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Press conference with defensive tackle CJ Mims and running back Benjamin Hall #UNC
Oct 15, 2025
Press conference with defensive tackle CJ Mims and running back Benjamin Hall #UNC
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0:00
working with WL. Um, coach, uh, Steve
0:03
Belch mentioned, you know, frustration.
0:05
He expects players to be frustrated,
0:07
particularly on defense right now. What
0:09
What do you think the level of
0:10
frustration in the locker room is about
0:11
how you guys have played, particularly
0:13
in some of the biggest games in the
0:14
field?
0:14
Well, I would just say I feel like the
0:15
frustration comes from, you know, just
0:17
mistakes from the little things, you
0:19
know, the little things that we just
0:20
need to execute and clean up. And, you
0:23
know, that game is behind us and we're
0:25
trying to get ready, prepare for our
0:26
next game. you know, the biggest thing
0:28
was just communication, doing our job
0:30
and and you know, getting it done.
0:33
Was there a feeling after that Cle
0:34
Thompson game in particular, the way it
0:37
started, the way it kind of went, um,
0:39
even coming off a by-week that how come
0:41
we're not cleaning up some of these
0:43
little things, some of these mistakes?
0:44
Um, well, like I said, you know, we're
0:46
just going to come in, build off our
0:48
last game, it didn't go the way we
0:49
wanted to, as I said before, little
0:51
things, uh, execution problems, but, you
0:54
know, and it just comes from the
0:55
communication, but like I said, we've
0:56
been building off that. We've been
0:57
fixing that and we're preparing for our
0:58
game Friday. So
1:00
Jeremiah,
1:01
yeah, CJ, um to that a little bit,
1:04
obviously having a chance to, you know,
1:05
kind of look at, you know, past games, I
1:07
know you're building toward the next
1:08
one. Uh in doing so, what are some ways
1:11
you think that you think from a
1:12
defensive standpoint, you guys kind of
1:14
have to set the tone sooner, if that
1:16
makes sense. Maybe starting faster. Oh,
1:18
well, as you said, starting off fast
1:20
and, you know, these past weeks, we
1:21
emphasized the little things and things
1:23
that we slid up on in our past games and
1:25
building off on it. You know, staying as
1:27
a unit and keeping that confidence
1:30
strong because we know we have plenty of
1:31
games ahead of us.
1:33
Pat,
1:34
yeah, what do you think the the mood is
1:36
right now with the team? Obviously,
1:38
playing on the field hasn't been what
1:39
you guys
1:41
last week. Kind of where are you guys at
1:43
moralewise, communitywise, you know,
1:46
going forward? Um, we're still we're
1:48
still strong. We're still I feel like
1:50
we're excited to really,
1:53
you know, move on to our next game and
1:55
really show really show that like we've
1:57
been working towards the corrections
1:59
that were needed from the past game. You
2:01
know, there's we're still a unity. We're
2:03
still all as one. Our this team the team
2:06
chemistry and team bond is still strong.
2:07
So
2:09
Joe,
2:10
just following up on that, what have who
2:12
have maybe been some of the folks that
2:14
have been stepping up kind of in the
2:16
locker room players to, you know, keep
2:18
you guys on that map, especially with
2:20
frustration?
2:22
Okay. I well I would say um other than
2:24
me I would say um Kamori House our
2:26
starting linebacker and you know Jordan
2:29
Ship and a couple other players on the
2:30
team who we consider as captains and you
2:32
know who are really vocal and really
2:34
trying to keep us you know as a unit
2:36
close together and strong throughout
2:38
this season everything that's going on.
2:42
Next question.
