UNC defensive coordinator Jay Bateman: "We did not handle adversity well"

Opening Statement

We weren't very happy with how we played. I think the biggest issue, I thought we tackled really poorly. Fundamentally, it was really poor and at some really poor times. I think we've got to do a better job teaching it.

We've been banging on our angles, banging on our leverage and I thought Saturday was the worst we played in that department, and then I think third downs was really the story of the game. We've been pretty good on third downs the first three games of the season against teams that I think that were a little bit more diverse on third downs. Some of the third downs they converted, we practice that exact route, that exact protection, everything the same and we just didn't get it done.

So, I've got to do a better job coaching it. I think we did not handle adversity well for the second time in a row, which I think is a challenge when you're taking over a team that hasn't had success. We've talked about it a bunch and we've got to start seeing some action out of it and we've got to move forward.

How do you coach tackling during a game week? Do you put more focus on it?

I think the best thing we do is we show it to the whole defense. See where everybody else on the defense is, you know, like the one D.J. (Ford) missed. When you have leverage on a running back, you have advantage. The word leverage means advantage, right?

So when you have advantage on a running back, you have to maintain that advantage, and if you give it away, you're cutting off the other 10 guys on the defense and that's what happened, right? The other guys were chasing, expecting the ball to be delivered to a certain spot, and then when you miss, if you have outside leverage and you miss and you give up that outside leverage, the rest of the defense is hunting, thinking the ball's coming back to them and it doesn't work.

The fundamentals of tackling I think we did OK with. I think it's more of the fundamentals of leverage and team defense. Team defense is really important.

Is that what ties into the turnover issues that Mack was talking about needing to force more turnovers? Do those goes hand-in-hand?

Yeah, so, we've got the ball out a few times and haven't recovered it. I think fumbles are a little bit of a product of stopping the run. I think turnovers in general are a matter of stopping the run.

So, I thought Saturday, I thought we were very efficient in our run defense. We gave up the one long one on the corner fire when I thought we should have had a tackle and then the long quarterback scramble was a drop-back pass where we screwed it up, but I thought our efficiency in the run game was pretty good, and when you stop the run, what happens is now the throw game becomes something you can attack more and that causes strip sacks and that causes fumbles, you know?

But you're certainly right. When you have bad leverage on the football and you lose leverage, the ball doesn't get exposed as much. We talk to our guys about when the ball's exposed. So, if the ball carrier's got the ball in this hand and I'm coming from this angle, that's where strips and fumbles come from. If you're giving those opportunities up because of poor angles, then yeah, you get less strips of the football.

Mack mentioned that containment was an issue on some of those third down plays. Were you just describing containment, and if so, how do you fix something like that?

No, I was talking more about when the ball carrier's got the ball in his hand and he's running and we're inside-out or outside-in. Certainly on the long run we lost contain on the quarterback scramble, you with me? Sometimes containment issues are a by-product of the pressure we're running. We're trying to flush him a certain way or get a protection, you know what I mean?

So, the one third down he converted when Jeremiah (Gemmel) got the targeting penalty, we have a guy coming scot-free and he falls down. So, I don't have great answers for that. Don't fall down, you know?

So, I think part of that is guys doing their job and staying out and when you have a chance to make a play, making a play, and I thought most third downs this year when we've had those opportunities, we've made those plays. So, certainly containment on the quarterback is an issue. Sometimes when you're trying to maximize your pressure and maximizing your coverage, sometimes the containment issues going to happen.

How do you slow down Clemson's offense?

I think they're really talented. I think they're really well coached.

I was at the Broyles Award last year with Tony (Elliott) and with Jeff (Scott). I think they're really good football coaches and they've got really talented guys. I think you have to play fundamentally very sound. I think they block you very well, and I think the quarterback is, I mean, I haven't seen one better.

So, I just think you've got to minimize the damage when they get you in a bad play. We talked to our kids about that yesterday. Some teams, when I have a bad call on defense against a certain play, we've got to minimize that. Against them, if you do not minimize it, it's major problems, and I think the teams that have done a good job against them have minimized the damage when they've had a bad (play); a route against a certain coverage or a run against a certain front.

So, I think that's it, and then I think you've got to do a really, really good job on the edge in coverage, at corner in coverage. They're going to make you play man-to-man. So, we've got to do a really good job when we're playing in press coverage."

Have you seen a team that is as talented as them and as favored as them? What approach do you take to still try to keep their confidence up that they can beat them? Or do they already have that confidence?

If we don't have confidence, then gosh, I'm doing an awful job. We're going to go play, we're going to go compete, our kids are excited to go play and we've played some pretty talented guys already. Miami's got some really talented guys. So, I think we've just got to go play and we've got to worry about ourselves more. I don't care who we play this week. We've got to fix our own problems. If we fix our own problems, we'll be better."

What separates Trevor Lawrence from every single quarterback you've seen throughout your coaching career?

He's 6-foot-6. The most impressive play I've seen from him this year is he throws an interception against Georgia Tech, to Georgia Tech's corner who's running for a touchdown, and he reels him in like an all-pro safety. So, I think he can legit run. He's 6-6. I don't think he gets fooled very often, if at all.

