'Real World' Issues Dominate Discussion as UNC Football Team Slowly Returns to Campus

UNC football players and coaches have slowly started to return to campus in phases in anticipation of an upcoming season, but the early focus has been on real world issues rather than the game itself.

With much going in the world since they last met, head coach Mack Brown and his team have plenty to discuss as they’ve begun to come back together.

The coronavirus pandemic—which threatens the season and could keep fans away all year—continues with no end in sight. This has caused plenty of headaches among the coaching staff, who just received word from the NCAA last week to advance with their practice schedule.

All meetings are taking place through Zoom for the foreseeable future, even if the players and coaches are in the same buildings—something that can easily complicate things with fall training camp set to begin in just a few short weeks on Aug. 6.

Even with all the safety precautions in place, there’s also the possibility of an outbreak among the team, as the Clemson program recently experienced with 23 players testing positive for the virus.

UNC sophomore quarterback Sam Howell was one of three Tar Heels to address the media via Zoom on Thursday and he spoke to the COVID-19 issue.

“I wouldn’t say I’m concerned,” Howell said. “I just think that we just need to be smart about it. Obviously, everyone wants to play football, but at the end of the day we’ve just got to do things the right way and we’ve got to understand that football’s not the most important thing in the world right now. Our health is the number one thing.”

Health certainly appears a top priority for everyone involved, but there’s also the issue of the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests. Conversations on race relations have taken center stage in America and are evident across the sports landscape as well.

Defensive end Tomon Fox said the team has made a concerted effort to open that discussion among themselves, with positive outcomes already starting to show.

“I think between the players the conversation has gone really well, especially between white people and people of color,” Fox said. “Because they’ve come to us saying they want to know more and be able to understand what it’s like, what we go through and everything like that. They want to be able to help. And with Coach Brown, he’s serious about this topic.”

Brown told reporters he has always tried to be as direct and up-front as possible with his team. When it came to issues surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, he didn’t want there to be an elephant in the room.

Although he said he would prefer to have team discussions on such matters face-to-face instead of over video chats, it’s simply a constraint of the other major issue facing the country and the world right now.

What’s really most important, Brown said, is having an open mind and working to build an understanding beyond just the football field.

“My job is to listen, respond and react, and try to help be part of the change for the positive and not just worry about what happens in the confines of our team,” he said. “And that’s what I’ve always done. I’ve tried to do right, I’ve tried to speak out, but this change is bigger than a football locker room or a football team. I need to be part of that because I really believe it.”

If all goes according to plan, the full UNC football program will be back on campus by June 29.

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‘Real World’ Issues Dominate Discussion as UNC Football Team Slowly Returns to Campus

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