2:44
Yeah, I guess going off that with you
2:46
know some of the stuff that you enjoy
2:47
saying things like that. I guess what um
2:50
you're talking about staying together
2:52
and everything like that. I guess what
2:53
does that look like? Was that more so
2:55
like practices and kind of after
2:57
meetings like I guess how were they
2:59
delivering that message to you guys to
3:00
kind of
3:01
you know I would just say really just
3:05
holding each other to like a certain
3:06
standard to like certain things that we
3:08
do and you know making sure everyone's
3:10
being held to being held to you know
3:13
accountability. Accountability is the
3:15
biggest thing, you know, and just
3:17
communicating with your with your
3:19
brother cuz if we're able to do that,
3:20
then, you know, we're able to really
3:22
build off things and get to where we
3:24
need to be as a team.
3:26
Brian, when you committed to to play for
3:29
coach Belich, what was the sales pitch
3:31
to you and how much did you talk to
3:32
Michael and what was that experience?
3:34
Okay. Okay. Well, we're going back. Um,
3:38
sorry. Uh well, one of the biggest
3:40
things that I talked about when I was
3:42
talking to coach Bell was just really,
3:43
you know, how I will be developed here
3:45
and you know, one of the things I've
3:47
been learning and everything that we
3:48
talked about I feel like has happened. I
3:50
feel like I'm I've developed on and off
3:52
the field. I've developed, you know, not
3:54
even not just physical, but mentally and
3:56
like my IQ into the game. And um like I
4:00
said, it was been a little minute, but
4:02
I'm pretty I don't really
4:04
I don't remember much from my talk with
4:06
with coach Lombardi, but it was it was a
4:08
good talk that also
4:10
um really helped me get me here. He was,
4:13
you know, a good guy, straightforward,
4:15
and you know, we had a great
4:16
conversation. Sure.
4:18
You're following up on that
4:19
specifically, how you you said, you
4:21
know, physically, mentally, that sort of
4:23
thing, but any specific examples of ways
4:25
that you feel like you developed as
4:28
players so far? I would say my football
4:30
knowledge has developed a lot, you know,
4:33
because coach Bich is big on the little
4:35
things and, you know, is big on not just
4:37
knowing what you have to do, but the
4:39
person beside you, behind you, and also
4:41
doing what the offense is doing as well
4:43
or having an idea.
4:46
Noah,
4:47
with the things that circulated last
4:48
week, were any like Camori or Jordan,
4:50
did you guys have a big team sort of
4:52
meeting just to make sure that everyone
4:53
staying focused or were those same guys
4:55
the ones that were sort of leading that?
4:56
Yeah, I guess you can say that. You
4:57
know, we always like we always checking
5:00
with each other, you know, see where
5:01
everybody heads is at the end of the day
5:02
just to make sure that we're, you know,
5:04
we're ready straight forward and, you
5:06
know, just trying doing our best to
5:07
really prepare for our next game.
5:11
Yeah, I guess just really quick
5:12
following up on that, like was there a
5:15
specific meeting, say like a players
5:17
only meeting or was it just kind of a
5:19
series of conversations?
5:21
I guess, you know, like I said before,
5:23
it was just we was able we was able to
5:26
really build on it, you know, talk about
5:27
it, address it, move on from it, and get
5:29
ready for Cal.
5:34
Really quick follow up on that. Um, you
5:36
know, kind of going back to the the
5:37
frustration that Brian was asking about,
5:39
um, how have you maybe seen like
5:42
frustration emerge from you guys like in
5:44
the locker room and how you guys work to
5:46
maybe channel that towards, you know,
5:49
something?
5:50
Well, I mean, I would say frustration
5:52
comes with being a, you know, athlete
5:54
and I feel like we are very competitive.
5:56
you know, we are we all want to win, but
6:00
like as I said before, you know, we're
6:03
we're coming together as a unit. We're
6:05
coming to practice um fixing the
6:07
mistakes that that occurred and getting
6:09
ready for the next game.
