Q. Chaz Surratt is an incoming freshman. How can you assess how he's doing so far? Do you have any idea whether he'll be able to play this year?
COACH FEDORA: Chaz had an elbow injury that ended his high school career a little bit early. As he has got there, he's been doing some rehab. I think they told me he's somewhere around 95%. Hoping that we when start camp he's going to be able to go full speed and throw it like he can.
We're excited about what Chaz brings. He's a lefty, he can spin the ball. He's very athletic. He's won multiple state championships in high school. He has that 'it' factor about himself. We're excited about him.
Q. If you don't put up the number of points that you did last season, how reliable is your punting?
COACH FEDORA: That's a great question. I don't know yet. We haven't named a starting punter yet. I can tell you the other 10 guys, they're going to do their job. But right now we haven't had a guy separate himself as a punter.
We know we're going to have somebody out there 43 days from now, September 3rd. We'll put somebody out there to punt if we have to punt.
But whether we put up those points or not, we're going to have to have a punter throughout the season. That has been a huge weapon for us in the past. We need to get back to that being that.
Q. Heard a lot about Mitch. What can you say about his patience over the years and what you've seen from him, his work ethic, knowing he had to wait his turn and now it's here?
COACH FEDORA: You know, I can't say enough good things about Mitch Trubisky, the situation Mitch has been in. In society today, it's not about be patient and work your way into a position. It's more of a sense of entitlement for most people nowadays that you should be given something because of something you did in the past.
That's not the approach that Mitch Trubisky or his family took when he came to the University of North Carolina. He knew he was going to have to compete and he competed. He competed every single day. He didn't win the job early on, but it was not a sense of frustration for him. It was just, I need to work harder.
Mitch has done that. He knew his time was coming. His time is here. I think he's excited about it. There's no doubt in my mind he's prepared because of the reps he's had, meaningful reps in games, and also there was a spring where he was the number one quarterback the entire spring.
He's gotten reps. He feels good about where he's at. Nothing is going to rattle him. I mean, I expect him to perform pretty well.
Q. A lot of good runningbacks in the ACC this year. You have one, Florida State, Pitt has a couple, Clemson. Is the ACC going against the grain, more of a ground attack overall running fancy passing formations?
COACH FEDORA: Well, you are correct that we've got some great runningbacks in our league. There's no doubt about it. I mean, they'll match up with anybody in the country, they really will.
I think it's still based on each school's individual scheme. Probably the Big 12 is throwing it all over the place all the time, but if you listen to coaches in the Big 12, they still feel like they need to be able to run the ball.
We in this league believe that you've got to be able to run the ball to be successful. I don't know that there's one program out there that says they're going to throw it 60 times a game and be successful. If you're throwing it 60 times a game, you're probably trying to come from behind. That's what's happening.
I do agree with you completely, that we've got some great, great runningbacks in our league right now.
Q. Last year you were last in rushing defense, second to last in total defense, and yet amazingly among the very best in scoring defense. How did you pull that off? What part did Des and the secondary guys do?
COACH FEDORA: I'll be honest with you guys, we don't put a whole lot of stock in yards allowed anymore. Total yards or defense, that's not really even a stat we pay any attention to.
The most important stat is scoring defense. That's the way we look at it. Now, there are other stats that play into that role: turnovers, all those different things. But scoring defense is number one. If you don't let them get in the end zone, it doesn't matter how many times you let them run up and down the field.
That is the number one thing.
Why were we so good at that? I thought our guys, even if we gave up plays, and we didn't give up a whole lot of explosive plays, I mean, we pretty much held people. They had to work for what they got. For that reason I think we were probably good on scoring defense. I think we're going to continue to be that way.
It's very important because that's the number one stat for us defensively.
Q. What are your thoughts on opening up against teams like Georgia in kind of a special game at the start of the season?
COACH FEDORA: I can tell you, our football team and myself, our staff, we're all extremely excited playing in that Chick-Fil-A Classic. 43 days away, you get to play the University of Georgia. Everybody knows the tradition of their team. All they do is win at least 10 games a year. In the recruiting rankings they're in the top 10 every single year. They've got great players in every single position, whether it's Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, whoever they have in their stable, I promise you they're going to have a dang good runningback back there.
They don't know who the quarterback is going to be, but we know it's going to be a good one. Kirby Smart is a helluva football coach. He's put together a great staff. They have the support that they need to be successful.
We're excited about it. For us, we look at it, it's kind of a measuring stick, where are we in our program at this point. At the same time we know that a game like that doesn't make or break our season. It really has nothing to do with the goals that we have for our season.
We want to be prepared. We're going to go to that neutral site of Atlanta and we're going to give it our best.
Q. There are three first-year head coaches in the ACC coastal division this year and a fourth entering his second season. Does that add to the challenge in terms of preparation with the opposition?
COACH FEDORA: You know what, it does. But luckily when you're playing in-conference, usually for us it's like the fourth game of the season, you get on into your season. You actually have some film to study. Where it hurts us in these early games, our first three are brand-new head coaches and new staff. That makes it much more difficult when you're trying to prepare for them without any film.
They obviously have the advantage where they know what you're going to do, and you're going to have to do a great job of adjusting during those games.
Hopefully with a mature team that we have, we're going to be able to make those adjustments early on.
Q. What are your thoughts on the coastal? Seems like this is one of those years where it could go either way.
COACH FEDORA: I think it's been wide open every year in the coastal every year, hasn't it? That's one of the things you write about all the time, anybody can win the coastal. I can tell you this, with the new coaches that have come into the coastal, you look at the head football coaches in this league, you look at what's happening in our league in the last three, four years, I mean, this is a hell of a division, it really is. From top to bottom, there's a lot of strength.
