Mack Brown explains what makes baseball players also good at football

Mack Brown has had two-sport athletes on his North Carolina football teams dating back to when Julius Peppers played football and basketball at UNC. Brown currently has multiple UNC football players also playing baseball.

The veteran coach insists that playing baseball and football in the same academic year is easier than doing basketball and football or other sports.

“I think it’s just easier to play both because it’s not two physical sports,” Mack Brown recently said. “You’ve got a little bit of time between the end of football and when baseball starts. When we had Julius Peppers, he’d go from a bowl game to immediately basketball the next day. And it’s the wear and tear – not only on your body but emotionally.”

Speaking of that physical and emotional wear and tear, Brown does have a rule when it comes to his two-sport athletes. He’s open to them trying to play two sports unless things start going wrong.

“We’ve told guys that until it affects you emotionally or until it affects your grades, you can play both sports,” Brown said. “But if at any time either one of those… if you’re worn out, you’re not doing well, you’re not having fun, then you shouldn’t play.”

Brown and the Tar Heels are coming off of an 8-5 season in 2023. Brown has been back at North Carolina since 2019, and the Tar Heels have reached a bowl game all five years, including in 2022 when UNC reached the ACC Championship game.

Mack Brown calls UNC’s quarterback battle a blessing

This offseason, North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown is looking for a new quarterback as the team moves on from Drake Maye.

For Brown, this is going to be a challenge. However, he also feels that it’s been a blessing because of how the quarterback room has handled it to this point.

“You start looking at quarterbacks, which is always a fan favorite to coach and talk about,” Mack Brown said. “Everybody loves that quarterback battle. We’re lucky that we feel like, and this will sound like it’s a press conference statement, but we feel like both of them can play today. That’s a blessing. We feel like both of them can win today.”

As of now, North Carolina has four quarterbacks listed on its roster, including Conner Harrell, Max Johnson, DJ Mazzone, and Michael Merdinger. The quarterback battle appears to be between Harrell, who was on the team last season, and Johnson, who transferred in after stops at LSU and Texas A&M.

“They’re two of the nicest young men I’ve ever been around. They both have outstanding families. They like each other a lot. They’re pulling for each other a lot. There is no animosity in that room. They both have things that they do better than the other one. We’ve just got to figure out which one is going to be the most consistent and who’s gonna lead the team the best,” Brown said.

“That’s partly what summer’s for. When you get back at the end of summer, you ask the other players, ‘Who worked the hardest? Who’s the most consistent in your mind?’ And you’ve got guys you trust. They get to see them every day. We don’t get to see them every day in the summer because we can’t see them throw, and that really, really helps when you come back and they have a feel.”