He's got huge targets, so the catch radius that he can throw to is really good. A lot of quarterbacks, a guy's covered and they don't get (to throw). You've got 6-foot-4 receivers all over the place, so he can throw the ball to a spot where they can go get it and the corners can't. I think his arm velocity, like talking about arm talent. His ability even as a 6-foot-6 kid to throw the ball and get it out of his hands fast I think is really special.

So, I don't want to speak for NFL guys, but I would say there's a lot of NFL franchises that would trade for him right now. So, I think he's pretty good."

If there is a weakness in his game this season, it's been throwing interceptions. How do you take advantage of that?

Hope he throws it to us. Some kids have made some really nice plays against him. Some balls have been tipped, but I don't think there's been an interception thrown, maybe there's one I can think of, but there's been very few where you're like, 'Wow, he made a mistake,' you know? So, you've got to cover.

What are you seeing in your defense in the fourth quarter versus that second quarter?

I think when things have gone bad for us, we haven't responded very well.

I think once we've settled them down and they've got back to playing the way we want to play and the way we talk about playing every day, then we've been pretty successful, and I think they've handled some adjustments well, which is always a concern when you're starting from scratch is the ability to go back and say, 'Hey, remember when we did this? Let's play it like this coverage. Let's fit the run like this play.'

Their ability to do that's been pretty impressive, I think. I just think we need to come out and when things go poorly, view it as an opportunity instead of a challenge. On defense, we have done a poor job with that and that's our message going forward. To me, great defenses, elite defense, when the ball gets turned over, you go stop them, and we have not done a great job with that.

Do you coach the team this week and say, 'They're going to score some touchdowns on us. They're going to make some big plays. Do you say that or how do you coach the fact that this is a really good team?

I think every week we talk about, 'Hey, look. This team's pretty talented and if we don't handle this the right way, they're going to make a big play.' On film, our kids see the film and they see that that's the case with them.

I hate to sound like that cliché coach guy, but we're not going to coach any different because it's Clemson versus App State versus Miami versus South Carolina versus anybody. We're just not. We're going to coach the same way. Kids expect that. If I came in and all of a sudden I said, 'Oh my gosh. We're going to do this now or we're going to play this,' like they would be like, 'What are we doing?' So, we're going to play the same stuff we've played and play it better."

You were a big underdog last year going to Oklahoma with a pretty good player. What allowed you guys to do something that no other defense was able to against those guys?

We shortened possessions and we fooled them a few times. So, I've been on the opposite side of that, too. When you're favored by a bunch and the game's not going real well for you, there starts to become a little bit of a press factor. So, we've got to try to hang in there and let them feel the pressure of, 'Man, we're supposed to win by however many,' and let the pressure happen, and then we've got to fool them.

How would you assess the linebacker group right now?

Jeremiah (Gemmel) I think is doing a great job. I was proud of Jon (Smith) going in and playing. I thought he played well. I think he handled getting us lined up and some of those things that at halftime we were stressing. Dominique Ross I think is playing at a high level. I think Chazz Surratt is playing at a really high level. I have to do a better job of getting more reps for those two guys in different spots. We had some stuff for App State and we didn't stop the run enough to get to it. We've got to do a good job with Clemson to try to get them in some longer down distances so we can get them both on the field some.

Are you comfortable with the progress rate that the linebackers are making and have they made enough that you can see a sizable improvement?

Yeah, I think Jeremiah (Gemmel) has become a young man that we rely on and trust, and then Jonathan Smith, I've always kind of felt that way about the veteran presence, and then Dominique (Ross) and Chazz (Surratt) I think are both really good players that need to make plays for us to win, and when they have, we've played really well. When they haven't, we haven't played really well.

That position of the defense should be the position that, I mean, for a number of years now, that position has led us in tackles. So, I think those two need to play at a really high level and at times, they really have, like dominating level. I thought Chazz, there were some spots against South Carolina that Chazz was dominant. We've got to get him back. We've got to coach him. Tommy (Thigpen) is doing a great job with him. We've got to coach them in a way for them to be dominant, and then let them go play, and I've got to do a better job of getting them both on the field some where their skill set fits the defense called.

Jason Strowbridge didn't play much in the second half. What's going on with the rotation there?

He got nicked up again and we were trying to manage how many reps he really took. So, we were trying to save him for some third down stuff; trying to save him for some pass rush stuff. I thought Xach Gill played really well. I thought Ray (Vohasek) played really well when they came in for Jason. Tomari (Fox) is playing all over the place right now.

How will you adjust with Wolfolk gone in the secondary?

Well, I think we'll see what the doctors say. We put D.J. (Ford) back there against App State. I thought he did well. I think Don Chapman and Cam Kelly are both really talented young guys that we're excited to play and they're going to have to play some. I thought when Cam Kelly went in, he flew around pretty good.

I love Wolf. My son's eight. If you told me my son was going to be Myles Wolfolk when he's 21, I'd sign off on it right now. So, I'm hopeful that we'll have him soon.

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