6:11
And last one for Adam,
6:13
CJ, I hear you all say, you know, coming
6:15
together, fixing mistakes. um you know
6:18
when when a team is struggling people
6:20
fans you know want to see big changes
6:23
like what would you say
6:25
just in your opinion has needed to
6:27
change defensively
6:30
um from some of the things that have
6:31
been tripping you guys up like what's
6:33
your take on that
6:35
change not I wouldn't say change I would
6:38
just feel like there's just things that
6:39
we just got to fix as like you know
6:41
there like the little communication
6:44
errors and like the little things like
6:46
just coming together, executing, and
6:47
doing our jobs. That's about it. And
6:49
like I said, we've been emphasizing that
6:50
a lot and we've been and we're prepared
6:52
for Friday.
6:54
And just just to follow up real quick,
6:56
what were the things that stood out to
6:57
you about the start against Clemson? I
6:59
mean, it was 283 at the end of the first
7:01
quarter. Obviously, not a good start.
7:04
What What jumped out to you about about
7:06
the way you guys played, what you didn't
7:08
do?
7:10
Um, you like PS at one time. What what
7:12
stood out to you about the way you guys
7:14
played early against Clemson? It's a big
7:17
deficit very quickly, 283 at the end of
7:19
the first quarter.
7:20
Like what stood out to you about what
7:22
you weren't able to do as a defense that
7:24
led to,
7:25
you know, hitting off big plays and just
7:27
getting out such a huge lead?
7:29
I mean, well, obviously, you know, the
7:30
game didn't start the way we wanted to,
7:32
but we but we was able to go back out
7:34
there and finish the game strong. um
7:36
looking at that game just a little like
7:38
as I said before little mistakes and
7:41
little errors and that that we that
7:42
we've been fixing this in these past
7:44
weeks. So
7:46
perfect. Good stuff. Thanks so much for
7:49
a second. Did you have any conversation
7:50
with Caleb before you learned the news
7:52
that he would retire? And I guess how
7:54
did he help you if at all transition
7:57
from Michigan to here and and during
7:59
that whole process?
8:00
Right. Uh Caleb was always just a real
8:02
positive force on the team. um always
8:04
upbeat and just had a real love for the
8:06
game and love for the guys and so um you
8:08
know I was blessed to spend time with
8:10
him always going to be a tar heel and um
8:13
you know we miss him for sure.
8:14
Did you have any conversations with him
8:16
I guess leading up or did you how did
8:17
you find out the news I guess?
8:20
Um I mean I I think we like to keep that
8:22
in house but um you know he's a real
8:25
good factor on this team. But we miss
8:26
him for sure. And um big void on the
8:29
team for morale.
8:33
We'll go to
8:34
Ben Adams with inside Carolina. Uh just
8:37
wondering how your hand is. I'm sure the
8:39
the extra time off is has been good for
8:41
it and I know you play with extra
8:43
padding and things like that. Like just
8:45
give us an update on that, how it's
8:46
feeling.
8:47
All right. I'm feeling good. Um
8:48
everything's going well in that process.
8:50
Blessed by God to be able to heal. Um
8:52
the doctors have kind of had to pull me
8:55
back at times and just make sure I'm on
8:56
the right track, but um hands feeling
8:58
good. Um and just excited to keep moving
9:01
forward in that process.
9:02
Did you do that in practice? We we had
9:04
and we had heard that you might be out
9:06
for like a long time.
9:08
Um no, it's something happened like
9:10
earlier in the season in one of the
9:11
earlier games, but um you know just uh
9:14
never missed a beat. Always practicing,
9:15
always playing. So just trying to do the
9:17
best I can to help this team.
9:19
Pat.
9:21
that was going to be right out. Um last
9:23
week C++ lost Saturday and that's follow
9:26
up just kind of the week of reports and
9:28
noise. Um how did that affect you guys?
9:32
Have you seen any changes? Were there
9:34
like literal changes being made like
9:36
outright or something like sub chance?
