Fedora On GT Prep, Leadership, Sails, Holcomb & More
CHAPEL HILL – UNC football coach Larry Fedora met with the media following Wednesday’s practice at Kenan Stadium to discuss his team’s preparation for Saturday’s game at Georgia Tech and a few other things.
Here are a few snippets of what the sixth-year head coach had to say:
*With wide receivers Austin Proehl and Thomas Jackson out for the year, Fedora was asked if anyone in that position group has stepped forward as a leader.
“No, not really. I wouldn’t say a leader of the group,” Fedora replied. “(WR) Coach (Gunter) Brewer’s the leader of that group right now. But there’s guys that are getting a lot of reps in practice and are learning what to do and making sure they know what to do at multiple positions.”
*Linebacker Cole Holcomb called the plays from the Mike position when UNC was in a nickel defense against Duke even though he’s normally an outside linebacker. Fedora explained what the thinking is there by the staff.
“He’s shown that he can play multiple positions, and we felt like we (wanted) to have more speed on the field at that position.”
*As far as how the team has handled prepping for Georgia Tech’s triple option offense, Fedora said, “I think it’s been good. It’s not like the first time they’ve seen it. They’ve had a piece of the plan put in for a while now, so most of the recall has been really good, and we’ve got one more day to polish it up (Thursday).”
*Most of the current Tar Heels on defense have faced Tech’s offense already, but a few of the players haven’t, and there’s only so much the UNC scout team can do to get them adequately prepared.
“For somebody who’s never seen it, in three days they’re not going to be prepared – they’re surely won’t be prepared for the speed of the game. They may know the schemes, but they won’t be prepared for the speed.”
*UNC has defeated Georgia Tech three consecutive times, so can the Tar Heels draw some confidence from that and that the Yellow Jackets haven’t gone nut offensively in the last two meetings?
“The guys that have played before in this game, they understand what it’s all about, they know we’ve been successful in the past. But that has nothing to do with this team other than those guys are able to pull from the experience from playing against this offense, which is really difficult.”
