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North Carolina went on the road last Thursday night to play Duke in a nationally televised rivalry game. The Tar Heels were unable to generate any late-game heroics this time as they fell to Duke, 28-27. They had plenty of opportunities but, as Head Coach Larry Fedora mentioned after the game, “We just shot ourselves in the foot and that kept us from making the key plays when we needed them.” Here are Coach Fedora’s thoughts on the loss, where the miscues occurred, and moving forward to the next opponent.
1. When it comes to player substitutions, who makes the call on those and are there ever any situations where you step in and overrule those substitutions based on what you’re seeing in the game? – “Regarding the first part, yes, the position coaches manage their units' substitutions during the games. And that’s based on different factors – fatigue, production, and also what plays we’re running at any point in time, for that particular series and what those concepts are that we’re trying to execute. That changes many times throughout the game as we’re analyzing the opponent’s defense. We have certain plays that we prefer to run out of certain looks with a particular personnel package. As far as me ever stepping in; yes, I’ve done that in the past many times. Our problem against Duke wasn’t with which individual players were in the game at any one time, but how much the team as a whole were making glaring mistakes on plays we’ve run a thousand times. That’s on all of us as a team.”
2. Mitch got off to a fast start and then, as the game went on, he seemed to be holding on to the ball longer before passing than he typically does. Is that accurate according to what you saw on film? –“What we saw on film was a couple of things. Mental mistakes across the board that we don’t usually make. And as the game went on, the routes we were running and the concepts we're trying to run weren’t as consistent as they usually are in those passing situations. Guys just weren’t where they’re always supposed to be in those routes and I think that threw Mitch off a bit. I think it made him press a little bit more as he became more apprehensive about where he was going to go with the ball. So yes, with regards to him holding it longer than usual, I would say that is accurate, and he knows that too.”
3. The defense had trouble making some key plays on third downs and allowing Duke to extend drives. Would you attribute that to tackling issues or problems with guys being where they were supposed to be in order to make those plays? – “I don’t think it was a tackling issue. I think it was mental mistakes more than anything. We only gave up seven points in the second half but we couldn’t get off the field. Every time we had them backed up we let them out and they flipped the field back on us just about every single time. We just kept messing up base concepts and we paid for it on crucial plays. It wasn’t missing tackles; it really was not putting ourselves in the right position to make those tackles. The margin of error in making the tackle and not making the tackle is narrow and being just a bit out of position can lead to the missed tackle. It was more alignment and being in the right places at crucial times.”
4. In the coaches’ meeting after reviewing the film, what were the main themes or topics that came out of what you guys saw on film? – “The film just showed a ton of glaring mistakes. Mental mistakes on basic things and fundamental things we do every day and in every game. We weren’t trying to do anything special or difficult in this game either. It was just base plays that we made mistakes on that were inexcusable. Attention to details and having enough focus on those details is what started to be lacking as the game went on. That’s on us. All we had to do was execute what we execute every day in practice and every week in the game. It’s that simple. That’s what we discussed as a staff as we watched the film.”
5. What was your message to the team since then and how have they responded? – “We addressed everything with them Friday and I thought they responded well to it. It was a pretty quiet room for sure. Nobody was saying anything but me. They knew we wasted a great opportunity. They didn’t need me to browbeat them about it or anything. They’re a mature group and an honest group in terms of self-awareness. Today was all about coming back with a renewed commitment and coming to practice with a purpose. I thought they did that Sunday and I thought they did it well. We have to move forward and focus on being 1-0. We have to get ready for an undefeated opponent this week in The Citadel. One, an undefeated team better catch your attention. Two, they do a great job with the triple-option, so you know they’re going to try and limit the amount of possessions you get to have on offense. Our defense, much like in the Georgia Tech game, is going to have to steal some possessions from them for our offense. Then our offense is going to have to take advantage of every possession and be efficient. We’re going to have to play really well. This team won on a big stage last season. They’re not going to be intimidated to come to Chapel Hill and play the University of North Carolina, I can assure you of that. They’re coming with the intent to stay undefeated. We have to come with the focus and intent to win this game. This game is what matters most right now.”
