Larry Fedora, North Carolina head coach Opening Statement:
“We’re entering Coastal Division play now and all of our goals are in play for the rest of the season basically. It’s a big game because it’s the next game, it’s a big game against a divisional opponent. Our guys are looking forward to it. They will be, probably, the best team we’ve played till this point, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
On facing Pittsburgh’s running game
“I don’t know if we have to do some extra special, but we know that they are going to run the football. We know what they’re built on; we know what their philosophy is. They’ve got a great group of running backs – not just James Conner – they’ve got a bunch of good running backs. They’ve got a really good offensive line. They’ve got a solid quarterback. They are going to run the football, there’s no doubt.”
On how he addressed the several personal foul penalties after the whistle the team received against JMU
“I addressed them with the team Sunday. We talked about it in the locker room after the game. We addressed it and took care of that situation on the field and in the meeting room. We don’t do extra conditioning drills, we have positive reinforcement, though.”
On why the team got so many penalties
“Frustration. Frustration and selfishness. That’s what I attribute it to.”
On if he talked with Jalen Dalton about his personal foul call
“No. I didn’t talk with him in particular. I talked with the entire team. It’s unacceptable and we’re going to deal with it and hopefully our guys will play smarter.”
On the leadership of the football team
“Des Lawrence and Dominquie Green. We didn’t have Naz (Jones) around, so whatever’s left you have to do it. There’s enough guys out there who understand how to do it, what the expectation level is and the standard we set and how we want them to play. That’s where the frustration was setting in because they weren’t playing up to par. I’ve said it before. It’s easy to lead when things are going good. That’s a prime example of when you need your leadership to step up and take over. And it can’t just come from the coaching staff. It won’t be near as effective.”
On if he talks to the leaders on the team
“I have meetings periodically with our leadership council. I talk to all those leaders all the time. That’s daily that I’m in their ear saying something to those guys.”
On if Andre Smith as a sophomore can be a leader
“Sure. Leadership doesn’t just come from seniors. It can come from anybody. Anybody that has influence on your team. That can be a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior. It doesn’t matter. If you have influence you have the possibility to lead and you can lead positively or negatively.”
On why he thinks Pitt is the best team he’s seen thus far
“From watching film. Maybe that’s because this is the first team we’ve seen three tapes on this far. But they’re really good in all areas. I don’t care what you’re looking at. They’re running the ball very, very effectively against everyone they’ve played. They are defensively being really stingy. Pat (Narduzzi) does a great job with the defense. They do a great job against the running game, there’s no doubt. Oklahoma State got behind on some situations, but that’s uncharacteristic also. If you look on their special team units, they are extremely sound in everything they do. They’re a really good football team. A really good solid football team. We probably know a little more about them than the other groups we’ve played.”
On how important it was to have the big plays the team had against JMU
“It’s important. One, just getting your confidence back for Mitch. Those receivers. It’s good for everybody. Just the timing of it. I’m looking at the distance he’s throwing the ball versus press coverage versus soft coverage, all those things. We have ideas about what those depths should be. No one was breaking stride on any of those passes so he was on the money. He was doing a nice job of it.”
On Mitch Trubisky’s performance
“There was quite a bit left out there. He could have been a lot better, actually. The decision-making process of where the ball goes sometimes. Even though he throws a completion, that may not have been where the ball should have gone, or there are times we ran the football when we should have been throwing it. Those are again his decisions based on what we were expecting from the defense and what the defensive showed. He still has to be sharp. It can’t be, ‘well I didn’t throw it just because I didn’t feel like it.’ I know you guys are big on balance with run/pass, but it doesn’t always work out that way with what the defense gives us.”
On the play of the linebackers
“What was disappointing during that game was the lack of physicality. There were a lot of things that were encouraging. When we go and watch film on Sunday’s we point out the good and the bad. We tell them it’s the only place where they are getting truth in their life. It really is. They’re not getting it at home. They’re not getting from their girlfriend. They’re not getting it from anyone else. They get the truth when they go into those meeting rooms because the eye in the sky doesn’t lie. It’s telling you right there exactly what’s going on. We point out the positive things that are going on in the game and we point out the negative things going on in the game.”
