UNC Football: Larry Fedora speaks to media ahead of Cal game

Head coach Larry Fedora met with the media on Monday to discuss UNC’s upcoming game against Cal.

For the first time since December, the North Carolina Tar Heels will play in a football game that matters when they host Cal on Saturday in Chapel Hill.

UNC will open up the season at home for the first time in three years as the Bears travel all the way from Berkeley, California to open the season.

The season will begin with a lot of question marks for the Tar Heels, who are coming off a disappointing 2016 campaign. The team loses nearly 98 percent of their offensive production with the departures of several key players.

They also have a quarterback competition that is still on going with three players in the mix.

Quarterback situation

As mentioned above, UNC still has an ongoing quarterback battle that began the day Trubisky announced he would be entering the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Tar Heels turned to Nathan Elliott and Chazz Surratt, two returning players who have practiced in the system. They also welcomed in graduate transfer Brandon Harris from LSU.

Harris got a late start in the battle, joining the team following their annual Spring Game.

But as the first depth chart was released on Monday, all three of those quarterbacks are on it with the option to start.

When asked about the starter, Fedora shrugged it off and mentioned the possibilities for Saturday’s game

“No update,” Fedora said on Monday.

He then continued on with the possibility of the Tar Heels using more than one quarterback come Saturday.

“It’s a possibility,” Fedora said. “We could go with one, we could go with two, we could go with three, we could possibly get to four.”

We could see the Tar Heels go with a two-quarterback set and rotate when needed. It’s doubtful we see a three-quarterback rotation unless the first two struggle.

Fedora continued on the battle at quarterback, which is something he hasn’t really had to deal with in his time at Carolina. Outside of 2015 when Trubisky and Marquise Williams were battling for the job, there has been a starter in place.

“It’s very similar,” Fedora said. “It’s very similar, other than that year we had probably just two guys that really had a legitimate shot. I think we have an opportunity to have more guys than just two this year.”

He went on to say that the reason why the battle has lasted so long is that because no one has really separated himself.

On facing a new coaching staff

The Tar Heels will host the Bears on Saturday and for the second-straight year, the opponent will have a new coaching staff.

Last season it was the Georgia Bulldogs led by Kirby Smart in his first year. This season it’s Justin Wilcox in his first year as he was hired back in January.

Fedora provided this quote on how they are preparing to go up against a new staff:

"“We’re looking at a lot of tape, wasting a lot of time, when it comes down to it,” Fedora said. “As far as really, when you get into the game, here’s what they are going to do and you prepared for all of these different things and you really didn’t need to. But you have no way of knowing. You spend a lot of time to over-prepare so your kids have some kind of idea what is going to happen in the game.”"

Some of that tape is from Eastern Washington, where current Cal offensive coordinator Beau Baldwin was the head coach from 2008-2016.

Expect the Bears’ offense to be run similar as the one the Eagles ran while Baldwin was there.

Jared Cohen leaving

The news broke on Monday that the Tar Heels lost a key offensive lineman when Jared Cohen left the program.

Cohen was running with the first team last week during practice so it’s a big loss for the line as it enters the season as a question mark.

"“I hate it for the kid and I hope he gets his personal issues worked out,” Fedora said. “And I wish him the best for the real world, because that’s what he’s going to be doing.”"

It’s the second time Cohen has left the program and this time he did it as a non-scholarship player.

Earlier in August Khaliel Rodgers left the program but decided to return eventually. Rodgers is a transfer from USC.

Michael Jordan & Jordan Brand

Lastly, the media asked about the UNC football program becoming an official Jordan Brand team, just the second in college football to do so.

Fedora has talked about it just a tad bit since it was announced but now the program is really embracing it.

When Jordan was on hand to make the announcement during the basketball team’s home game against Duke, he muttered the words “The Ceiling is the Roof” which has been turned into a t-shirt and now it’s a part of Kenan Memorial Stadium.

Above one of the tunnels is an awning with the saying on it, the newest addition to the stadium.

Fedora and the program have embraced Jordan and the new sponsorship.

“I just kind of think that one, the people that were there that night and all the Tar Heels around the country that were watching that game and when he said it, I mean that was not something that he thought out and was a part of a speech,” Fedora said. “It was authentic, it just came out when he said it. To me, it’s something special. It’s something that we have, that nobody else in the world has.”

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Fedora went on to say that the saying is almost like a rally cry for the program.

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