The new coaches that are coming in are only going to make it stronger. We're excited about it. It's exciting to play in a league like this.
COACH FEDORA: Chaz had an elbow injury that ended his high school career a little bit early. As he has got there, he's been doing some rehab. I think they told me he's somewhere around 95%. Hoping that we when start camp he's going to be able to go full speed and throw it like he can.
We're excited about what Chaz brings. He's a lefty, he can spin the ball. He's very athletic. He's won multiple state championships in high school. He has that 'it' factor about himself. We're excited about him.
Q. If you don't put up the number of points that you did last season, how reliable is your punting?
COACH FEDORA: That's a great question. I don't know yet. We haven't named a starting punter yet. I can tell you the other 10 guys, they're going to do their job. But right now we haven't had a guy separate himself as a punter.
We know we're going to have somebody out there 43 days from now, September 3rd. We'll put somebody out there to punt if we have to punt.
But whether we put up those points or not, we're going to have to have a punter throughout the season. That has been a huge weapon for us in the past. We need to get back to that being that.
Q. Heard a lot about Mitch. What can you say about his patience over the years and what you've seen from him, his work ethic, knowing he had to wait his turn and now it's here?
COACH FEDORA: You know, I can't say enough good things about Mitch Trubisky, the situation Mitch has been in. In society today, it's not about be patient and work your way into a position. It's more of a sense of entitlement for most people nowadays that you should be given something because of something you did in the past.
That's not the approach that Mitch Trubisky or his family took when he came to the University of North Carolina. He knew he was going to have to compete and he competed. He competed every single day. He didn't win the job early on, but it was not a sense of frustration for him. It was just, I need to work harder.
Mitch has done that. He knew his time was coming. His time is here. I think he's excited about it. There's no doubt in my mind he's prepared because of the reps he's had, meaningful reps in games, and also there was a spring where he was the number one quarterback the entire spring.
He's gotten reps. He feels good about where he's at. Nothing is going to rattle him. I mean, I expect him to perform pretty well.
Q. A lot of good runningbacks in the ACC this year. You have one, Florida State, Pitt has a couple, Clemson. Is the ACC going against the grain, more of a ground attack overall running fancy passing formations?
COACH FEDORA: Well, you are correct that we've got some great runningbacks in our league. There's no doubt about it. I mean, they'll match up with anybody in the country, they really will.
I think it's still based on each school's individual scheme. Probably the Big 12 is throwing it all over the place all the time, but if you listen to coaches in the Big 12, they still feel like they need to be able to run the ball.
We in this league believe that you've got to be able to run the ball to be successful. I don't know that there's one program out there that says they're going to throw it 60 times a game and be successful. If you're throwing it 60 times a game, you're probably trying to come from behind. That's what's happening.
I do agree with you completely, that we've got some great, great runningbacks in our league right now.
Q. Last year you were last in rushing defense, second to last in total defense, and yet amazingly among the very best in scoring defense. How did you pull that off? What part did Des and the secondary guys do?
COACH FEDORA: I'll be honest with you guys, we don't put a whole lot of stock in yards allowed anymore. Total yards or defense, that's not really even a stat we pay any attention to.
The most important stat is scoring defense. That's the way we look at it. Now, there are other stats that play into that role: turnovers, all those different things. But scoring defense is number one. If you don't let them get in the end zone, it doesn't matter how many times you let them run up and down the field.
That is the number one thing.
Why were we so good at that? I thought our guys, even if we gave up plays, and we didn't give up a whole lot of explosive plays, I mean, we pretty much held people. They had to work for what they got. For that reason I think we were probably good on scoring defense. I think we're going to continue to be that way.
It's very important because that's the number one stat for us defensively.
Q. What are your thoughts on opening up against teams like Georgia in kind of a special game at the start of the season?
COACH FEDORA: I can tell you, our football team and myself, our staff, we're all extremely excited playing in that Chick-Fil-A Classic. 43 days away, you get to play the University of Georgia. Everybody knows the tradition of their team. All they do is win at least 10 games a year. In the recruiting rankings they're in the top 10 every single year. They've got great players in every single position, whether it's Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, whoever they have in their stable, I promise you they're going to have a dang good runningback back there.
They don't know who the quarterback is going to be, but we know it's going to be a good one. Kirby Smart is a helluva football coach. He's put together a great staff. They have the support that they need to be successful.
We're excited about it. For us, we look at it, it's kind of a measuring stick, where are we in our program at this point. At the same time we know that a game like that doesn't make or break our season. It really has nothing to do with the goals that we have for our season.
We want to be prepared. We're going to go to that neutral site of Atlanta and we're going to give it our best.
Q. There are three first-year head coaches in the ACC coastal division this year and a fourth entering his second season. Does that add to the challenge in terms of preparation with the opposition?
COACH FEDORA: You know what, it does. But luckily when you're playing in-conference, usually for us it's like the fourth game of the season, you get on into your season. You actually have some film to study. Where it hurts us in these early games, our first three are brand-new head coaches and new staff. That makes it much more difficult when you're trying to prepare for them without any film.
They obviously have the advantage where they know what you're going to do, and you're going to have to do a great job of adjusting during those games.
Hopefully with a mature team that we have, we're going to be able to make those adjustments early on.
Q. What are your thoughts on the coastal? Seems like this is one of those years where it could go either way.
COACH FEDORA: I think it's been wide open every year in the coastal every year, hasn't it? That's one of the things you write about all the time, anybody can win the coastal. I can tell you this, with the new coaches that have come into the coastal, you look at the head football coaches in this league, you look at what's happening in our league in the last three, four years, I mean, this is a hell of a division, it really is. From top to bottom, there's a lot of strength.
The new coaches that are coming in are only going to make it stronger. We're excited about it. It's exciting to play in a league like this.
