Fedora Gives Update on UNC QB Battle (ICTV)
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- A quick glance at UNC's official week one depth chart ahead of the season opener against Cal showed three quarterbacks listed.
6 - Brandon Harris (6-3, 220, Gr.) OR 12 -
Chazz Surratt (6-3, 215, Fr.) OR 11 -
Nathan Elliott (6-1, 215, So.)
There is "no update," head coach
Larry Fedora said on Monday morning during his game week press conference inside the Kenan Football Center.
Fedora does not expect to name a quarterback publicly until game day.
Does he anticipate taking the competition to Saturday? "I do. Yeah I do," Fedora said.
Does he anticipate more than one quarterback taking snaps on Saturday? "That is a possibility," Fedora answered.
Surratt's emergence in preseason camp has made the competition and the staff's ultimate decision more challenging. Surratt arrived on UNC's campus in June of 2016. The Parade Magazine Player of the Year and one of the more decorated high school quarterbacks in North Carolina high school history, Surratt came to Chapel Hill as the prototypical dual-threat signal-caller with dynamic playmaking ability.
After redshirting as a freshman, Fedora saod that Surratt has improved drastically since the spring.
"I think he's gotten quite a bit better than he was last year," the sixth-year UNC head coach said. "I think that is just a full year into it and understanding the expectations and how we practice and what the focus has to be each day to be an elite quarterback.
"Sitting behind Trubisky for a year and watching him and watching how he approached each and every day and what he did was really good for him."
Coming into preseason camp at the beginning of August, Harris was the perceived favorite to win the job. The challenges of learning a new system are well known, particularly transitioning from LSU's pro-style offense to UNC's spread format. Gaining an understanding of the new verbiage and the speed with which the UNC offense can run, combined with the lack of a huddle, is tough. It is comparable to learning a new language.
Harris arrived at UNC in June, but could not work with the coaching staff until August. It has been a steep learning curve, but after four weeks Fedora said he feels good with Harris's development
"He's improved quite a bit in the few weeks that he has been here just as far as the communication and understanding the offense and what we expect," Fedora explained on Monday. "I am comfortable with where he is right now."
Fedora would have liked to have named a quarterback by now. He would have liked to name one after the spring. He said as much at the ACC Kickoff in July. But, with five days until the Tar Heels take the field to face the Golden Bears, there remains no clear-cut leader. "I would prefer that someone had separated two months ago and we had named a starter...but that is just not the way it is in this situation. So this is what we have to deal with. We've got guys that are competing for a job and we were hoping that somebody would separate themselves sooner than now. It hasn't happened, but that doesn't change our plan and the way we go forward.
"The extension of (the quarterback competition) has just been because no one was has separated themselves."
UNC has options. There has been healthy competition throughout camp with each quarterback pushing the other. The emergence of Surratt could easily be traced to Harris's presence on the team and Harris's improvement can be linked to the young gun from East Lincoln pushing him.
"I would have done it exactly like we did it," Fedora said when asked about the quarterback situation and bringing Harris to UNC. "Brandon brings something that none of the guys have --- his game experience. We needed somebody in that room with game experience."
Fedora will roll out one of three guys to take the first offensive snap on Saturday. But, don't be surprised to see more than one under center by day's end.