Mack Brown Pre-Minnesota Press Conference

everybody um welcome back um football season's here and it it I know it's my most fun time of the year uh excited about getting started and can't wait till next week and in fact I'm excited about watching games tomorrow it'll be fun to to have it kicked off and when you do as a coach what you do is you sit there and you watch all the games and then you make notes oh my gosh they didn't uh create an edge on this sweet play and this happened and and you're you're texting your coaches and players during the game and we'll actually have our players uh with a to-do list tomorrow during the Florida state Georgia Tech game because we play both teams so we'll have them we'll require them to watch the game and then give them assignments uh to write up with what they see and what they think uh for later down the road and also talk to them about um looking at things in in those games tomorrow that might come up next Thursday for them and how they would handle it um as we wrap up preseason camp and we did it a couple of days ago um we we've been really really hard on all the little things we we've said we're trying to figure out how we can finish better um we we've had more penalties than than we should have uh we've got the best academics in the ACC the third best in the country uh so we shouldn't be having penalties so we've talked to the guys about that's a lack of discipline when we have penalties uh this game last year I think we only had three we might have had five it was very very few and that was a big factor in in winning the Minnesota game last year so uh we have documented every penalty we've had ACC officials at every practice and then there have been consequences for those that have had penalties we have um um really cut down on the pre-nap and post whistle penalties and and those are things you cannot have and then the you've got to limit uh the ones um within the whistles and those are usually holding penalties and pass interference penalties that's the large majority of the penalties in in college football as you look at it but you can't have false starts uh you can't have late hits uh you can't have off sides th those are things that are just mental penalties that that get you killed so we've done a much better job and and we've actually put up in every team meeting how many penalties we had by each side of the ball and who had them and then we've put them up on a a video screen in the locker room so players can see every day uh who needs to clean up their their uh their their penalties and therefore um it it goes back to going to class being on time goes back to keeping your locker room clean it goes back to keeping the The Players Lounge clean all of those little things we feel like will help us on the field as as we get get there um it's been the most fun camp I've ever been around because the guys have done everything we've asked them to do they've been ready to practice every time we haven't had a bad practice um we've had tremendous leadership it's the best leadership we talk about player-led teams being important this is the best we've had on this team um since we've been here uh so we're um it's been fun they've been fun they've policed themselves um they're the ones that um run the guys when they have penalties during practice the next day they decide what they do and they run it with them um if in their position unit someone uh has a disciplinary issue the players decide what they do and the whole unit runs them um so it's been um it's been fun and and really good the other thing we we've hit more we've scrimmaged more we've tackled more during practice and scrimmages than at any time since we've been here cu we've got more depth and part of that we've recruited better and part of it that U um we're developing better uh so we've got a lot more guys that are playing and and young guys have to tackle old guys uh Marian Hampton's been hit enough he gets hit some but he he's um he carried the ball enough last year why are we going to beat him up in in a scrimmage he just needs to get his ball security he knows what to do and be fresh for the game so we we've hit all the other back a lot in live scrimmages we're not going to hit Omarian in a live scrimmage he'll he'll get his first Contact next week but the young linebackers need to tackle and they've got a scrimmage you you can't put them in a thud situation and throw them out there in a ball game and expect them to tackle well so we've we've scrimmaged more than we've ever scrimmaged and we've stayed healthy it's U um we've told the guys unless you practice on Sunday which will be like a Tuesday practice for a Saturday game if you don't practice this Sunday you're not going to make the trip um as of right now we think everybody's going to be ready to practice Amari Campbell has been he practiced yesterday full speed and and got after it looked really good so we're proud of him uh so guys are are ready to go we've got we had some soreness in the receiving court and all those guys are back out there running around so uh we we feel like that they're all in a position um to to play as of right now for next Thursday uh depth chart uh PJ Flex a good friend of mine he decided not to release a depth chart uh I think to to be fair to our team uh we we're going to do the same uh we're not going to release a depth chart we haven't even talked to them about um who's going to start at at what position they see every practice they see ever play on on an iPad so they know who's going to play um and and we'll figure out do do we tell them uh at each position who's going to play do we tell them in their own unit does it matter um but they know who's going to play so that that doesn't make any difference to us uh most of the Minnesota teams back so they were all the the the lines of scrimmage were so good most of the guys that that uh played against us last year we anticipate a play but we'll we will see if they have any changes in the first quarter like they will see if we have any changes and then will go back uh next Monday uh the following week uh before the Charlotte game to our regular releasing ad depth chart and and and it'll be the same as as we move forward um as far as offense is concerned right now we're we're planning on playing both quarterbacks uh depending on how the game dictates I mean one of the problems we had last year as Connor came in the West Virginia game without any experience because Drake didn't play in the bowl game so part of developing depth um we we want to have two quarterbacks rate to play and that's that's important to us very few people do that that's something that we have not done a very good job of and we've been lucky that Drake and Sam stayed healthy but it's hurt us that we we did not have someone ready if they had gotten hurt uh we we lost a national championship game to Alabama and in 2010 because Co McCoy got hurt on the fifth play of the game and our backup um had not had a lot of