UNC football head coach Mack Brown joined Aaron Keck this morning for “Mondays with Mack,” presented by Chapel Hill Tire.
The Tar Heels are coming off their second bye week of the season sitting atop the ACC Coastal Division with a 3-0 record. Every other team in the division has at least two losses, putting Carolina in the driver’s seat for a second division title and an appearance in the ACC Championship Game. This weekend, UNC will face a Pitt team which has beaten Carolina in overtime in each of the last two meetings, both in Pittsburgh.
Here are a few of Brown’s answers on various topics:
On what the team did during the bye week: We had a review of the previous four games. We self-evaluated, kind of a self-scout. The things we’re doing well, the things we’ve got to continue to improve, and just worked on those for three days. Gave the guys a couple of days off and came back yesterday and had a really good practice.
On how the team is handling its recent success: Guys have a lot of confidence right now. We’ve told them I’m proud they’re in the Top 25 of the polls. Good for them, but that means nothing until the end of the season. The beginning of the season and midseason polls mean nothing. Where you end up ranked at the end of the season is what matters, so just keep playing. We’re right in the middle of the Coastal race, but that doesn’t matter either right now. We’ve got to make sure that we focus on getting better each week, playing and practicing to a high level of excellence and just trying to beat Pitt.
On returning to Kenan Stadium after four weeks away: We’re really excited to be home. We’re 16-6 at home since we came back [in 2019]. Our home crowd does make a difference. We’ve been in two overtime games with Pitt the last two times we’ve played them up at Pitt and lost both of them. They’re a very physical team, a really good team, so we’re gonna need our fans to come and bring it strong this weekend. I know the students will. They always do. But we’ve got to have the fans step up like they always do as well.
On his message to the fans: I get so excited when we have a really good team, it’s a sellout, national TV game, 8:00 at night. Chapel Hill is gonna be buzzing. All the local businesses will be making money. The campus will be alive. A lot of the students, the experiences they have with athletic contests are some of the greatest memories they have when they’re in Chapel Hill. And we’re right in the mix for a lot of things. So we definitely need our fans to be a difference this weekend.
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 UNC Athletic Communications/Andy Mead
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