CHAPEL HILL – Larry Fedora talks about breaking camp, the 170-play scrimmage on Saturday, the upcoming mock game day, forcing turnovers and Kanler Coker’s ‘it’ factor.
Monday is the last day of two-a-day practices
On the last day of two-a-days:
‘It’s the last day of camp and that’s a good thing. I know the guys are excited about it. It’s been good so far. They’ve worked hard and I know they’re tired of hitting each other.’
Any comparisons to the number of plays in this camp versus previous UNC camps?
‘I don’t know. We quit looking at it. The thing was a surprise for them. They were the ones that told me about it. They don’t have time to worry about it because they were the ones getting so many reps.
‘There are guys that get some nicks in camp and we had some guys play 70 snaps on the defensive line in the scrimmage (on Saturday) and hopefully that never happens in a game.’
What stood out from the scrimmage on Saturday?
‘I think overall just the effort. They were so much better effort wise. When you get 170 plays in a scrimmage not counting special teams…I thought their effort was extremely good. I didn’t think they would hold up the way they did for that amount of time.’
Concerns heading into the game week preparations:
Coker is further along in his development than Fedora thought he would be.
‘Everything. Everything. Depth is a big-time worry for all of us. We have a lot of guys who are out there at this point who probably really don’t deserve to be out there but we don’t have a choice. We have to get them to a point where they need to be out there.’
Have Dan Disch and Vic Koenning made a decision on who will be calling the defensive plays?
‘I’m sure they have but I haven’t talked to them about it. When we go into the mock game on Saturday then everything will be how we will do it in the game. From the ‘Old Well Walk’ to all the way through. Should be fun and I guarantee that we’ll win.’
On the continuing health of the team:
‘You’re at a point at the end of camp where everyone is beat up, sore and tired. The next 12 days we need to do a good job of getting everyone back and their legs under them. That comes down to the coaches and players taking care of their bodies. Making sure they rest, eat right and hydrate.’
On freshman QB Kanler Coker having the ‘it’ factor described on NSD:
‘He’s further along than I really expected him to be at this point. He’s really done some nice things. He’s as athletic as we thought he was. He’s intelligent and he understands the game. It’s still moving fast for him but he’s done more as a true freshman than I expected him to.’
Significance on forcing turnovers:
‘It’s just a mindset. If you believe that you’re going to get turnovers on defense then you’ll get turnovers. It’s something we work on everyday, we talk about it and do drills on it emphasizing turning the ball over. Not only just getting turnovers but scoring with it. I would rather score with it than have to go out on offense and score with it.’