experience we didn't play him enough we're trying to get col the Heisman um so that that's that's part of uh making all that work but then we ended up um having a freshman quarterback out there and we were down by three points to with five minutes left to go four minutes left to go in the game but we we lost the game and and we didn't play him enough then so uh depending on how the game goes um we would like to play two quarterbacks and we'd like to do it for the season and the offensive staff has done a really good job Connor and and Max are different they're they're the same in some ways but they're different in others uh and the offensive staff has done a really good job of blending the the line with what both of them be best so I feel really good going into the game uh about uh the plan uh for both of those because they've tailored it to where the quarterback that's in the game uh will have things that he can do best um without question uh but I do see scenarios where both play uh defensively I've been impressed with Jeff Collins um he hadn't been the stubborn guy that that sat around in his ear off and and just said this is what I do it's what I did at Mississippi State it's what I did at Florida he's come in he's looked at our Personnel he's looked at uh he's he's had great visits with all of our coaches um and he's doing a great job in my my estimation of making this defense work for this place and this team not just a quote Jeff Collins defense so he's changed a lot of things he's given our offensive line a lot of looks which is really good for preseason you usually don't get that um the defense has had a lot of looks because we've had two quarterbacks we've given them a lot of different plays to to uh try to work against um so I I like his approach and and the fact that he has fine-tuned a lot of the things that he's done in his past uh moving forward with this defense uh we've been good at times on defense and gotten credit for it because we've been bad at times on defense too but more than not we have not been a consistently good defense that's kept us from getting where we want to go um what I've seen is that we've got older players on defense we're more experienced on defense Ted monino has the front playing well um you you've got a question mark when you lose a said gray obviously with Amari Campbell and and who would the other young ones be that can step up there because we've got to get more depth at linebacker um but you've got an older secondary and those guys have played now and we've given up too many explosive plays in the secondary um I think mainly because of miscommunication and and um I'm I'm seeing less of that now so I'm I'm excited about about what I see I'm seeing four older safeties that can all play um and you can just rotate them in so we're talking about depth um you everybody says well you hadn't played depth well if you don't have it you can't play it if you get people hurt and you don't have anybody to put in you can't but you got to develop it and and I'm seeing opportunities now for us to do that so um to to get from good to great um we're we're sitting here after five years where we've had the second most winds in the ACC behind Clemson tied with NC State so we've been good because we've lost to NC State three times and because we've lost at the end of the year we Haden gotten credit for being good um but we we want to be great that's what we're working toward and we'll continue to do that um right now uh special teams there's been a huge emphasis uh a lot of your starters will play on it you still are have a lot of of backups on your special teams and it gives them a chance to develop especially if you're playing more people they're going to play in the game but then it they elevate as as you go through uh the season and and get better in in those areas but we've got to change games on special teams we can't just be okay or poor and the special teams coach from Syracuse last year is the special teams coach at Minnesota and they blocked punt against us when Ben Kernan R his knee in the Syracuse game so I'm sure he'll come after it and and he will come after it early um I am excited about Tom as our punter he uh he has improved a lot he is getting it off quickly he can conventional putt or rugby punt so it gives us advantages um so he's really done a good job because I was asked that early in in Camp and um he he's come on and and done a tremendous job and Noah Bernette made nearly all the kicks last year so uh we should be good in in those two areas um as we are moving forward uh also we decided to bring back the helmet stickers I think Jeremy released that earlier today um it's something that I probably should have done five years ago when we came back players like it and uh players that were here liked it you've got the Tommy thigpin and Rick steinbachers and Cory holidays and Kevin Donley's and Brian Simmons and and I brought it up to them said would you all like to see them back and they said oh my gosh we loved it it was great so we ask our coaches to get a an award system um where you would put the the stickers on the helmet for certain Awards where you might lose um a sticker because you didn't do something right then we took it to the leadership committee then we took it to each position group uh so we feel like we have a really really good reward system moving forward uh and on Sunday after every game we will um obviously award each player what what he accomplished during the game and there's some really cool stuff in there that even the players brought up and brought back back to us and uh Jeremy the on the blue helmet it will be a white sticker and on the white helmet it will be a blue sticker and and the Tar Hill foot that we had before so that's uh that's what we'll do when we went to Texas they' never done anything like that and Coach R didn't want to do it so I didn't do it when we got back here I just didn't continue and I I wish I had I should have um PJ Flex the head coach at at Minnesota he's a friend of mine uh we've been on trips together we've played golf together I don't I don't enjoy coaching against friends it makes it tougher um but it it uh I admire what he's done he's uh he got really high energy his teams play like his personality uh his wife Heather's a a dear friend of ours as well uh he kind of he grew up in the gim Trestle Ohio State and then he he really has been around Greg shado most of his career and he he coached in the pros at at at Tampa Bay with Greg um so he's a he's a guy that I really admire he's got 12 years as a head coach 29 and 16 at home so they play well at home uh the real impressive stat is they're 13- one in non-conference games at home um so they they've been tough they've got it as a yellow out I think as gold out gold out uh so the everybody in the Stadium's going to wear gold so they made it a special game so we're anticipating that the atmosphere will be very much like the atmosphere at Virginia Tech when we went up there