The mood around UNC football is light as the Tar Heels are 2-0 to start the 2024 season

North Carolina coach Mack Brown has been known to pack a lot into his weekly news conference during football season.

Take Monday’s, for example: Brown discussed the Tar Heels’ 38-20 win over Charlotte and quarterback Conner Harrell. He named the players of the week — running back Davion Gause and linebacker Amare Campbell. He talked about N.C. Central, next up on the UNC schedule, and the importance of playing HBCUs.

But Brown also talked about green dots and players’ cellphones and weight loss and his own locker-room dance moves after last year’s win over South Carolina that went viral.

This is what happens when you’re 2-0. Everyone is in a light but positive mood — head coach, coordinators — and smiles come easily. So it was at UNC on “Monday with Mack” at the Kenan Football Center.

Some of the topics:

Update on injuries

Running back Omarion Hampton, starting center Austin Blaske and tight end Bryson Nesbit exited the Charlotte game with various injuries.

The updates: Blaske and running back Darwin Barlow will be monitored this week in practice. Everyone else is expected to be available for Saturday’s game other than rush end Kaimon Rucker, who missed the Charlotte game after a weight-room knee injury last week and will be out a couple of weeks.

One other injury note: Brown said quarterback Max Johnson will return to Chapel Hill on Wednesday from Minneapolis. Johnson suffered a broken leg in the Aug. 29 opener at Minnesota and remained there after the game for continued treatment and procedures.

The green dot guys

Brown was discussing the versatility of Nesbit, who scored the first UNC touchdown against Charlotte — his 11th career TD catch, a record for a UNC tight end — when he mentioned Nesbit had a green dot next to his name on the coaches’ list.

“He’s such a difference-maker,” Brown said. “He can jump, he can catch, he’s smart. We have guys on our team where we’ll put a green dot on there if he’s a difference-maker. He’s a guy we highlight every week to get the ball to — he’s that good.”

Brown said the players are evaluated and ranked “pretty much like a draft.” Those in the top five in the rankings usually have a green dot next to their names, he said, adding the entire staff has to agree to it.

“We sit in there for hours and vote on it and say the ‘green dots’ will change the game,” Brown said. “So who’s going to change the game? Obviously, Omarion is a green dot. That’s what you have to get to.”

So, there’s Hampton and Nesbit. Who else?

Brown would not name all the green dots, smiling and saying, “I don’t want to get into that … because I’ll have all afternoon explaining to parents about why their son doesn’t have a green dot.”

Pass defense

It’s almost as if defensive coordinator Geoff Collins was waiting for the question to be asked: What about the Heels’ pass defense against Charlotte, which allowed quarterbacks Max Brown and Deshawn Purdie to combine for 309 yards?

“The first thing I said in the staff meeting yesterday was ‘way too many explosives,’” Collins said Monday. “There were eight explosive plays. Eighty percent of their yardage, eight of their first downs, were off eight plays. The rest of the game I thought the guys played lights-out. But we can’t have those explosive plays.”

Collins said four of the 49ers’ long completions came because of the defender having the wrong leverage, calling it a “learning experience,” That included Kaleb Cost, the “star” defensive back who was beaten a couple of times on deep passes but overall had a strong game, Collins said.

Collins, not completely pleased with the Heels’ tackling at Minnesota, said it was considerably better against Charlotte. One highlight was cornerback Marcus Allen making a strong one-on-one tackle after a third-down catch that kept the 49ers out of the end zone and forced a field goal.

The play up front

Brown said the Tar Heels, determined to develop more depth this season, used 13 offensive linemen and 11 defensive linemen in the Charlotte game. That’s a lot of guys seeing playing time.

Center Zach Greenberg, a graduate transfer from Division III Muhlenberg, filled in well for Blaske. Drawing praise on the D-line were tackle Jahvaree Ritzie and end Des Evans.

But Collins also spotlighted junior tackle Travis Shaw, who weighed 370 pounds in January and is playing at 330 pounds.

“His maturation, how he’s approached the game, has just been a consistent improvement climb,” Collins said. “He’s executing at a high level, playing within the framework of the defense but still being very productive and very disruptive.”

Collins said on many of the defensive tackles for losses it has been Shaw “destroying the play” and mentioned UNC’s two goal-line stands in the first half Saturday.

“Travis Shaw was at the nose and just taking up both gaps,” he said.