With no chance to go to a bowl game this year, UNC may be focusing a bit more on the game with N.C. State this year, new Tar Heels’ coach Larry Fedora seemed to imply at Triangle Pigskin Preview in Cary Thursday night.
Fedora said the Tar Heel players were upset when they learned they weren’t eligible to play in a bowl this season because of NCAA sanctions but he said there is so much more to play for than a bowl game.
There are a lot of bowls out there, but there aren’t a lot of great bowl sites,” Fedora said. “These kids play to win, they play for the interlocking ‘NC’ on their helmets and on their chests, they want to make their fans proud, and they’re competitors. So they’ll go out they’ll compete each and every day, I promise you that.”
He said he was excited about the players’ attitudes. “They’ve totally bought in,” Fedora said. “They’re excited about what’s going on, they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do, both on the field and off. They’re working as hard as we want them to work. They’re excited about wanting to change the culture at Carolina.”
Fedora, who has said there will be added emphasis to the game against the Wolfpack this season, knows exactly how many days until the Tar Heels face N.C. State, which has defeated UNC five years in a row.
“I hope it’s been like any other rivalry I’ve been involved in — it’s pretty ferocious and the fans get into it,” Fedora said. “The regional rivalries are what makes college football the greatest sport in the world, and I’m excited about getting involved in this rivalry.”
For his part State coach Tom O’Brien wouldn’t let himself get dragged into a rivalry conversation. “He’s a good guy,” O’Brien said of Fedora. “He’s a good football coach. So I think he’s a good addition to the ACC, and he’ll do a good job at Carolina.”
O’Brien said that his team is in the best shape they’ve been in during his six years he’s been at the helm. The Pack is experienced and deep. “I think the question marks certainly we have would be at the linebacker position,” he said. “We walked off the field last year and knew we had lost two tackles and the middle linebacker position (Audie Cole) coming back for (this) year. Subsequently we lost two other guys (including Terrell Manning, who opted to head to the NFL). The linebacker situation will have to work itself in camp. (Linebacker coach) Jon Tenuta has promised me he’ll have three guys ready to play at Tennessee so I believe him.”