the the first game after Co because they're they're all excited about us coming and and it it should uh it should be a great opener on Fox National TV only a couple games that night uh so it'll showcase our our team for sure um they've got uh we're people are wondering about our quarterback situation they've got uh Max brosan brosmer excuse me uh he was an All-American last year at New Hampshire he won the Heisman for that level uh he's really good he can move um he's a guy that's very accurate um he goes to the right place he's hard to sack um then you add Darius Taylor who gained 138 yards rushing against us last year that's a great back um and their offensive line three of those guys are are going to be high draft choices uh the the offensive tackles supposed to be a number one pick you start looking at Carol Cooper and and um Essie ESS they're they're all they're 66 330 67 315 66 310 and all seniors are graduates so they've been around a long time U so the the back the athletic quarterback um being physical it it'll be a um really a test of the two lines of scrimmage we we we we feel like we're improved in our defensive line our front seven they're going to have a handful and and then you take our offensive line there's only one offensive lineman on our team that's ever started a game I mean so they're they're totally inexperienced and I I told Randy Clemens and I were talking about it our offensive line coach I said it's not an excuse it's a fact and you've got a new defensive coordinator we've never seen before uh so we're going to have to do a great job of figuring out who they are what they're going to do defensive coordinator used to be at James Madison he blitzed a lot Minnesota hasn't been a blitzing team so we'll have to figure all that out during the first quarter and it'll it'll be a it'll it'll be a real challenging fun thing for our offensive staff to take those young offensive linemen who we think are really talented and and figure it out with a new quarterback and and um and get us in a position to go through um they've also got a couple other backs they've got bangura who was the MC freshman of the year at Ohio last year they got a transfer from Oklahoma Marcus major uh so they're going to run the ball and they're going to be physical running the ball and um we we got ahead of them in late third quarter last year and it was harder for them to run it late uh but that's who they are uh defensively they've uh they'll be one of the best fronts we'll face they've got a a defensive end that was um number five in in Pro Football Focus uh pass rushing last year um so we've got the new Young tackles and he's really really good he's talented and and they're big and physical their best linebacker um lindenberg 45 did not play against us last year he's their leader he's kind of the captain the guy in the middle um so all those things are are going to be fun and and challenging for us as we go through but I think when you you look at new quarterbacks on both sides you you look at new coordinators on defense on both sides uh an away game for us um early game National TV uh lot of fun stuff to look forward to next week we are uh we will have a a mock game tonight uh today is is like game day so this is what I'll wear for the game next week our coaches will be in their coaching gear um our players will wear the uniforms tonight that they're going to wear next week with the shoes and the gear to make sure it all fits and then we will take uh an hour tonight to go through every possible situation that could come up during the ball game we will eat the pregame meal this afternoon at 3:45 that we will eat next uh Thursday um so this is game day for them and and we have enough we we've got a a rare combination of a lot of older experienced players and some really talented young ones that have never even been on a plane so we we've got to get the older ones to get the young ones to to be more comfortable with with what's going to happen on game day and they're all working on that uh tonight questions adjust you guys are going to have to make on the Fly early in the game next week how do you simulate that tonight how have you been gone about doing that we think we're lucky Andrew the Andrew's question was how do you simulate the possible changes that you're going to look at Jeff Collins is one of those that comes from everywhere so we feel like as inexperienced as we are in this offense with these two quarterbacks Conor hadn't played very much Max has never played in this offense and all those young offensive linemen we're very very lucky uh to have Jeff bringing them from everywhere so we feel like that's helped us that we've been able to look at those things and and we'd say woo chip Lindsay come over and I'd say man he's free he'd say that's good stuff we're going to have to work on that we'd have to get a game plan for that so um I think what you do is you stay simple uh you try to figure out who they are in in that first quarter and then you redo your game plan and that's what you've got to do the first games are so much like bowl games because you haven't played in a while you haven't tackled you haven't been as as live with your kicking game so um you usually you've got to keep from losing those early ones until you can figure out how to win them when you say you're planning to play both quarterbacks or hoping to play both quarterbacks does that simply mean that one of them has not won the job this Camp yeah let let me um I've learned that what I say is not what people hear sometimes so I'll be very very careful even in our staff meetings I'll have I have staff notes every day and I'll walk out and one of them will come and ask me a question I just went over and I said you're 50 and you didn't listen or you didn't understand me so either I didn't say it properly or you didn't hear so what about these players and then fans it's it's amazing when people come up and say did you say this and I said yeah I said it he said well that that's I said that's not at all what that means that's not even close so what I'm saying is that we will have both quarterbacks ready and we would play them based on how the game would dictate when you go into the game uh there'll be some that'll hear this and say he said he's going to play two quarterbacks that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life there'll be some that say um I can't believe they don't have a quarterback they don't even have one and there'll be some that say oh gosh maybe we got two quarterbacks um and really and truly they're both good they're both good enough to win but we've got to figure out what during the game works the best to win the game and that's it and that's what we tell the players we we came up with a guess speaker came in and said uh don't don't talk about how good you are put it on film so that's been one of the themes for the fall don't tell me you want to play everybody wants to play don't tell me you won't be an NFL player everybody