What Mack Brown, UNC football players said at ACC Kickoff: ‘We can have a good team’

North Carolina football had a lackluster 2023 season, finishing 4-4 in ACC play and losing three straight games to end the season. The program doesn’t want a repeat of that in 2024, several members of the team said on Thursday at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte.

The Tar Heels hired defensive coordinator Geoff Collins and added a number of players from the transfer portal, but this offseason has been highlighted by the quarterback battle. Max Johnson joined the program after leaving Texas A&M. Conner Harrell enters his second season with the Heels. Finally, Jacolby Criswell made his return to Chapel Hill after spending one season at Arkansas.

There are plenty of questions remaining as UNC starts fall camp this week. Head coach Mack Brown thinks fans will see an improved team but knows there aren’t any guarantees. Players can get hurt. Sometimes teams start hot and fall off — the way his did last fall — or they do the opposite.

“I expect us to play better complementary football. That’s what I’m excited about. I think we can have a good team. I don’t want to talk about it. Everybody said, ‘You’re not talking about your team.’ If you talk about them (and) they’re not any good, then you’re stupid. There’s not a coach up here that knows how good his team is going to be. None of us.”

Carolina begins its season on the road Aug. 29 against Minnesota. It hosts the home opener Sept. 7 against Charlotte.

Here’s what else UNC football players and coach Mack Brown had to say:

Why have quarterbacks been successful at Carolina?

Conner Harrell: “I think it starts with recruiting. Coach Brown is always going to recruit great guys, great humans, great players. Sam (Howell) and Drake (Maye) are great guys. The offense really plays to their strengths. I think that’s a huge thing. We all have different strengths, different abilities, different talents. Being able to cater to what we do best is very important. I think we’ve done a really good job of that the last few years. I think we’ll continue to do a good job of that.”

Max Johnson: “Coach (Chip) Lindsey has done a great job, like Conner said, working to everybody’s strengths. I’ve kind of fit in really well here. I’ve met some great guys, great friends. For me, this is the place where I wanted to be coming out of the portal. Of course, I got other phone calls, but this was my first choice. This is where I want to be and I’m looking forward to this year.”

What Harrell can learn from Johnson

Conner Harrell: “Obviously, Max has played a lot of football. He has a lot of experiences, different receivers, a lot of good stories about different guys, (being at) LSU behind Joe Burrow and stuff. He’s had a lot of experiences that I can learn from — he’s learned from a lot of different guys — whether that’s pocket presence or me just unconsciously picking up good things that he does, with him not even saying anything, is invaluable when you’re going against a really good player.”

Johnson and Harrell’s relationship through the QB battle

Conner Harrell: “Me and Max are the only people in the world going through this situation with these coaches and with this team. Obviously, it brings you closer. We’re together all the time, working together, trying to figure out how to make the team better. That brings you closer. I think the end goal is we want to win a championship. That creates a bond.”

How Johnson handled becoming a leader with the Tar Heels

Max Johnson: You can’t come in as a transfer and just start vocally leading without earning people’s respect. When I first got here, I had to earn people’s respect by the way I worked, by the way I put my head down and did things. I think I’ve opened up more as a vocal leader since I’ve been here. I think I’ve been a vocal leader everywhere else I’ve been.”

Johnson’s message to players looking to transfer

Max Johnson: “I think the transfer portal is a big part of college football now. You see Joe Burrow, Kyler Murray, so many big-time guys transfer from school to school. I think being at Carolina with Coach Brown, all these great players around me — I’m so excited for the opportunity, I’m so blessed to be able to be here.

“It’s a tough time being in the portal. You’re getting phone calls every single day. For me it was just finding the best fit for me, building the relationship with these guys and Coach Brown was so important for me.”

The impact of new defensive coordinator Geoff Collins

Kaimon Rucker: “For starters, man, I feel like Day One when he hit the room, he set a standard for us. I feel in the past (we) haven’t really set a standard for the defense.

“Doesn’t matter what conference you’re in, what opponents you’re facing the next week, everybody has their own little thing. The thing is with us, we didn’t never establish a standard, we ain’t never established a bar that we need to jump over, go over. I feel like the bar he set on Day One is we want to be the best defense in college football.

“From that day forward, that has been the mantra of our defense the entire time. Doesn’t matter if it’s winter workouts, summer workouts, conditioning, fall camp. That’s something we need to hang our hat on.”

Power Echols: “Master of Mayhem describes him perfectly. He’s gonna call a real aggressive game that plays to our strengths and allow us to fly around and make a lot of plays.”

Why Brown returned to coaching

Mack Brown: “I love these guys. I don’t like these guys, I love these guys. They’re so nice and they’re such good people. They work so hard, they’re so mature that my life right now has a purpose that I get to see ‘em every day and I get to talk to ‘em, I help them grow. If they do something that I messed up, it’s worse now because of social media. We messed up, nobody knew. They mess up, it’s out there, it’s public.

“I feel such a purpose, more than any time in my life, that I can help with their lives. That’s pretty powerful as you start looking at it. That’s why I got back into coaching. I feel even more strongly about that.”

What improvements were made in the offseason

Omarion Hampton: “Really just being an all-around back, just getting better (at) receiving yards, being better at pass blocking, being better so I can be a third-down back and stay on the field.”