- The ACC
“We’re entering Coastal Division play now and all of our goals are in play for the rest of the season basically. It’s a big game because it’s the next game, it’s a big game against a divisional opponent. Our guys are looking forward to it. They will be, probably, the best team we’ve played till this point, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
On facing Pittsburgh’s running game
“I don’t know if we have to do some extra special, but we know that they are going to run the football. We know what they’re built on; we know what their philosophy is. They’ve got a great group of running backs – not just James Conner – they’ve got a bunch of good running backs. They’ve got a really good offensive line. They’ve got a solid quarterback. They are going to run the football, there’s no doubt.”
On how he addressed the several personal foul penalties after the whistle the team received against JMU
“I addressed them with the team Sunday. We talked about it in the locker room after the game. We addressed it and took care of that situation on the field and in the meeting room. We don’t do extra conditioning drills, we have positive reinforcement, though.”
On why the team got so many penalties
“Frustration. Frustration and selfishness. That’s what I attribute it to.”
On if he talked with Jalen Dalton about his personal foul call
“No. I didn’t talk with him in particular. I talked with the entire team. It’s unacceptable and we’re going to deal with it and hopefully our guys will play smarter.”
On the leadership of the football team
“Des Lawrence and Dominquie Green. We didn’t have Naz (Jones) around, so whatever’s left you have to do it. There’s enough guys out there who understand how to do it, what the expectation level is and the standard we set and how we want them to play. That’s where the frustration was setting in because they weren’t playing up to par. I’ve said it before. It’s easy to lead when things are going good. That’s a prime example of when you need your leadership to step up and take over. And it can’t just come from the coaching staff. It won’t be near as effective.”
On if he talks to the leaders on the team
“I have meetings periodically with our leadership council. I talk to all those leaders all the time. That’s daily that I’m in their ear saying something to those guys.”
On if Andre Smith as a sophomore can be a leader
“Sure. Leadership doesn’t just come from seniors. It can come from anybody. Anybody that has influence on your team. That can be a freshman, sophomore, junior or senior. It doesn’t matter. If you have influence you have the possibility to lead and you can lead positively or negatively.”
On why he thinks Pitt is the best team he’s seen thus far
“From watching film. Maybe that’s because this is the first team we’ve seen three tapes on this far. But they’re really good in all areas. I don’t care what you’re looking at. They’re running the ball very, very effectively against everyone they’ve played. They are defensively being really stingy. Pat (Narduzzi) does a great job with the defense. They do a great job against the running game, there’s no doubt. Oklahoma State got behind on some situations, but that’s uncharacteristic also. If you look on their special team units, they are extremely sound in everything they do. They’re a really good football team. A really good solid football team. We probably know a little more about them than the other groups we’ve played.”
On how important it was to have the big plays the team had against JMU
“It’s important. One, just getting your confidence back for Mitch. Those receivers. It’s good for everybody. Just the timing of it. I’m looking at the distance he’s throwing the ball versus press coverage versus soft coverage, all those things. We have ideas about what those depths should be. No one was breaking stride on any of those passes so he was on the money. He was doing a nice job of it.”
On Mitch Trubisky’s performance
“There was quite a bit left out there. He could have been a lot better, actually. The decision-making process of where the ball goes sometimes. Even though he throws a completion, that may not have been where the ball should have gone, or there are times we ran the football when we should have been throwing it. Those are again his decisions based on what we were expecting from the defense and what the defensive showed. He still has to be sharp. It can’t be, ‘well I didn’t throw it just because I didn’t feel like it.’ I know you guys are big on balance with run/pass, but it doesn’t always work out that way with what the defense gives us.”
On the play of the linebackers
“What was disappointing during that game was the lack of physicality. There were a lot of things that were encouraging. When we go and watch film on Sunday’s we point out the good and the bad. We tell them it’s the only place where they are getting truth in their life. It really is. They’re not getting it at home. They’re not getting from their girlfriend. They’re not getting it from anyone else. They get the truth when they go into those meeting rooms because the eye in the sky doesn’t lie. It’s telling you right there exactly what’s going on. We point out the positive things that are going on in the game and we point out the negative things going on in the game.”
- The ACC
