Quick-hitters: Brian Kelly on North Carolina, defensive line, injuries
Brian Kelly understands the narrative around North Carolina’s season.
The Tar Heels were the No. 10 team in the preseason AP top 25, but sit at 4-3 and 3-3 in the ACC heading into Saturday night's game at No. 11 Notre Dame (6-1). All of their losses are against opponents with losing records. They’re on the short list of most disappointing teams.
Throw that away, Kelly says.
"I know it’s about winning football games, but on any given night, this team puts it together and they’re as good as any team we’ve played this year," Kelly said. "That’s not just coming up with a statement to get everybody’s attention. It’s a talented football team.”
It's an even bigger challenge without junior safety Kyle Hamilton, who Kelly said will not play this week due to a knee injury suffered against USC. That's true even after Notre Dame shut down North Carolina's offense in the second half in a win last season without Hamilton after he was ejected for targeting. The Tar Heels are 18th in scoring offense (36.9 points per game) and 17th in yards per play (6.76).
“We all know that starts with [quarterback] Sam Howell," Kelly said. "A really good transfer at running back in Ty Chandler. Josh Downs is having a breakout season at the slot position.”
Kelly spoke for more than 30 minutes at his usual Monday press conference about the Tar Heels and other topics. Here are some of the other areas he covered.
Injury updates on RB Chris Tyree, DE Alex Ehrensberger, OG Zeke Correll, LB Adam Shibley
“Tyree, that was a game-time decision. He’s moving well. We’re optimistic he will be back this week. Ehrensberger was back spasms. Feeling better today. We’re hopeful that continues to clear up. Zeke was in our concussion protocol. We expect him to move around and he will be in the weight room today.”
“Shibley had rotator cuff surgery and will be out for the year.”
On North Carolina
“There are a lot of people talking about the expectations and how they haven’t lived up to expectations. I’m sure they have higher expectations, but as you watch them on film and evaluate them, this is a talented football team. They’re very deep on defense, especially on the defensive line. They have a lot of talented players on the offensive side of the ball.”
On the offensive line
“You’re gaining some continuity on that left side. It’s working together now. It helps the entire group. What they really did well is USC came out in three-down. They hadn’t played three-down all year. Then implementing a scheme in a 3-5-3, that’s a lot of identification, a lot of communication, a lot of work up front. The adjustments they made in-game were really outstanding. They picked up things as the game went on.”
On DE Jordan Botelho
“It’s just hard to get him on the field. Coach [Mike] Elston has a rotation there and he’s set into that rotation. There’s a tendency as coaches that we all get into a comfort level and come today, when we have our coordinators meeting, we have the realization we should play somebody more. Maybe he fits into that category.”
On the defensive line
“The first thing is when we’ve been in a three-man rush, our coverage has been pretty good. There is a little bit of the quarterback not getting the ball out right away and it’s giving us a chance to get to the quarterback. There’s a little bit of both. I don’t want to say it’s strictly that we’re overpowering an offensive line.
“We’re giving our defensive line a chance to get to the quarterback as well. We’re filling some lanes and taking away some initial reads.
"If you dig in and watch the [USC] film, we’re doing some pretty good things off the initial snap reads with [quarterback Kedon] Slovis where he had to move through his progressions. As he’s moving through his progression, that’s when we’re getting to the quarterback. Relentlessness on the defensive line is the first thing that stands out to me.”
On DE Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa
“His motor is so good. His instincts are great. We’d like to give him three or four inches of length and he’d probably have five or six more sacks. But he’s playing great for us.”
On his relationship with Mack Brown
“When I was at Grand Valley State, we coached together in the Hula Bowl. He was a great mentor to me as a young coach and stayed in touch with me. He always allowed me the opportunity to go down and be at practices at Texas when I was at Division II and give me that access.”
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