Video, transcript: Jeff Brohm weekly press conference
· Yahoo Sports
Jeff Brohm:
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Transcript:
Opening Statement“We’re excited to get back on the practice field this week. We’ve got another big game on the road. I think we’re going to face a really good football team in North Carolina. They’re very talented, well-coached, and they’ve played good football this year. They’ve played a lot of top teams down to the wire, even in a couple of their losses.
“Outstanding D-line, actually, really talented up front. They’ve done a good job. Their quarterback has been very efficient and played good football. They have a really good tight end who leads the nation in touchdowns.
“So, it’s a good football team. We’re going to have to play sound football, do the things that we need to do to get better, and find a way to win. But it will be a fun contest to play in, and hopefully we’re ready to go.”
On Coaching Opponents“A ton of respect there. Obviously, the best coach in the NFL, a fantastic career, and he loves ball. He still wants to do it, and now he’s at the college level, and he gets to run his own program there.
“He’s got a lot of good coaches on his staff, and he wants to help those guys get to the next level. You can tell by the way they coach and the structure they have that they’re very disciplined. They know what they’re doing.
“They’ve made great strides in the last two years, and he’s at a really good place where you can recruit talented players, and he’s definitely done that, so a ton of respect.
“Growing up, you always loved watching his teams play in the NFL, winning a bunch of games and Super Bowls. I know he had a bunch of good players, but it starts at the top, and he’s been a fantastic coach.”
On Offensive Similarities“There are, and you can see it. I think a lot of offenses have similarities to a certain degree, but for us we probably know what we call it and what the name of it is, and those types of deals.
“Every year you try to emulate your offense, make it better, and take a couple different wrinkles. Just like with us, we have a different style of quarterback that we want to build the offense around, so you adapt and do different things to help you have success, and that’s been the fun part.”
On the Performance Against Georgia Tech“It was definitely good to see a fairly clean effort. Probably one of the cleanest we’ve had all year, without question, in all three segments.
“Offensively, we were efficient moving the ball and getting points. I thought we did a really good job there, getting the playmakers the ball in their hands, and they responded.
“I think on defense we did a really good job. We didn’t give up the big plays. We had quite a few three-and-outs. We did a good job getting pressure on the quarterback, getting negative plays, stops and sacks.
“Disappointed in the drive at the end of the half where we let them [Georgia Tech] drive it down. I thought we were a little soft in our play at that point, from a schematic standpoint. It wasn’t until the end of the game where they got a drive on some of our reserves.
“I thought our defense stepped up. We made improvements. We were in the right position a lot more times, and it’s about not giving up the big play and making the offense earn it. That was good.
“Special teams, the muffed punt was disappointing, and the roughing the kicker was disappointing. They were back-to-back. So, it was bam, bam; we had to overcome that, but we did.
“I think we kicked the ball well. We blocked well. We got some return yardage. There are still areas to improve, without question, but we’ve got to play like that if we want to win.
“If you want to beat good teams, you have to play clean, sound football the entire game and eliminate the penalties and the turnovers in order to win against good opponents, and that’s just the formula. We’ve got to try to get better every week at it.”
On Mike Cassity“Well, fortunately for us, Mike has been with us in an advisory role, consulting role, and has been here quite a bit, as much as he can. He has some health things that he deals with and has to leave to do that during the week.
“He’s been a great asset. He gives a lot of experience to that room, to Coach Ivey and myself. I think with the experience level of Coach Ivey, we wanted to make some adjustments right away and provide more help.
“I think when we put Coach Ivey and Coach David Elson and Coach Mike Cassity up in the booth together and try to combine those three heads, so that not only during the game, but in between the series, they’re able to talk together with papers and things in front of them. Where they can literally sit down and hammer some things out and try to improve as we go, has been beneficial.
“The room has worked well as far as finding ways to improve and get better. We know that has to happen and had to happen.
“I do think there have been strides that we’ve made, and we’ve got to continue to push that forward and get better and try to improve as the season moves on to the end stretch here. I am hopeful we can get that done.”
On the Offensive Line“When you’re up front, you don’t get a whole lot of credit. You get a lot of blame once things aren’t going well.
“I think they’ve done a good job, and they’ve worked really hard. We are continuing to try to build the depth. That’s a little bit of a concern, so we have to continue to develop the ones we have here and get them ready to go in case some things happen.
“Anwar [O’Neal], I’m not sure if he’ll be back this year. He was a key piece to the puzzle when we went and made some decisions. Unfortunately, he got injured and got injured again, so that’s been disappointing for him and for us, to not have him.
“But we have made some adjustments along the way. We have had a few nicks and things, but the other guys have played through it, even though they haven’t practiced much.
“That’s an important position. You want to build it as strong as you can. You like to have as much depth as you can, but at the same time, you need your guys out there playing the best they can possibly be, and they have handled things pretty well. They’ve played as a group and done a good job.”
On North Carolina’s Improvement“When you watch them, you can tell by the way they play and the way they look that they have a talented roster. This is a roster they went and got done; those are talented football players in a lot of positions.
“You combine that with the second year of an NFL system; they feel more comfortable. You can tell by the way they play, even in the losses, they’ve been right in the game against really good opponents.
“They have not beat themselves with penalties. They have done a good job taking care of the ball, they’ve done a good job on defense. They have a good defensive line that looks the part and plays the part.
“So, this is a talented football team with good coaches, and you can see the improvement every week. We will have a tough contest when we go down there Saturday night.”
On Kalib Perry and Jabari Mack’s Play This Season“For both Kalib Perry and Jabari Mack, it’s been great to get them both back. They’ve been good teammates when they haven’t been eligible to play, and they finally got the opportunity.
“Jabari was a captain for the last game, went out for the coin toss, and he’s played good football.
“Kalib Perry, he’s in the same position as Stanquan Clark and TJ Capers, and those guys, and has done a good job. Last game was his best game to date, I think it was because he was able to play more.
“But really helpful additions to our team. They’ve helped us get better on defense, and we have to continue to use both of them. They are good kids and good leaders.”
Mark Ivey: