opinion that this schedule is really weak, and we might not get in the playoff,” he said. “You win your conference, you’re gonna get in the playoff and that’s what we’re trying to do. And you’re also looking at a team in North Carolina Central that won the Celebration Bowl two years ago. And who knows whether they’re good with transfers. Charlotte’s done a great job down there with a tremendous number of transfers. JMU was number one in the country last year. So it’s easy to say they’re not any good because you don’t have to coach against them or play against them. But again, I think that’s an opinion.”
Brown arrived for his second stint in Chapel Hill believing Carolina could have the same success as Texas during his 16 years coaching the Longhorns, who won the 2005 national championship and lost the BCS title game to Alabama in 2009. Does he still feel that way after five good, but not great, seasons back?
“Absolutely. TCU was a game away two years ago. So absolutely. Do we have some things we need to fix? Yes. Are we better than we were when we got here? Absolutely. Are we better than a lot of our fans think we are? Absolutely. Are we closer than a lot of people think? Absolutely. We just live in a negative world and a lot of people just get up every morning looking for something to gripe about. And when you lose at the end of the year, that’s easy. That’s an easy gripe and I got it. I’m griping about it too.”
Brown turns 73 Tuesday, and the oldest active head coach with the most wins seems as fired up for his 36th season as he has ever been.
Featured image via (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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