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Here is a transcript from senior Cornearcus Allen's presser on Aug. 2

Q: What do you have to achieve personally, and are you approaching it so you can be that kind of guy?

Macus Allen: Yeah, I'm approaching it just 100%. I'm just trying to work on my craft and perfect the little things that kind of held me back last year. Just get better at the things that I know I need to work on. Ultimately, just go out there and make plays because I know what I can do, so I just need to go out there and put it on the field.

Q: What is it like having Thad on the other side? What did you learn from observing a guy coming in from a different program?

Marcus Allen: Yeah, Thad is one kind of guy. He brings a lot of energy, a lot of confidence, so just having that on the other side of the field, knowing that that side of the field is being taken care of, having a partner, just like kind of how it was with Hussie, having a partner there that's going to push each other. If one of us is messing up, we're going to hold each other accountable, make sure we get it right, and make sure we do our part so that our team can win.

Q: Yeah, to obviously elaborate from what you were just talking about with Thad, that he obviously is a guy that has a lot of experience in the points he's played in the national championship, things like that. I guess, what types of maybe pointers does he kind of give you? Obviously, your experience is better too, but what kind of, I guess, things do you guys talk about as far as playing the defensive back position?

Marcus Allen: Yeah, you can always learn from somebody. That is a great corner, so anytime he's giving out tips, we're always listening. And just giving tips on just being able to read routes better, being able to find the ball better, just being able to anticipate things and just be able to play faster in general are some of the tips that he's been giving out to us and the guys. Brian?

Q: You're being coached by three Belichicks. I wonder what differences you've said between that? Obviously, we're talking a lot about Bill Belichick, but how are they doing as coaches?

Marcus Allen: Yeah, I mean, all the three of them are like their own different characters. Like, they're completely different, I'm not going to lie. But Steve and Brian, Steve is a great coach. He has a lot of experience, like NFL experience. He was at Washington. He knows the defense well. He knows what position we need to be in. He knows the best position to put us in to win. And then Brian is a mastermind. He knows everything that's going on with defense. So just having them two together is really allowing us to be a better defense, make more smarter calls, and just make more plays in general.

Q: Marcus, this is about checking the defense out here. What happens to some of those people that you guys are watching film or doing drill for us, some of the things you notice that that's been there for this time?

Marcus Allen: Yeah, I'd say more so just allowing us, giving us the call and allowing us to go out there and play. We've been really working on our craft this offseason with Moses, you know, strength conditioning, just so we can be in condition to keep up with the offense, the tempo, and all that. So I think just especially Steve, just being able to call the correct call and just having trust in us to go out there and play, I think that's the big difference.

Q: …

Marcus Allen: Yeah, it was a real, real, real high energy. Everybody was out there excited to be back. We love football. And, you know, having Coach Belichick as a coach, you know, automatically you have a lot of energy because, you know, it's bringing in a whole bunch of the spotlight and all that. But, really, we just take it day by day, work our hardest, go out there, perfect our craft, have fun. That's the main point is to have fun on the offense. So today was a great day to go out there, have fun, compete, and just get better.

Q: Marcus, you and Max Johnson both started the game in Minnesota. We won last year. When you saw his entire journey from going down on the field, see him just grinding and grinding and grinding for basically an entire year, and now he's, you know, totally uninhibited out there, you know, going through full practice with you guys. How cool has that been to see?

Marcus Allen: Yeah, I think that speaks a lot to, like, his character. Just seeing how egregious, like, that injury was, just for him to go just stay in tune with the team, stay connected with the guys, and just put in work every day to be able to come back. It's great seeing him back out there.

Q: That's said, you're still trying to pick him off, though.

Marcus Allen: Oh, yes, absolutely.

Q: Marcus, how important is the versatility for this defense?

Marcus Allen: Versatility is important. You know, we want to build a plug -and -play guys, you know, have guys go to play different positions so that whatever you can do best is, you know what I'm saying, what you're going to be put on the field to do.

UNC North carolina — North Carolina quarterback Max Johnson | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels on SI

Q: Marcus, I know you were talking earlier about Thad being one of the more experienced tracer guys, but you're, like, the, I mean, you're not an old guy, but you're, like, the old guy, the veteran on UNC's defense. How, you know, are you going to continue to step up and in your last year at Carolina lead these guys and hopefully build what's one of the ACC's top defenses this fall?

Marcus Allen: Yeah, I want to focus a lot on just being a mentor to, like, the younger guys and really bringing them along so that, you know, if they've got to go in the game, they'll be ready, they'll feel ready about there, you know what I'm saying, be confident and just give the knowledge that I've learned from playing, you know, all these years just to the young guys so that they're ready to prepare.

Q: Marcus, I'm going to ask you about, maybe when was the moment that you realized that there was going to be way more tackling in practice and sort of the increased emphasis on physicality, like, do you remember specifically being, like, okay, this is how it's going to be?

Marcus Allen: Yeah, I wouldn't say it was, like, a specific moment. I just, when, you know, Coach Belichick came in here, I was just already going to think this might be a whole different change. So I think it's good that we're being, you know, really physical in practice so that we can take the physicality from the practice and bring it to the game. And, you know, ultimately football is about who wants it more, you know, who's going to go out there and lay it down on the other team. So I think the good, the physical practice that we're having now, the more tackling, I think that's going to be really beneficial for us.

Q: And it really doesn't have to sit. Like, it just happened. It just happened.

Macus Allen: We just went out there. It's time to hit.

Q: Three DCs in three years. What's the difference in communication? Is that pretty consistent with that?

Macus Allen: I'd say it's pretty consistent, to be honest. You know, obviously, you know, each DC is going to come in with their own terminology and specific plays, but it's nothing really too different. Football is football at the end of the day. So you just got to go, you know, learn what DC, like, learn what Steve likes to call, what formations, you know, he's going to see this and call that. So I think you just got to go in there and learn it, and then we just get real comfortable.

Q: How about on the field? Do they do it a little bit differently than you guys have done it before? Is it still maybe Will in the back making some calls, with the linebacker making some calls? Who talks out there?

Macus Allen: Yeah, well, they've been emphasizing everybody talking. That's a way for our defense to really step up, is if everybody's on the field communicating what you're seeing, you know, pre-snap reads, things that you might be anticipating, let your guy know, you know, this might be coming from here, right? So I think the big emphasis is everybody on the field communicating and us all being in sync with each other.

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