9:42
Right. Um I mean guys just picking up
9:44
the urgency. We got a lot of new people
9:46
in new positions um on this football
9:48
team and so you know it's a it's a
9:50
process to try to get better each and
9:52
every day and I think we're doing that.
9:54
We're on the right track and so it's
9:55
only a matter of time before everything
9:57
unfolds the way we'd like it to
10:01
silos on the side. you're uh a part of
10:04
the 2023 national championship team at
10:06
Michigan and during the time you you
10:08
dealt with some issues because Jim
10:10
Harbaugh was suspended for a good period
10:11
of time and of course there's a lot of
10:13
noise around the program. Just from that
10:14
experience, how's that helped you in
10:17
this situation when you have the
10:18
quarterback coach Hawkins is suspended
10:20
and of course you got a lot of negative
10:22
um attention around the program?
10:24
I mean all that's just noise. We know
10:26
who we are as a team. We know who we
10:27
want to be as a team and so um we're
10:29
here working every day to be the best
10:30
version that we can be. um put that
10:33
extra work in and I think we've had um
10:36
some real good practices and and we're
10:38
feeling good, good high morale and so
10:40
we're just going to keep moving forward
10:41
each and every day trying to be the best
10:42
we can be.
10:44
Brian, hey, Brian Murphy with WRL. I
10:47
wondered about the quarterback
10:48
situation. Obviously, Gio didn't play
10:50
last week and Max did. How confident are
10:52
you that that either one of those guys
10:54
can get the job done? And do do you get
10:56
a sense that it might be one or the
10:57
other?
10:58
I love our whole quarterback room. Uh
10:59
Gio Lopez, Max Johnson, Bryce Baker,
11:03
Ottoori Newkerk. Um we have Andy and we
11:06
have DJ in there as well. Just a real
11:08
good group of guys and I'm confident
11:09
that whoever's out there is going to
11:10
make the plays needed to help us win
11:11
that game.
11:12
Did you see anything out of Max in that
11:14
Clemson game?
11:15
Um he just showed his toughness. You
11:17
know, we got a tough room of guys. Gio's
11:18
tough. Um Tori's tough, Bryce is tough.
11:20
All our guys are tough. And so, uh you
11:22
know, as we continue to build, we just
11:24
want to put the best guy out there.
11:27
Jeremiah.
11:27
Yeah. Jeremiah all the way with inside
11:29
Carolina. Then I wanted to ask you uh
11:31
with you and uh in June and you guys
11:33
have been kind of getting most of the
11:34
reps the last couple of games and things
11:37
like that. I guess how would you kind of
11:38
evaluate the I guess productivity from
11:40
you guys? You know what you would like
11:42
to know see change and see kind of be I
11:44
guess more effective on a down by down
11:47
basis.
11:48
I like where we are. You know I like
11:50
when we're running the ball downhill. I
11:51
think that's a good good point of our
11:54
offense when we're running that ball
11:55
downhill. And I think as we continue to
11:56
grow as an offense, we can do more of
11:58
that. And so, um, just hoping to
12:00
continue to grow as an offense and
12:02
continue to do more of running the ball
12:03
downhill. I think we got guys in the
12:04
room that can do that. Me, June Bullet,
12:08
um, we got young guys like Jaylen McIll,
12:10
we got Charleston French, you know, uh,
12:13
it's a whole whole room of guys who can
12:14
get the job done. And so, no, I'm
12:16
confident that any of us can go out
12:17
there and make plays needed to win.
12:19
And then you guys with you two kind of
12:21
getting, how do you feel your games kind
12:23
of, you know, complement each other? I
12:25
think you guys pretty much split the
12:27
same amount of carries. How do you feel
12:28
your games are, you know, complimenting
12:30
each other?
