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#UNC coach Mack Brown's last postgame press conference, this one after loss to N.C. State
Dec 1, 2024
#UNC coach Mack Brown's last postgame press conference, this one after loss to N.C. State
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0:00
NC State what a game two even teams and
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absolutely competed till the end um I
0:08
don't know what happened in the end
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somebody said they tried to plant their
0:11
flag and uh on our field and I had said
0:15
two years ago that was
0:17
disrespectful um i' said all week you
0:19
need to compete but you need to do it
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with composure so it's another learning
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experience that you can't fight but you
0:25
you got to win the game um and and kids
0:28
have pride and and it's been a hard week
0:30
for these kids they lose their coach on
0:32
Tuesday and in U modern day landscape
0:35
that means that you've got U um an agent
0:39
you you've got transfer portal you got
0:41
people calling in I'm absolutely amazed
0:44
that they were able to compete like they
0:45
did tonight play as hard as they did
0:47
with all the pressure on them and and
0:49
with the uncertainty in their future so
0:51
I'm really really proud of them um wish
0:54
we'd won the game their freshman
0:56
quarterback made some really good plays
0:58
down the stretch our guys made plays
1:00
down the stretch um the the one turnover
1:04
hurt us obviously as a 10 yard touchdown
1:06
uh but again it's it's a great game from
1:10
uh two Rivals like it like it should be
1:12
um and and
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that's I mean that's the way you'd like
1:16
to see this game played uh where both
1:19
compete like they do um I'll comment a
1:22
little bit on the transition this week
1:24
um I uh agree with the administration
1:27
that we need a change of leadership at
1:29
at the top um I just wanted it to happen
1:33
after the season was over uh these poor
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kids have had so much uh turmoil in
1:39
their lives and I think the
1:41
administration's into finding a football
1:43
coach and I'm into saving lives and and
1:46
making sure that they're healthy making
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sure that they're mentally healthy and
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when you have a four game losing streak
1:51
that's hard for kids they're not used to
1:54
that especially here we hadn't had had
1:56
that happen and then especially with the
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sick young guy so uh you got a four game
2:01
losing streak and then you lose one of
2:02
your best friends that you've watched
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die at 23 years old so uh I wasn't
2:08
thinking about me I wasn't thinking
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about my future I was thinking about
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what's best for these young people and
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and that was what our whole staff did
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and I was so proud that they came back
2:18
and and gathered themselves and and were
2:21
able to beat Virginia on the road which
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is hard to do here then they were able
2:25
to beat Florida State on the road then
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they were able to beat Wake Forest so
2:28
again there there should be any talk
2:30
about me uh because it was all about
2:33
them and they finally had something
2:34
positive happen during their season so I
2:37
didn't want to sit around and talk about
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leaving um when when they're finally
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getting some things happening and and
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moving in a positive direction and um
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and and that's really really important
2:47
as you go forward because you you sure
2:50
didn't want to be a distraction and and
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that's when you're 73 everybody ask you
2:55
every day if you're going to quit or
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ever ask it and then and and you all
2:59
were so respectful not to ask I was
3:01
going to get fired and why was I going
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to quit every day um uh because the the
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answer is what I said for S years six
3:08
years is that I wait till the end of the
3:10
year I don't want to talk about not
3:12
coaching while I'm coaching and at the
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end of the year we make a decision um as
3:17
far as the he said she said and and uh
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the um the
3:24
U what you'd call the sour close Source
3:28
close to the university
3:30
uh for a few of you um I don't need any
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of that uh there were three people that
3:35
talked about this and it was me and John
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PRI who's our chairman of the board of
3:38
trustees and uh Athletics director
3:41
Cunningham I never talked to the
3:43
chancellor didn't have one conversation
3:44
with him so uh and all I wanted to do
3:47
was wait till the end of the year and
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and they wanted me to um retire on
3:52
Monday before the state game we had
3:55
beaten state it was really important for
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these kids to play well tonight and have
3:59
a chance to win I didn't want to break
4:01
their hearts on on Monday so I said no I
4:04
won't do that and then they wanted me to
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do it on Friday well I sure wasn't going
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to do it Friday before the game you're
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24 hours from a game and you're
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disrupting their entire lives and
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coaches because 71 people in this
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building have a different situation than
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than they had last week so um so I felt
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like that uh the thing I said is I'll
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talk to you tonight after the game about
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it or I'll talk to you Sunday morning
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and I don't know what the difference in
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in Monday and and Saturday night would
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have been uh but I don't want to get
4:37
into like I said that he said she said
4:41
uh soures I don't have to have soures
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close I got Mr prior that knows exactly
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what I said so um so I'm I'm I'm good
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with it and really it doesn't matter um
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after James Madison we played awful and