wants to be an NFL put it on film and the ones that put it on film are the ones we're going to play Thursday and and the same with the quarterbacks jacobi's just been behind he's had some great plays but he didn't get here for spring and and so he'll keep working if one of these two guys got hurt but right now it's a it's a two-man race but we do feel like that we can play either one of these guys and when we've got to figure out what they're doing we've got to figure out how we're handling it during the game and which one which which system within our system that one of them would run would be the one to give us the best chance to win and and and not to be a smart elic but we feel like both of them are good enough to win we haven't we don't know Max I mean we haven't seen him in a game we've seen video Connor we know and Connor's got to keep coming and we know that but Connor's had some great place and and so uh that's what we'll do is we'll just we we'll be like you all we'll be sitting there watching a game and say this is working we'll let it go this isn't working let's let's let's change it up let's try something else and I do feel like this team um we need to win Thursday we're going to be a lot better team this year at the end than we are at the beginning because we got so many new things we got to fix we got to we got new quarterbacks we we've got new offensive line all of those things should get better as the year goes on I feel like our kicking game is going to be better and usually you win games at the end of the year with a running game defense and kicking game and we haven't been good and two of those three so I feel like all those will get better as as the season goes and and that's because of depth and things that we feel like that we're we're doing that be a tactic to try to like confuse Minnesota have to prep for both quarterbacks and watch take both quarterbacks is that kind of what I'm here Ross again I'm sorry I missed it like saying you're going to play potentially quacks when all the game goes is that trying to make Minnesota have to prep for for both quarterbacks and game plan for both knowing thatti to is that kind of straty yeah but it's facts I mean we we don't know how either quarterback's going to play so if one of them's in the game and not playing well we're going to play the other one period I mean it it is if if it was Drake we wouldn't be sitting here saying this because we just don't know how they're going to play and I think that'll be we could ask Austin Austin blasy just walked out we ask Austin come up here he'd tell you everything JJ sitting back there they can tell you everything so um but but no very honestly we don't know we don't know how either one's going to play so we're we're going to watch the game and try to put them in the best positions and then if it's not working for one you go with another to try to win the game you also said that that you'd like to play both for the whole season too so okay listen carefully yeah I would like to play both based on how the season goes right so it could one could just cement themselves if if one of them looks like Drake May on Thursday night and he's winning all the games and we're going to play one quarterback so what you do is you figure out what gives you the best chance to win the game and that's what you do chip I was going to say you've been a lot of these openings before just from your experience what's the most unpredictable part of an open usually based on special team and mistakes most it is it it uh again the the older guys always taught me it's so much like bowl games you haven't tackled as much as you're going to during the season so the turnovers are a huge key in opening games you're not really sure especially with two new defensive coordinators and now with a transfer portal you're you know less about the teams than you did because you don't get to see them you have to go back and look at them you have to look at the running back at Oklahoma and the running back at o Ohio you instead of where they played for Minnesota last year um and then special teams most people don't do those live so first time you you gets tomorrow first live special teams are going to be be Florida State and Georgia Tech at noon and you're just really not sure chip what what's going to happen so that's why the term came up and a lot of people don't like it that usually most first games are lost more than one because you usually make too many mistakes and then and what I've I've really asked our coaches consistently is fixture mistakes now every day in practice is a game so if we dropped a punt um Tuesday then H that was in Minnesota to me it wasn't a Tuesday drop punt cuz he wasn't ready we dropped the punt CU it was the game if it was a block punt Tuesday then that that was it Minnesota so let's don't come back in here Sunday after Minnesota and say God we should have fixed this should have fixed this we got to fix it now and and that's partly what tonight's about it'll be about organization it'll be about substitutions on the sideline you haven't done any of that stuff and then you've got Jeff Collins for the first time ever here within staff so that's new too and then you've added the qc's and the analyst so you got a lot more bodies running around that can coach than ever before so you've got to be really careful that that's not chaos and that that's organized just because you got so many people and sometimes more people's not the answer uh it you've still got to have a directive of who's in charge and who says what and who goes to who and like we had a situation um tues Tuesday in special teams where um a receiver had a pull he came out nobody told the the special teams coach on punt so we didn't have we had 10 out there and that that's got to get fixed I mean so trainer has to go immediately to the special team's coach and and if he's on Three Special Teams he has to go to three coaches and say he is out so then you have to get the next one up um so all of that stuff that's more chaotic in the first game that it is afterwards about the stickers on the helmet did you say you might take a sticker off well we decided it it again it it's uh I said it wrong we're not going to take a sticker off but we will not allow one to go on if you would have lost one you're we're going to take one away before we put it back on we didn't think it was right to take it off but it would cost you one of your additional ones if you had lost one believe and that came up from the players they're the ones that said if you have penalties if you have this if you have this then you should not be able to be awarded I believe at the beginning of fall Camp you said you guys were maybe go live a little bit more in special teams this past month did you and are you comfortable with how much you went live yes we've done more special teams and we've done it live every time we just haven't tackled the returners they've been th but every other phase of special teams has been live