UNC FB vs WCU Mack Brown Postgame Interview 12-5-20

Intro all right we have uh the head coach of the tar heels hall of famer mac brown joining us on the telephone for the continental tire coaches corner brought to you by continental tire and coach great to be with you again thank you so much for the call congratulations on the win and seems like your team did what you wanted it to do and that's take control of this one early execute at a high level in the first half and then give you a chance to play some reserves in the second half how was it from your view on the sideline jones i thought it was On the sideline perfect i thought we started started a little bit soft on defense we were too high and the guys woke up started playing with lower pads and stopped the run and then we we dominated the first half like we should have and we in my coaching career i have never started the third quarter without the first team in there but we felt like this was an opportunity to to play some guys before it got out of control and the guys played hard i thought they worked at it we got a lot of work to do with the young ones we're playing so many young ones on defense when you get more in there you're really young uh but uh i think we we tried really hard to make sure that everybody on the bench got to play and that was really really important today it was a senior day it's the way these games when you have better players than the other team are supposed to go it's the way our our mercer game went last year and it's a step forward with your program it's uh it's what you're supposed to do and and i'm proud that we we did the things we we need to do and and western carolina will be a competitive team in their league coach i want to ask you about senior day i know it wasn't the type of ceremony before the game that you normally have because because the guys of course would love to have their parents down on the field i know you would have loved for them to have that opportunity but still felt like a really nice moment for the the individual 16 who were honored had some nice messages from their families up on the video board and uh just a group that i know is really important to you and important to carolina football yes it's Senior day a senior day for for everybody is really emotional it is the last time that these young people will ever play in kent state that's a that that's a a great thing that they they've all graduated it's a tough thing that they they will never play here again uh and and it's emotional for me you hope that you've prepared them for the the next step as a a coach in a program and these guys are even more special because they they were recruited by coach fedora they hung in there with us they they accepted all the changes that we had they they stepped up as leaders um and and they're the reason that we're moving forward so quickly uh in in this program so uh really really proud of them i thought it was a great touch that their parents got to speak to them on the jumbotron but before we started i thought it was really cool when they sang together and and the crowd was really receptive and a lot of good football players will be leaving so i thought it was a touching moment to say thank you to them in an appropriate way the best way that we can do it during colbit coach one of those really good football players leaving is michael carter he scored three touchdowns today for you and lee and i had the opportunity a little bit during the broadcast just to talk about michael's impact on your team both on the field of course but off the field and how highly his teammates speak of him how highly the coaches speak of him and his importance to your program and great to see him have so much success here in his final game in keenan stadium Michael yes michael's probably been as important to me personally outside of football as anyone on our team because i would go to him and ask him the pulse of the team and and and when we fought through some tough covet conversations and should we be practicing should we not uh do you trust us do you trust the doctors is this something you want to do because if our players had said they didn't want to to play then we we would not have played um and if we ever thought at any point it wasn't healthy for them we would not have played so michael was the one that i call first and and and when there was uh the social injustice issues that popped up uh and and a lot of people all over the country some protesting some saying they're not gonna play some missing practices michael was the one i went to first to say help me with what you think and what this team thinks and give me the pulse of this team uh and he's uh he's one of the hardest workers he's one of the most successful seniors we have so he's a guy that they all listen to and and we'll really miss michael on the field it's obvious but people just can't imagine how much we'll miss him off the field coach just two more things before we let you go and it's matt brown inside the continental tire coach's corner after the tar heels take care of business today in keenan against western carolina the final score 49-9 coach you're able to play a bunch of young guys you mentioned i mean toriel's already playing a bunch of young guys particularly on defense but got a chance to see elijah green and d.j jones at that running back position and josh anderson as well and those guys showed something here today ran hard and dj jones had a touchdown elijah green over 40 yards rushing and you have the potential to to lose a lot at that running back position so exciting to see some of those young guys get the opportunity yes we're lucky Future uh jones we see that every day in practice and we're excited about the future plus we've got some committed that we feel like are going to be really good too so uh we're we're losing one great one for sure obviously javonte will have to make a decision and we want him to do what's best for him so we we will give him all the possible information we can as accurately as we can to make sure that he and his family get to do what's best for them uh but we've got some good young ones coming on in a lot of different positions and this program is in great shape and we've got two more games we won seven last year we're already at that point and we've got two more uh for sure and and then we're in a position where we've got 12 new enrollees coming in in january so it'll be really fun to watch them this spring coach that next one on your docket is miami next week don't know the time of that one just yet but of course it will be on the road and potentially a lot on the line for the tar heels in that game so really finishing off the year with an important ball game um and i know one that you're excited for and a big opportunity for your team Next Week yes we had an opportunity to step up on the national level last weekend and we did it for a half we couldn't finish so this is another opportunity depending on how miami and duke come out tonight and and people are expecting miami to win uh they'll still be a top 10 team next week and it'll be another opportunity for us to go on a national level on the road uh where we haven't played very well at times uh and see how much we've grown up so uh every every step that we take now jones is important and any game that we lose is going to be critical and devastating because i've i've been there and and that's where we're headed so there's still a it's fun to be at the end of the season and still have a lot on the line this time last year uh we had to beat nc state to go to a bowl with one game left so we weren't even sure we were going to be bold elseville so now we we know we're bowl eligible uh we're fighting to get to one of the better bowls in the country against the top ten team so that should be a fun challenge for us next week coming up next saturday carolina at miami but for today it is the tar heels 49 western carolina 9 the final in keenan coach thank you as always for your time and look forward to talking with you this upcoming week thanks jones that's mac brown inside the continental tire coaches corner brought to you by continental tire and whether you're looking for summer all season or winter tires continental tire has something to fit your needs visit continental tire dot com and find your ideal tire continental tire proud partner of carolina athletic