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then they started looking for coaches
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and they should have um that's I felt
4:58
like we probably couldn't overcome that
5:00
but my job is to take care of those kids
5:03
that's my job those seniors don't have
5:05
another year so I'm not going to quit on
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those seniors and and not give them an
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opportunity to um to to have a chance to
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to move forward um I I've spent 16 years
5:16
at this place uh out of my 36 as a head
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coach I love the state of North Carolina
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uh we love the mountains we love the
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beach We Love Chapel Hill um the
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university is has been a huge part of my
5:30
life and we have unbelievable friends
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here we've got lifetime friends here and
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and that will never change and uh when
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you spend most people don't ever get to
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be a head coach when you spend 16 years
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here uh that's most of your life when
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you think about it so um I I've loved my
5:47
time um I want to thank the players the
5:50
staff and the coaches uh I want to thank
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the fans and and thank my friends
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because there's just uh so many here
5:58
that have done so much for us and that I
6:00
I just uh love seeing um I want to thank
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Athletics director Cunningham for
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bringing me here in your late 60s a lot
6:08
of people wouldn't have done that I
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didn't realize that it would get to be a
6:12
hassle I thought we'd probably stay
6:13
three to 5 years and then we were having
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fun and helping the kids and started
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winning some games and uh and it was all
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good uh but uh as I said Sally and I
6:22
both agreed that it was time for
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leadership change at the top uh I was
6:26
just disappointed in the way it was done
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uh we could have had joint press
6:30
conference and uh I could have stayed
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and and we could have worked all this
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out where I worked here for a while uh
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but that that didn't happen um and I
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think the uh um the the other thing I
6:42
want to do is I want to thank the Board
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of Trustees uh they were so involved and
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and especially Mr PRI and and Jen Evans
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and TZ Walker being eligible and and
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that changed his life he's playing pro
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football right now if he'd stayed here
6:57
and gotten hurt he might not have
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graduated
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because he was going through some
7:01
depression issues but he sure wouldn't
7:02
play pro pro football so I I thank the
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uh Trustees for that and David bolock
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was also very very involved uh Josh
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Stein our governor I'm not sure we could
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have even gotten it done without him
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because uh he stood up and and um it
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changed when he got involved and and he
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didn't even know the young man but he
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knew for our state it was the right
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thing to do uh and also I'm I'm a little
7:27
worried about us going forward uh
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with administrators across the country
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because I'm not sure we we're we're
7:34
getting more like pro football and we we
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had the best academics in the state in
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the conference we had the third best
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academics in the in the country and
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nobody even mentioned it except for Mr
7:45
prior and he brought the academic staff
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who is wonderful over to the trustees
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meeting and and set them down when I
7:51
worked for ESPN Leaf fitting was one of
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my bosses and I love Lee and he always
7:56
said don't call them student athletes
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they're not
8:00
they're not and I'm afraid that's
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getting to be true and I told the
8:05
players that I said we do care and we do
8:07
care that you go to school and you do
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everything right but it doesn't seem to
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be as important uh moving forward as it
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as it once was uh as far as the new
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coach is concerned um I will get out of
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the way for sure that's why I'm not
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going to coach in the bowl game when I
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took the job at Texas and I'm not mad
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you can see I'm I'm disappointing the
8:28
game tonight but I'm I'm I'm not mad I'm
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not angry I think it's time to go I I
8:33
always said for God to tell me when it's
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time to go and oh my gosh this year I've
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gotten a bunch of answers um so I'm and
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tonight just piled on so I said I got it
8:41
God I've had enough man I hear you um
8:44
with with what we're doing moving
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forward uh but what a wonderful life
8:48
I've had what a wonderful career I've
8:49
had and and there's I'm I'm leaving it
8:51
better than I found it and then when I