so um I'm I'm I'm really excited about the preparation and where we are and now we got to do it you know everybody says how you going to do uh Thursday and everybody comes back and says he said the defensive line was good they're awful I don't know how they're going to be I know how I see them every day and I only see them against us so when people say offensive line can't block anybody and you said they were better they are better now they got to play better there's not a coach in America other than maybe three or four that has all the same guys back they had last year and they were really good at texes we knew certain years we were going to be really good nobody else knows for any good or not we're about like most of the teams we play so we have to do a better job playing and a better job coaching to win those even games to get where we want to go and I have no clue what's going to happen Thursday night the offensive line just on the topic of Willie I checked he's the second shortest offensive lineman in the entire ACC oh I don't tell him that there's there's one guy at Miami that's an inch shorter no minute anyways I don't tell willly we need to hope he didn't get hurt we were talking to some with I was talking to some with Caleb Pickel and he um went back to when Willie was in the portal he said he basically have to like stand on the table and just demand that you guys take them what do you remember from that and just how do you reflect now on that decision I remember watching Willie lamin on video and thought he is really good and I love the way he played then I remember Pat suus saying before he walks in you're going to think he's way too short so don't get down on him when he walks in the door saying oh my gosh uh and and willly has been a blessing for us he's one of our true leaders in the offensive line he's tough every day he loves to play uh he is uh he's really aggressive uh we didn't help him any by bringing in a 66 a 68 and a 68 tackle that makes it look like this when you start looking at the the curve in the front but uh I love Willie and he's U he is a guy who breaks down all of those theories about stats when you you if you measure him and you do all this you're not going to take him watch him play u look at the film that that that's what you do put it on film man and willly does every day a question about schedule if I can um last year obviously a lot of talk about how tough it was the first four weeks and then how it end it at the end this year i' like I'd like to know how the schedule came together I know Charlotte was two years ago was postpone in it but this is so weak schedule is really weak and you could win 12 and still not getting to the playoff because of there six games in the ACC again teams in second and so how did the the rest of the September come come together yeah the schedules were all done before I was got here I I've had no input into scheduling so I can't tell you you'd have to I think Rick steinbacher and Bubba do the schedule were schedule before you got here I think these were 10 years out so so yeah um if if you can do that and I can't remember Co changed a few things yeah Charlotte Charlotte and then I think there was a there was some stuff maybe something happened with UCF after the hurricane something might have happened I don't know but I'm I don't have anything to do with scheduling oh sorry didn't cut you off and and the other thing is I think you're really wrong by saying uh it's your opinion excuse me I shouldn't say you're wrong it's your opinion that this schedule's really weak and we might not get in the playoff you win your conference you're going to get the playoff um and that's what we're trying to get and you're also looking at a um a team in North Carolina Central that won the celebration Bowl two years ago and who knows whether they're good with transfer Charlotte's Biff's done a great job down there they got tremendous amount of of transfers JMU was number one in the country last year so uh it's easy for you to sit and say they're not any good because you don't have to coach against them or play against them but again I I I think that's an opinion and I'm I'm three mid majors in September I disagree with six out of eight ACC teams that picked in the second division of the ACC right Florida State won The League last year I do know I sat in your position for five years and I picked them in preseason and usually the preseason picks were clueless I mean I was awful and and and when they'd asked me to pick the national champion right before the national championship game and I'd said I don't know who's going to transfer I don't know who's HT I don't know who's coming back they said I just pick them so I I don't look at all that yes sir sorry to get you off um m is it fair to say that Aon Banfield Davon GS Jordan ship in terms of the true freshman I mean these guys in line to play meaningful snaps like with the offense as opposed to like getting on special teams is there anyone else there in terms of a true freshman you said bfield just offense yeah I don't have it in front of bullet ship I would say U Manfield would be in a rotation um the others wouldn't be in an immediate rotation Jordan got banged up got him behind a little bit um you but that they're they're all three really good players that are going to play some I was trying to think to be fair I'm trying to think of who else um Alex Taylor Ashton Woods um we yeah okay terrible question I'm doing here who who could you see his true freshman that could get made some meaningful snaps with an offense or a defense I mean there's got to be a couple guys yeah I don't think anybody other than Banfield um as of Thursday it may change and and the other thing I'm I'm not going to see you again till Thursday somebody could get hurt tomorrow I mean you know those things change too but but I would think right now if you're if you're talking about meaningful snaps probably Aiden would be the one that would be out there more than than anybody else in a in a true freshman role and that's not to say I think I think just tell them generically the Freshman Class yeah um freshman class we we said had a a 347 in the core they've been unbelievable the the staff loves them the uh uh the coaches love them it's really a great class so there's so many of them that may play some they'll Pro we' told them some of them hit a wall they got really tired because they they've never done this much and we were throwing them out there and letting them go and then they'd just be worn out they'd be beaten down so we've told them that it what you need to do is keep working and improve and by midseason hopefully you'll be in that rotation right now your guy may play some but until you put it on film every day we don't know whether you're going to show up at Minnesota or not because you're you're just so young and then we had Brian Simmons stand up Brian Simmons red shirted and didn't start his second year so don't don't you freshman be thinking