North Carolina went on the road last Thursday night to play Duke in a nationally televised rivalry game. The Tar Heels were unable to generate any late-game heroics this time as they fell to Duke, 28-27. They had plenty of opportunities but, as Head Coach Larry Fedora mentioned after the game, “We just shot ourselves in the foot and that kept us from making the key plays when we needed them.” Here are Coach Fedora’s thoughts on the loss, where the miscues occurred, and moving forward to the next opponent.
1. When it comes to player substitutions, who makes the call on those and are there ever any situations where you step in and overrule those substitutions based on what you’re seeing in the game? – “Regarding the first part, yes, the position coaches manage their units' substitutions during the games. And that’s based on different factors – fatigue, production, and also what plays we’re running at any point in time, for that particular series and what those concepts are that we’re trying to execute. That changes many times throughout the game as we’re analyzing the opponent’s defense. We have certain plays that we prefer to run out of certain looks with a particular personnel package. As far as me ever stepping in; yes, I’ve done that in the past many times. Our problem against Duke wasn’t with which individual players were in the game at any one time, but how much the team as a whole were making glaring mistakes on plays we’ve run a thousand times. That’s on all of us as a team.”
2. Mitch got off to a fast start and then, as the game went on, he seemed to be holding on to the ball longer before passing than he typically does. Is that accurate according to what you saw on film? –“What we saw on film was a couple of things. Mental mistakes across the board that we don’t usually make. And as the game went on, the routes we were running and the concepts we're trying to run weren’t as consistent as they usually are in those passing situations. Guys just weren’t where they’re always supposed to be in those routes and I think that threw Mitch off a bit. I think it made him press a little bit more as he became more apprehensive about where he was going to go with the ball. So yes, with regards to him holding it longer than usual, I would say that is accurate, and he knows that too.”
3. The defense had trouble making some key plays on third downs and allowing Duke to extend drives. Would you attribute that to tackling issues or problems with guys being where they were supposed to be in order to make those plays? – “I don’t think it was a tackling issue. I think it was mental mistakes more than anything. We only gave up seven points in the second half but we couldn’t get off the field. Every time we had them backed up we let them out and they flipped the field back on us just about every single time. We just kept messing up base concepts and we paid for it on crucial plays. It wasn’t missing tackles; it really was not putting ourselves in the right position to make those tackles. The margin of error in making the tackle and not making the tackle is narrow and being just a bit out of position can lead to the missed tackle. It was more alignment and being in the right places at crucial times.”
4. In the coaches’ meeting after reviewing the film, what were the main themes or topics that came out of what you guys saw on film? – “The film just showed a ton of glaring mistakes. Mental mistakes on basic things and fundamental things we do every day and in every game. We weren’t trying to do anything special or difficult in this game either. It was just base plays that we made mistakes on that were inexcusable. Attention to details and having enough focus on those details is what started to be lacking as the game went on. That’s on us. All we had to do was execute what we execute every day in practice and every week in the game. It’s that simple. That’s what we discussed as a staff as we watched the film.”
5. What was your message to the team since then and how have they responded? – “We addressed everything with them Friday and I thought they responded well to it. It was a pretty quiet room for sure. Nobody was saying anything but me. They knew we wasted a great opportunity. They didn’t need me to browbeat them about it or anything. They’re a mature group and an honest group in terms of self-awareness. Today was all about coming back with a renewed commitment and coming to practice with a purpose. I thought they did that Sunday and I thought they did it well. We have to move forward and focus on being 1-0. We have to get ready for an undefeated opponent this week in The Citadel. One, an undefeated team better catch your attention. Two, they do a great job with the triple-option, so you know they’re going to try and limit the amount of possessions you get to have on offense. Our defense, much like in the Georgia Tech game, is going to have to steal some possessions from them for our offense. Then our offense is going to have to take advantage of every possession and be efficient. We’re going to have to play really well. This team won on a big stage last season. They’re not going to be intimidated to come to Chapel Hill and play the University of North Carolina, I can assure you of that. They’re coming with the intent to stay undefeated. We have to come with the focus and intent to win this game. This game is what matters most right now.”