12:32
Um, I think we're both good runners, you
12:34
know, um, just people that can go out
12:36
there and make the plays needed, whether
12:38
it's catching the ball, running the
12:39
ball, picking up and pass. And so, uh,
12:41
you know, I I think we're just, uh, two
12:45
guys that can go out there and get the
12:46
job done. I don't think it's necessarily
12:47
a complimentary thing, but it's just two
12:49
good running backs who can go out there
12:50
and make plays for our team. Shelby
12:53
Shelby
12:55
just um you said earlier kind of in
12:58
responding to maybe some of the noise
13:00
whatever guys maybe picking up the
13:02
urgency just want to follow on that like
13:04
clarify that by that
13:08
yeah just you know we have a lot of new
13:10
guys on this team and you can't gel
13:12
overnight and so as we're continuing to
13:13
move on through the season you know um
13:17
bond is built through fire and built
13:20
through hard times and so and as we go
13:21
through these hard times, we're
13:22
continuing to build that bond of
13:23
brothers on this team and um the urgency
13:26
is picking up just cuz we know what we
13:28
have to do to to take that next step.
13:30
Just follow up on something you were
13:31
asking CJ about just from your
13:33
perspective, who have been maybe some of
13:34
the players, guys in the locker room
13:36
that are, you know, stepping up. So, I
13:39
guess you guys the fire.
13:42
Um I mean, I think it's everyone's
13:43
picking up the urgency. You know, we on
13:46
a football field it's 11 guys all trying
13:48
to do the same thing on the same page.
13:50
And so, uh, you can't just lean on one
13:52
guy to pick up the urgency, but it's
13:54
kind of, uh, everyone just, you know,
13:56
handling their business, um, and doing
13:58
what they need to do to help this team
14:00
win games.
14:01
Any players,
14:03
I guess?
14:03
Um, no, we'd like to keep that in house,
14:05
but, uh, I think overall we're just
14:07
growing as a team and growing as
14:09
players.
14:10
Ryan,
14:11
yeah, CJ mentioned that there was a lot
14:12
of talks, a lot of the talks in the
14:14
locker room. didn't necessarily say what
14:15
they were about, but that the players
14:17
were were talking to each other and
14:19
trying to work through whatever it is
14:21
that you guys are going through. Did you
14:22
get that sense as well that they're
14:24
the lines of communication among the
14:26
among the players have been opened up a
14:27
little bit?
14:28
Yeah, I mean, I think we've always been
14:29
talking. You know, like I said, with a
14:30
bunch of new guys on the team, you got
14:32
to have those talks and um you know, I
14:34
think as we're continuing to go
14:35
throughout this season, we're continuing
14:37
to communicate and growing in that and
14:38
becoming more open with each other. And
14:40
that's kind of a a big thing to help us
14:43
continue to move forward and gel and and
14:44
put some wins in the win column.
14:46
I asked CJ the same question, but what
14:48
what attracted you to come play for for
14:50
Bill Belch? What were your conversations
14:52
like with Mike Lombardi in that process,
14:55
that transfer process?
14:56
Uh for me, it was like the initial
14:58
reason I went to the last school I was
14:59
at, you know, a really good head coach
15:01
and a position coach who played the game
15:03
at the highest level. And so now I went
15:05
from coach Harball to and Mike Hart to
15:07
you know I'm here with coach Bellich and
15:10
nature on means and so it's just a a
15:12
really great great system for me because
15:14
I'm being taught by people who have done
15:16
at the highest level whether that's
15:17
coaching or playing and I think I found
15:19
a great place for me to be.
15:21
And any conversations that you had with
15:22
Michael Bur during that transfer process
15:24
about you the deals of it all and
15:27
getting here to North Carolina.
15:29
Right. Um,
15:31
I mean, I think the biggest thing that
15:33
kind of got me here was just, you know,
15:34
being being here with, uh, Bellich and
15:36
my position coach. And, you know, um, I
15:41
wouldn't want it any other way.
15:43
Trayvon.
15:44
Hey, Trayvon from ABC. Coach Kitchen has
15:46
talked about the fact that you all were
15:48
grouping, just not necessarily showing
15:51
up on the scoreboard,
15:52
right?
