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Mack Brown using NCAA Tournament to send message to UNC players

Stephen Samraby:Steve Samra•03/22/23•

SamraSource

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North Carolina coach Mack Brown looks on before a game against Florida State on Oct. 9, 2021. (Grant Halverson / Getty Images)

Mack Brown is using the lessons taught by the NCAA Tournament to inspire his North Carolina Tar Heels squad.

Everybody loves an upset. Heck, it’s why most people even turn into the NCAA Tournament, especially casual fans. But an upset can teach a myriad of lessons, and Brown believes those lessons can help North Carolina take their game to the next level in 2023.

“We’re also talking about the NCAA Tournament. You look at how many upsets there are. When you look at the upsets, how does a certain team beat another team, and then in their next game, they get blown out? It has to be that sometimes, the guys didn’t take them serious,” stated Brown. “That’s just, that’s what we do in our every day life, but it’s sports. That’s happened to us some in our four years here.

“We’ve got to change that narrative. We’ve got to be focused and be ready to go, and have an edge every day and every meeting, and every practice. Every walk through, to be able to get your mindset, that’s that is the way that you’re going to play every Saturday, regardless of who you play or what somebody thinks that game is going to be, you’re supposed to beat this team, 21 points. It doesn’t matter. Look at the Tournament. Look at the Tournament. It’s who plays the best on that day. It sounds like a cliche, but it’s facts. So far, we’ve had four practices with full focus, from everybody.”

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Evidently, Brown believes whole-heartedly in his North Carolina team’s talent, hoping they can realize it and not slip up at inopportune moments, like they’ve done in the past. Brown wants to get North Carolina to the College Football Playoff, and that won’t happen if they’re not on their game each time out.

Over his four seasons since his return to North Carolina, Brown has been a shot in the arm to a program that had won five games in the two seasons prior to his arrival. During his first season in 2019, the Tar Heels went 7-6, sold out every home game, and won the Military Bowl. Then, they followed that with an 8-4 season in 2020 and a trip to the Orange Bowl, the school’s first major bowl in 70 years.

Since, it’s been more of the same success for Mack Brown, but he’s not looking to hit a wall, he wants to win championships. He believes that’s possible at North Carolina, and he’ll do everything he can to make it happen.