UNC football head coach Mack Brown joined Aaron Keck this morning for “Mondays with Mack,” presented by Chapel Hill Tire.
Carolina is set to finish out the regular season with two home games before heading to Charlotte to take on Clemson in the ACC Championship in December. The Tar Heels completed a perfect 6-0 record in true road games with a win at Wake Forest last Saturday, the program’s first in Winston-Salem since 2004. Up next, Georgia Tech visits Kenan Stadium this weekend.
Here are a few of Brown’s answers on various topics:
On the win at Wake Forest: Six road wins is something that’s never happened at UNC. There’s no other team in America right now that’s done that at the Power 5 level. The guys have learned how to win on the road. And after 0-6 last year, we had a huge step to improve in that area. I’m so proud that they’re able to accomplish those goals.
On the defense’s clutch performance in the fourth quarter: I wish we could get them to play that way the whole game! We said we may need to start telling them it’s the fourth quarter in the first quarter. I really attribute it to [the fact that] the kids don’t give up. They’re resilient, they’re tough. They’re trying so hard. And at the same time, Gene Chizik does a tremendous job with adjustments. And the longer the game goes, the better he figures out what we can do with our guys to stop what they’re doing with their guys. They’ve just done it time and time and time again.
On what his team is working to improve this week: This is another trap game, kind of like Virginia was. Because you’ve won the Coastal, you’ve got a bowl bid. Georgia Tech lost their right to go to a bowl with their loss [last weekend]. They’re coming into town, and everybody’s talking about the Coastal and the game with Clemson. So this is a game where our fans need to come strong. We’ve got to keep getting better as a team, and we can do that because we’re so young and inexperienced. And at the same time, we’ve got to play great as a team the last three weeks to accomplish the goals that are out there for us.
On Drake Maye’s Heisman campaign: He’s campaigning for himself. I think that’s the biggest thing. I said if you go to Wake Forest on the road, where they are 19-3 since 2019, and you have a good performance and win, there is absolutely no way you can’t be in that conversation. And he did all of the above.
On his message to the fans: We had a great group of fans go over to Duke for that game. We had a tremendous amount go to Virginia. Even more went to Wake Forest on Saturday night. We had a lot of Carolina blue in that stadium, and don’t think it doesn’t make a difference. And now we’re sitting here 17-6 at home. This is a huge game for us to keep getting better. Our seniors only have two more games at home. We’ve got to have it packed and loud. This should be the best atmosphere that we’ve ever had. It sounds like it’s gonna be cold, but it’s gonna be pretty and clear. So we need to bring it. We need to bring it loud. And we need to have our fans cheering like our players are playing. And that’s at a very, very high level right now.
Listen below for the full conversation between Mack Brown and Aaron Keck, and tune in to hear the segment live on Monday mornings each game week!
Featured image via Inside Carolina/Jim Hawkins
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