Why UNC football coach Mack Brown doesn’t want the 3-0 Tar Heels to get comfortable
If Mack Brown said it one time Monday, he said it 10 times: “You can’t get comfortable.”
Get comfortable as a football coach and you get outcoached. Get comfortable as a football player, and you get outplayed. Get comfortable as a football program, and you can slip, quickly.
Brown touched on all that as the North Carolina coach discussed the Tar Heels’ 3-0 start to the season, this week’s ACC game against Pittsburgh and the challenges ahead.
“We haven’t haven’t handled success very well,” Brown said of the past few seasons. “That’s part of the growing of your program. We’ve got to get used to winning again and we’ve got to think we’re going to win and plan on winning, instead of feeling too good about ourselves.”
The Tar Heels are ranked No. 17 this week and seeking their first 4-0 start since 1997, Brown’s last season in his first go-round at UNC. They will go into their first ACC game, on the road, as seven-point favorites according to the oddsmakers.
But, as Brown was quick to note, every game becomes a “litmus test” of where the team stands. The question he poses to the team each week: “Are we going to get better or we going to get worse?”
The Heels appeared to get better in beating Minnesota, 31-13, Saturday at Kenan Stadium. Drake Maye passed for 414 yards and two scores. Wide receiver Nate McCollum had 15 catches for 165 yards, earning the ACC honor Monday as receiver of the week. The defense did its job thoroughly enough, making good use of its depth on the defensive line and in the secondary on a warm day and coming up with two interceptions.
“I like the way we’re playing complementary football,” Brown said.
UNC ranks second nationally in FBS on third-down conversions at 65.1%, converting 28 of 43 third-down plays. The Heels were 12-for-17 on third down against the Gophers in building up 33 minutes of possession time and running 77 plays.
“So far, so good through three games,” offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said Monday. “As the season goes down, those third downs become more and more important the bigger the games are.”
Brown said the Heels have converted better than 60% on third down in all three games for the first time since at least 1990, when Brown said the NCAA started keeping that statistic.
But Pat Narduzzi’s teams at Pitt, always physical and fast, usually have found a way to slow down the best of opposing offenses. The Panthers (1-2) are 16th in the FBS in third-down defense at 29.7%, allowing 11 conversions on 37 third-down plays.
In short, something has to give. Either the Heels can keep their offense on the field and control the game, or the Panthers’ D gets them off.
“They’re going to challenge you and make you earn it,” Lindsey said.
A year ago, Maye had five touchdown passes as UNC blistered Pitt 42-24 at Kenan. Narduzzi was not happy about that one. In 2021, Pitt passed for 396 yards — Kenny Pickett doing the flinging — as the Panthers won in overtime 30-23 in Pittsburgh.
Pitt also won in OT in 2019, taking a 34-27 victory at home.
“We have to go fight our guts out and as I said be able to handle success, because we know how they’re going to play,” Brown said. “The question is how are we going to play, because we haven’t always responded well when people are patting us on the back.”
Brown pointed to last season, when the Heels were 9-1 and had clinched the Coastal Division. They then lost the last four games, including the ACC championship game to Clemson and the Holiday Bowl against Oregon.
“You’re best when you’re uncomfortable,” Brown said. “You get comfortable in this business, you better look out.”
Injury update
UNC said wide receiver Gavin Blackwell (upper-body injury) will continue to be evaluated this week. ... Offensive lineman Willie Lampkin (lower-body) will be monitored in practice this week before a decision on his playing status. ... Cornerback Lejond Covazos (lower-body) is working his way back in practice.
North Carolina (3-0) at Pittsburgh (1-2)
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: Acrisure Stadium, Pittsburgh.
TV: ACC Network.
Series history: UNC has an 11-5 edge in the series, winning last year’s game 42-24 in Chapel Hill as Drake Maye passed for five touchdowns.
This story was originally published September 18, 2023 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Why UNC football coach Mack Brown doesn’t want the 3-0 Tar Heels to get comfortable."
