Mack Brown, UNC Coordinators On Duke
UNC’s coaching staff met with the media on Monday, in advance of Saturday’s game against Duke.
“I love David Cutcliffe,” head coach Mack Brown said. “He’s one of great guys in the business. He is the perfect guy at Duke. He does a great job coaching. He gets good kids that paly hard for him. We understand we’re they’re going to take care of the ball, kick it well, punt it well and usually end up having the fewest penalties in the game.”
Brown took no encouragement from Duke’s 48-14 loss on Saturday.
“We’re going to have to pick it up, since we know they’re going to pick it up,” he said, “because they’re disappointed in their performance Saturday in Virginia,” Brown said.
Offensive coordinator Phil Longo sees a challenge in attacking Duke’s defense from watching the Blue Devils’ game film.
“They’re a high, high effort team,” he said. “I doubt you see many loafs in practice. You can tell that they’re coached hard. They play a lot of people, especially on the line, the front seven. They have a lot of multiple coverages—three-four different coverages, but they look the same pre-snap. One of our coaches made the comment, ‘It looks like we’re watching an NFL team.’ They do a really good job disguising man, zone, box coverage. They’re one of the more well-coached football teams we’ll see.”
Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman also sees a challenge from Duke on the other side of the ball.
“The thing they do a great job with is they rarely hold the ball back there very long. The ball comes out fast. They’re very aware. (Quentin Harris is) a redshirt senior. He’s been there awhile and is very aware of where protection faults can happen. So if you’re able to get a guy coming free, he knows where it’s coming from.”
Duke’s diverse offense is also cause for concern
“Their double-slot (triple option) stuff is they’re second most numerous formation, behind empty (backfield, five-wide). That’s good coaching, right there,” he said.