about transferring leaving because you're not playing the opening game this guy's going to be in a Hall of Fame so he's he's really good you said this is the best leadership group that you've had since you've been back coming off a year where you lose guys like Drake British said TZ Cory Gainer is it right to assume that a lot of you know new guys quote unquote have stuffed up into that vacuum it is but Power Eckles has been a leader since we've been here he and Cayman Rucker are two of the best leaders I've ever been around and then those guys start teaching other guys how to lead and then on Elijah huy in his second year becomes more of a leader will hardy can grow up uh stick Lane um he got here in the midsummer got hurt and didn't even get to go through preseason and now he's playing really well so I I think guys like that um you bring in an Austin blasy who's never started at Georgia but he's played for four years he's older he gets it you bring in a Josh Harris that's started at two different schools he's older he gets it he tells them grow up quit whining um so a lot of those guys have come in and really stepped up and and made a difference and and that's what I'm excited about you mentioned the Virginia Tech game three years ago now that was if I'm remembering correctly Cayman and power's first games with fans in college so are they have they sort of taken that lead and they're you know harping on that sort of environment to the younger guys yes and and younger guys have played in front of five to maybe 20,000 they're going to have 60 uh really loud pulling against them on on Thursday night and I've told them you you don't take it as pressure you take it as Pride you take it as fun and um and we'll just see how they respond goe I go back true freshman real quickly as far as bullet goes how close is he to being in a point where he can get some meaningful reps on offense yeah um you start looking at uh um he's mature he's strong he's tough what he does better than most of these people is Young freshman is is pass protect and he's from a really good program so he's he's ahe of the game so he could play and he could go in the game if the other guys got hurt uh without question so he's um you just got a couple older guys that are are more ready um we do be pretty comfortable with right we do so we're we're Larry Porter's done a really good job of keeping his room they're they're all responsible for keeping their rooms where they're good and and it's it's even going to get more um important in the future that you start to caps and all the things that are coming up here uh you better keep your room full it's it's like it's we're we're headed toward NFL on a fast track yes of game starts for your line concer you all that's crazy one guy started entering game Big 10 you know I will say that I was feeling really good till Randy Clemens told me that the other day and I said we're not going to have excuses so if that was an excuse he said no it's a fact and I said I'm okay with facts uh but I really like them I they they've worked so hard I like our defensive line right now better than I've liked them since we've been here and they're they're playing so hard we've had some real battles up front and Minnesota will be among the best defensive line that we'll play this year and we're putting these guys in a position where they have no clue what the defensive coordinator is going to do too because we we don't know what he's going to do so it'll be it'll be really fun to watch them I'm going to talk to him about keep your composure and they're going to be some good plays and bad plays but they're also talented that I'm I'm I'm just excited to watch them back to go off that a little bit um what is kind of the process of you know looking at Minnesota's defense that does bring back a lot but you as you touched on you know has a new defensive coordinator is there a balance that you strike of looking at how last year's game went you know looking at even J you like what is the kind of balance that you strike there yes you it's a it's a great question but you go back and look at Drake through for 4004 yards we didn't run the ball we couldn't run it against them it's same group except they've got their best linebacker back with that front so right now people are going to anticipate that we will be uh run oriented because we've got more experience at running back than we do at quarterback in this offense um so and we run the ball better than we did last year with a different offensive line that's never played before against the same defense I don't know that's that'll be one of the the really great things about Thursday night is when we walk out of there we'll know more about ourselves that we don't know right now we can say that offensive line is good or they're talented they messed up a bunch of stuff uh they're going to be good before the season's over but they need to pick it up so so we've got a lot of lot of question marks we'll answer Thursday night we got was there anything in particular that and obviously like you said Drake had it going was there anything in particular that they did kind of taking away am Marian's you know uh production in last you know PJ uh being raised with u shano Greg they're both great coaches um he going to stop the run period and make you throw it and that's just who he is and that's that's basic football we haven't done that here um I've tried and we haven't and uh we've got to so it's going to be two lines of scrimmage that are trying to knock the heck out of each other uh to see who can run the ball to see who can get a quarterback that hadn't been out there on these fields uh very much with Connor and not at all with Max and their guy had never been out in this game uh who can give their quarterback a chance okay we got what what has stood out to you about the way he's approached off season training camp he talked to Charlotte about try to expand his game to like a Christian McCaffrey like skill set trying to expand on that but what stood out to you about how he's approached it when everybody's looking at him a centerpiece you're offering yeah Aon Omarian is one of the nicest hardest working kids I've ever seen in my life if if he speaks it's because you spoke to him and he's usually going to say yes sir um and he's uh he he doesn't gripe he never chains em motion I me if he scores a touchdown he looks at you the same way if he does if he went the wrong way he's going to do what he's supposed to do he he does everything perfect he never misses a class he he's always the first one in his seat uh and he works so hard he gets mad when we take him out if we're if we're having a a thud group and then all of a sudden we go to scrimmage he's going to be mad that we don't let him scrimmage um so he's just an absolute dream he wanted to catch the ball better out of the back field he wanted to pass protect better so I would say those are the two things that that he's really really worked on he was a great