Some points of interest and irritation from Mack Brown.

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer is the son of retired Virginia Tech legend Frank Beamer, a close friend of the UNC head coach for years.

“It’s old home week,” Brown said of the Border Battle at the Mayo Bowl on December 30 in Charlotte. Frank Beamer and Brown entered the National Football Hall of Fame together in 2018, and their families have been friends for decades.

“We shared family Christmas cards for years,” Brown said. “But Shane is no longer the little kid in the card. He’s become a great young coach. They beat Florida and Auburn, and I’m excited about competing against him.”

Brown says he has been asked repeatedly by the media and fans why his team committed costly, high-profile penalties this season. Two stand out in many fans’ minds because of their similarities, one in a win over Wake Forest in Chapel Hill and the other at N.C. State in the regular-season finale.

“Your team runs on the field against Wake Forest when you get ahead and gets a penalty, so that’s a lack of discipline,” Brown said. “So why do you run on the field against N.C. State and get the same penalty?

“The good news is they knew how important the game was, they were really excited and thought they had a chance to win. The bad news was we weren’t very disciplined. I’d rather them be so excited that they run on the field and I’m going to have to teach them not to, instead of them being so flat it didn’t matter. We all have to grow up.”

That was the first of three critical mistakes the Tar Heels made in handing the game to the Wolfpack. The others were letting the State tight end get wide open behind two defenders to catch a 64-yard touchdown. And the third was not covering the onside kick when it looked like a couple of players weren’t sure they could jump on the ball when it came toward them and seemed to freeze.

Brown admits some of that is coaching and that he has since the season ended had “brutal” meetings with both coordinators and every position coach. He says his staff remains intact for the Mayo Bowl.

He did not say that wouldn’t change after the game against Beamer and South Carolina.

 

Photo via 247Sports/Jim Hawkins.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Art's Angle: Unprepared, Outplayed
When the final grades come out about how Carolina ended the football season, it will read Preparation F, Adjustment F, Execution F. A lightly regarded and undermanned South Carolina team whipped the Tar Heels from start to finish in every aspect of the game. In preparation, the low-scoring Gamecocks took the lead with a wildcat […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Win, Please!
The Tar Heels have even more at stake than we thought. After wondering whether someone, or some thing, would turn today’s scheduled game into the “Hold the Mayo Bowl,” the battle of the Carolinas will apparently go on as planned at 11:30 a.m. in Bank of America Stadium. And the border battle in the border […]
Chansky's Notebook: The Warrior
It’s still not official whether Sam Howell will be back next season. Mack Brown thinks UNC’s all-time passing and total offense quarterback is turning pro, and will be a first-round pick in the next NFL draft, but acknowledged Wednesday that Howell has not told him one way or the other. The 2022 Tar Heels will […]
Chansky's Notebook: Big Four Bonanza
What a weekend for Big Four football. You will have to go way back in the record books and personal memory banks to find a weekend that matches what happened to the generally beleaguered Big Four football programs. Three of them won in distinctly different scenarios and the fourth did not play but garnered almost […]
Art’s Angle: The Last Walk
I hope Mack and Sally Brown, after their supporters and naysayers said goodbye in their own ways, found a quiet moment to have a good cry.
Chansky's Notebook: Wrong Side Of Hump
For several reasons, it was a disheartening 30-10 loss in the Mayo Bowl for UNC football on Wednesday night.
UNC Football Falls to West Virginia in Duke's Mayo Bowl
A depleted Tar Heel roster couldn’t keep up with West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl on Wednesday night, as the Mountaineers dealt Carolina a 30-10 loss to end the 2023 season. It’s UNC’s fourth straight loss in a bowl game. Among the UNC stars absent from Charlotte were quarterback Drake Maye, linebacker Cedric Gray, […]
Chansky's Notebook: On To The Future
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. The number seven is prominent as Carolina winds up the 2023 football season. Seven starters, including Drake Maye, Tez Walker and three tight ends, […]
'This Isn't a Field Trip': UNC Football Fired Up for Duke's Mayo Bowl
By the time UNC takes the field in Bank of America Stadium Wednesday night, it will have been more than a month since its last game.
Chansky's Notebook: Pieces Of 'Bit'
Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler. Someone from UNC finally called out Dave Doeren. It’s about time. Mack Brown met with the media Wednesday on national signing day. He had […]
›