15:52
Uh, how much is the offense, your you
15:55
guys' group in particular, just pitching
15:57
at that breakout? Yeah, we think it's
16:00
only a matter of time, you know. Um,
16:01
we're getting better every day. The
16:03
energy's picking up and guys are jelling
16:05
and
16:06
I wouldn't say that we're worried about
16:08
the result as much as we are just
16:09
showing up every day and being the best
16:10
that we can be cuz at the end of the
16:12
day, that's all you can do.
16:14
And then how close do you do you think
16:16
you guys are to putting on the
16:18
production that you guys think you can
16:20
be? I
16:20
think it's only a matter of time, you
16:22
know. Um, it's not in our hands. It's in
16:23
God's hands like uh most things are, but
16:26
um I think it's only a matter of time.
16:28
Just got to keep pressing each and every
16:30
day.
16:31
Got time for two more. We're going to go
16:32
to Adam and then Rod's going to close us
16:34
out.
16:35
Yeah. Ben, right along those lines, I
16:37
was going to say you you were mentioning
16:39
Harball. I was going to ask, you know,
16:40
you've played some big boy football in
16:42
your career, played played on national
16:44
championship team. If you could take
16:46
take a step back maybe from the
16:48
dayto-day around here, how would you
16:50
measure where this program is in terms
16:54
of becoming a winning program? Like I
16:57
mean you you've seen it like you know
16:59
how far do you think this program has to
17:02
go? How how far away is it?
17:04
Right. I mean, I think we have a lot of
17:06
new people um doing new things like I
17:09
said earlier and so uh it's just a
17:11
process of daily just um you know, doing
17:14
your daily deposits, you know, um
17:16
showing up on time for lifts, working
17:18
hard in the weight room, working hard in
17:19
the practice field, and you know, at the
17:21
end of the day, that's all we can do is
17:22
show up every day and work as hard as we
17:24
can. And you know, like I keep saying,
17:26
like the the vibe around here, the
17:29
energy around here is really good. So,
17:30
it's only a matter of time until, you
17:32
know, things fall our way. And I think
17:35
that's showing up in practice, showing
17:36
up in the film room, and just guys are
17:38
guys are hungry here. You know, guys
17:39
want to get the job done. And so just
17:41
going to keep attacking every day and
17:42
and get the job done.
17:44
And last one for Rob.
17:45
Yeah, Ben, Rob Baxley, federal deserve.
17:48
Going off of Adam's question, you've
17:49
obviously been a part of the
17:50
championship program. What are those
17:52
championship traits? And as a player,
17:54
how do you relay that in a program
17:57
that's trying to build for them?
17:59
Right. The biggest thing is culture. you
18:01
know, at the end of the day, you can
18:02
only go as far as the players will take
18:03
you. And so, um, you know, as players,
18:06
we have to continue to grow, um, on and
18:08
off the field, and we're doing that
18:09
daily, and we're going to continue to do
18:11
that. And so, um, you know, I I don't
18:14
think there's any other way to put it.
18:16
Um, and we're taking the steps necessary
18:18
to get the job done. So, I'm proud of
18:20
where we are as a team. I'm proud of the
18:21
guys. I'm proud of the coaches. And I
18:24
think as we continue to go throughout
18:25
this season, we're going to continue to
18:26
take those steps forward. And so, um,
18:28
I'm blessed to be here and ultimately,
18:31
um, I want to thank God that I'm here
18:33
and I want to thank God that he put me
18:34
in this environment because I've grown
18:36
so much being here. I'm blessed to be
18:38
around the guys, the coaches, Coach
18:39
Bellich, Coach Means, and, um, truly
18:42
just humbled under God and and blessed
18:44
to be in front of you all as well. So,
18:45
thank you guys.
18:47
Good stuff. Thanks so much. They want
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