receiver last year so I don't know I think it's route running he's really worked hard on on U being more distinct in his routes and and running away from man and sitting in zones and doing those type things uh but he's um he he's really good and he's a dream and the other thing in modern day football our our fans talk about loyalty um he got offered four times as much money to leave as he would make to stay here and never even considered it so think about loyalty I mean how how much does that happen modern day um so I I just uh I'm so proud of him I'm pulling for him and I I want him to have the year that he deserves to have because he's done everything right since he's been here yeah we got a staff meeting but I'll get a couple more I'll be quick okay um M the couple times this preseason when you mentioned Bobby Bouton and joeo in regard to people asking you why the heck you keep doing this um I mean have those has that have their situations really stuck in your mind in terms of you felt like those guys lost their sense of purpose when they stopped coaching is that what jumps out about their situations and and why you mention it no you um I remember when coach pno got fired and he died right afterwards so he coached until as long as he could coach Bowen got fired both of them got fired weirdly enough enough when you think about it and I hated that for both of them in fact I told Coach Bowen and his family there's no way they'll ever fire you your names on the stadium and they did um so uh it didn't they didn't quit ever and I don't know that they would have in and talking to both of them what I want to do is is as long as I feel like I'm doing a good job and I know more about that than anybody else uh and I'm really hard on myself as long as the kids are listening we've got good coaches here and and we're putting a productive product on the field that has a chance to keep getting better and elevating us at at the uh most difficult time most challenging time in college football history because of all the changes to do this uh and especially at a school like ours um then I'm healthy I'm excited I'm can't wait till till next week I'm I'm sitting here thinking this is really Friday for tomorrow would be Saturday on game day cuz this is my Friday routine usually um and I'm thinking but but this is game day so I got to get out there tonight how many people get to do that in their lives how many people get up every morning go to bed every night with a purpose and get up every morning excited about what they're going to do all day and I get to do that and I and it's not about me because I the I think I said some interview that well it's my purpose if I quit I won't have a purpose well that that's not the reason to keep doing it it's not about me uh but if I'm the best person we can have at this time to do this job and I know all of them so I know who the others would be uh if I'm the best one and I'm healthy and I like doing it and I know what we're doing and we're making progress I'm going to do it till somebody tells me they'd rather me not and and or until I decide that there's somebody better than me and and that's it somebody said the other day you just doing this for money I said no I'm really not they said well you just you just doing it for your ego I said I'm really not I don't I don't need any of that anymore I'm doing it because I love these kids I love football I I love this I love you all I love sitting and talking to you about the game it's a it's a wonderful game and and this stuff really challenges my mind when you ask me questions I have to sit here and think about and then I I'm leaving here to go up to a staff meeting with 30 people and talk to them about this afternoon and tomorrow what do we have to do Tuesday or Sunday which is Tuesday what what can we do between now and Thursday night to prepare for all the things you've asked me so we've done everything we can do to prepare not many people get to do that most people are looking at they're watching they hate till 5:00 till they get to go home and I hate it when people say thank goodness it's Friday I don't have to work anymore this weekend I I'm thinking I don't even know it's Friday I mean I'm I'm so excited I just I'm I'm I'm just really really blessed so don't want to be in the way I don't want to stay too long but as long as I'm doing a better job than who I think we would bring in to do it then then I'm I'm good Matt you when you first came here you talked about winning the national championship because the had divisions and so forth with everything that's happened in the game The Last Five Years do you still think this program could win the national championship absolutely TCU was a play away a game away two years ago so absolutely do we have some things we need to fix yes um are we better than we were when we got here absolutely are we better than a lot of our fans think we are absolutely are we closer than a lot of people think absolutely we're just we live in a negative world and a lot of people just get up every morning looking for something to gripe about and when you lose at the end of the year that's easy that's an easy gripe and I got it I'm I'm griping about it too anything else said you feel healthy any offse diet or health changes that impacted that may look a little Slimmer hav seen you about a year yeah no I I got way down and then got a little bit back during recruiting and I'm getting it back down so I'm headed back down but I I um the the story that se Shephard told when he came about the guy in the desert that uh he was walking all he had was his cell phone a knife and um his cell phone went dead and some Boulders fell and it pinned his arm and he couldn't get out and nobody came and he was going to die so he had to cut off his arm to live say it's a true story and he took the knife out cut off off his arm to live and he turned to the players and the coaches and said what would you cut off to save your life what would you cut off to help your life what would you cut off to have a better team uh and I thought I'm too heavy I said here every day and talk to kids about diet and effort and discipline and I'm not I'm I'm saying it I'm not showing it put it on film so so I've worked really really hard to to try to get myself in better shape to be a better role model for that you decided which quarterback will go out first yet like you don't have to tell us but you decided you know right now uh i' I've got what I think will happen again you're you're five days away uh as soon as I say yes or tell the staff or tell the team that one of them sprains an ankle tomorrow it all changes so so yeah yes well I was just going to ask briefly just on the all the retirement questions you know again but um you spoke earlier this summer about your father's influence and how much does that still C for your yeah my my granddad was the love of my life still is to this day I mean we lost him many years ago um and he was um he was a gentleman uh he was