Perhaps the most notable aspect of UNC’s spring football practice this year is the absence of the annual spring game on the schedule.

The decision was made by head coach Larry Fedora, who spent time talking through his thought process on the matter with reporters on Tuesday after practice.

“A spring game is kind of a celebration where you go out and play a game in front of the fans,” Fedora said. “We don’t always get as much as we want out of it as a coaching staff and for our team.

“There’s some things you get out of it that are really good,” he added. “But then there are other things that we need to work on that we wouldn’t get out of it.”

With the Tar Heels coming off a 3-9 season in 2017, the worst year in Fedora’s generally successful six-year tenure, it’s tough to blame the coach for trying anything he can to right the ship.

In addition to that, though, an indoor football practice facility, a new stadium for soccer and lacrosse and a new field hockey stadium are all in the process of being built on campus.

This leaves Kenan Stadium to serve as the main hub for a number of other sports at the moment, including all home men’s and women’s lacrosse games.

Fedora cited the scheduling difficulties as just another reason to forego the spring game this year.

“That’s part of it, yeah,” he said. “The other reason is to be able to have another scrimmage, so I can get a lot more plays and get what I need for my team at this point.”

 

 

 

Photo via Avery Trendel

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