um he always had a smile on his face um I used to ride his his bus to the games with a little letter jacket when I was five six years old um he would get up and go fishing and hunting every morning of a ball game which I didn't know at that time but when he died it was amazing the number of stories that people told about his character and his attitude and his smile I never saw him get mad at anybody I mean it was just amazing to me but he won all the games and the stadiums named after him and and um he told me a few things he said uh um make sure you put yourself in a position to never get fired which is what I hated when it didn't work out at Texas I I thought I let him down um he said U you've got enough about you to be in the Hall of Fame if you'll keep doing this and and um that worked out so I was very proud of that night I was most proud for him that that happened and then he said U um always do what you know is the right thing to do and I've always done that and he said if there's any question about whether it's right or not don't do it and he said but if you'll do what's right people get mad at you and people will be frustrated but you'll sleep good at night and you will know that the people that are looking to you for leadership are going to know that you're going to do what's right and that's what I tell our staff we're going to do what's right we're we're going to do what's best for these kids every day and I tell everybody in our staff room all of our coaches have children and I said you treat these players like you would want your son to be treated and if you're not then you're not doing your job and and I didn't bring the right person in here because that's very very important so while you're doing all of that in a world that that's not all perfect right now in our business and some people are cutting Corners I told the staff yesterday I don't care we're going to do everything right we're going to do everything within the rules and we're going to do everything that's best for North Carolina best for these kids um and and that's who we're going to be moving forward and we're still going to win all the games we're going to do it by doing it right we're not going to take shortcuts anything else really for me aity pick I did which is really and I tell the players that I was the guy that that stayed hurt time so I said if you you put it on film you got to get trust for your coach to put you out there CU it's really important to us and if he does trust you then he's not going to put you out there doing the game and people are going to get mad at him he didn't trust you because you didn't do what you're supposed to do off the field or in practice and you got to stay healthy and I said I was a guy couldn't stay healthy I I ruined my knee and a fraternity football game and then I tried to play and I me just it got worse and worse and we doctors weren't doing as well then as they are now and medicine was different but uh that's what I've told them you you've the the other thing we we told them recently is last night what was your 24 hours uh in preparation of tonight I could Pro if you would tell me the truth and tell me what your 24 hours were I'd probably know whether you're going to be ready to play or not so when we've lost to lesser teams what was your 24 hours why weren't you as prepared for that game as you were the one before that we won and the only way this works we we all want to win all the games that that's our deal so the only way it works is you got to get ready every day to be that same guy that's ready for every game not many people do that most of our world's average and it's okay it's okay to be average but if you're going to be average in football you you're going to get beat and and that's what I've told these kids don't be average run from average run from average to be great and get up every day with a purpose to go do something that's important in your life and and I told him that uh you can go out tonight it's Friday night you don't have anything to do tomorrow you're off and you can lose uh your reputation in 15 minutes that you've built for 22 years that's a choice you have I can't be with you you can also ruin all the conditioning you've put in between now and Sunday and then have an awful practice Sunday morning or go out there not ready to practice Sunday morning and get hurt and lose everything that you've put in for the last 6 months or you can have a 24-hour preparation for what's important in your life and if playing good and winning is the most important thing then you'll prepare for that 24 hours and that that's this this stuff is the game is very simple it's played and coached by very complicated people you to go to your coach and go you know I was playing for the sa us this game this weekend I F it it's a great question chip I feel really guilty now that I didn't pay my way to my coaches and I didn't then I thought how sorry for me that I was hurt I felt sorry for me but I didn't lift like I was supposed to I was out playing fraternity football instead of doing what I was supposed to do so now I realize when these kids get hurt they don't they don't worri about me I wasn't and I tell the kids that do what you're supposed to do to prepare and you you've got less chance to get hurt but if you're not doing what you're supposed to do there's consequen and that's just a huge part of it I remember sitting in the hospital and and there was a guy next to me at that time they didn't have rooms they had those little curtains you pull back and forth and the guy next to me was screaming that his feet were killing and that at that time he had cast and I had a full leg cast on the right side and he had it on for like six weeks or something it awful maybe six months I couldn't you had to take that uh coat hanger and scratch your leg cuz it was awful I mean just awful you didn't have anything like you had today and I I finally got so tired of hearing that guy Scream I asked the nurse I said would you tell him to shut up I've had it I can't do this she pulled the curtain back he'd been run over by a train he' lost his legs uh above his knees he had no feet and he was delirious and he was screaming that his feet were hurting uh and I said all right God I got it I need to keep my mouth shut get my knee well and then I that's when I started coaching I I I couldn't get back so I did not pay for my scholarship and and that's something that I hate um all my coaches are most of them are gone but it's something I hate every day that I didn't give back what they gave me and that's what I'm trying to help these young guys realize don't be me don't be like I was you be tougher than me you be better than me you you you prepare yourself better for me because one of the things we can all do in our lives and especially coaches is as we can help them not make the same mistakes we made and that's one thing I try to do with them at the game th I'm sorry you hope that Governor walls is at the game love you art