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got the job at Texas I walked in the
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office with the Lost dods who was the
8:58
Athletics director ctor in the football
9:00
office and John mavic was sitting there
9:02
who was the coach he' just let go and he
9:04
was cleaning out his desk and that was
9:06
really awkward so my desk is cleaned out
9:09
I've learned uh my phone's turned in my
9:12
keys are turned in so I'm I am I've got
9:15
one more official Duty and that'll be
9:17
for the senior dinner tomorrow night and
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I'll hug up these seniors who have been
9:21
through a lot uh and Sally and I'll host
9:24
them tomorrow night at 6 and then move
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forward with it U um I'm I'm sure I told
9:30
the kids I'm sure they'll get a great
9:32
coach uh he'll have a better situation
9:35
than we did with nil because of R new
9:37
sharing um we had about $4 million he's
9:40
going to have at least 12 um so it'll be
9:43
that be three four times much more money
9:45
for the kids so that that should really
9:47
help them uh people have asked about
9:49
transfers uh we signed 26 kids two years
9:52
ago and not one of them got a penny so
9:55
all of them came out of high school here
9:57
because they wanted to be here as so I
9:59
don't see them transferring now now
10:02
money is different we lost three or four
10:04
recruits at the end uh this year just in
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the last two or three weeks because they
10:08
got paid and we asked them and they said
10:10
I got paid so I mean I got it um and
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that's the other reason that I I think
10:16
it's a um it's a great time for me to
10:19
get out this isn't the game that I
10:21
signed up for it has changed so much if
10:24
you think since I've been here in six
10:26
years we went through Co which was very
10:29
difficult for for all of us and I mean
10:31
trying to coach a football team when you
10:33
don't even know if you're going to have
10:34
one and then you couldn't touch a
10:36
football and and then you couldn't sit
10:39
in a room together and you couldn't meet
10:40
together um and and we go to the Orange
10:43
Bowl so I'm I'm really really proud of
10:44
that and proud of the way the kids
10:46
handle it because you you take negatives
10:48
and turn them into positives and then we
10:50
were recruiting really really well till
10:51
nil came in and and we've really dropped
10:54
off with with our recruiting um and then
10:58
transfer portals not something that most
11:00
of the academic schools are excited
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about because it's hard to get in uh so
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um right now I think it's a wonderful
11:07
time for somebody else to come in uh and
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take over and like I said we're leaving
11:11
it better than we found it we've got
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wonderful kids it's a good roster there
11:15
there's some things they'll need to do
11:17
in the um in the portal um and I'm sure
11:20
as the administrators were looking for a
11:22
coach they word signing days moved up
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and and the portals coming pretty soon
11:27
so I I get all that I I mean I
11:30
understand that uh they had to start
11:31
looking and it's funny I I know so many
11:33
agents and coaches they'd all called me
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and said you know they're looking for
11:36
coaches and yeah I got that uh I know
11:40
that so I'm not foolish I I knew that uh
11:44
probably wouldn't be there at at the end
11:48
[Music]
11:49
um and I my my next uh chapter uh Sally
11:54
and I don't know what we're going to do
11:55
we've already had some opportunities
11:57
this week to to do different things
11:59
um so we're not sure where we'll live
12:01
and and we're not sure what we'll do I
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remember at Texas when I got through I
12:05
looked up that day and said you know I
12:07
don't have anything to do the rest of my
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life and I've been having stuff to do
12:10
all day every day so it it really really
12:14
is is is different but um I I think as I
12:17
said again um I agree with the
12:21
administration that we should have new
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leadership um I've had enough U I'm
12:26
excited about my next step um and and uh
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want to truly get out of the way so they
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can hire a great coach and and keep
12:35
moving forward for these kids and these
12:36
fans I can't have all these friends here
12:39
and can't love these kids and and not
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want North Carolina to be really really
12:43
good as as uh we move forward
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um can't read some of my
12:55
notes well I think the biggest thing is
12:58
that uh uh I want to appreciate you all
13:00
too and say thank you uh like I said you
13:03
I've Got Friends in this room uh I was
13:05
in your business for 5 years uh but I
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think the the biggest thing is that U um
13:11
you all are so respectful you're very
13:14
professional when when I've met with you
13:16
uh you've asked me questions and allowed
13:18
me to answer them and and um Chip's
13:20
grown up a lot he's a lot better than he
13:22
was when I was here before when he was a
13:23
when he was a young guy uh he like I was
13:26
probably worse too chip as a as a young
13:28
guy and we need to start talking about
13:30
when you're retiring cuz you're getting
13:31
older and a lot of people are asking um
13:33
uh and you got to you got to be careful
13:35
with what you say too by the way cuz
13:37
that they'll take that and make it
13:38
bigger than than life as you go through
13:40
um and and again I um understand the
13:43
change I agree with the change in
13:46
leadership I was a little disappointed
13:48
in the way it was handled and and that
13:49
was the only thing uh nothing else from
13:52
that standpoint and what I'm going to do
13:54
in respect of the administration at the
13:57
University of North Carolina because
13:58
like I said there's only three people
14:00
that know what we said and I know John
14:03
Pryor and I are on the same page I don't
14:05
I don't know about anybody else I don't
14:07
know what anybody else is saying but uh
14:09
this should be through um they made a
14:12
decision they wanted to change I agree
14:14
with it I didn't agree with the way it
14:16
was done that's simple it's minor but
14:19
you all should start talking about who
14:21
the new coach is and and not whether
14:23
this was good or not in in the past so
14:27
uh but in respect to the university in
14:29
North Carolina I'm not going to answer
14:30
questions tonight for the first time in
14:32
my life uh because we would have uh it
14:35
it wouldn't be fair to the
14:36
administration for me to answer
14:38
questions without them sitting here to
14:40
to answer them as well so love you
14:42
appreciate you uh don't call me um I you
14:46
won't be able to find me uh I I'll be
14:49
somewhere playing golf or fishing uh but
14:52
uh really appreciate all you've done and
14:55
uh appreciate the kids and and sorry
14:57
that we lost the game so
14:59
Jeremy ready thank you
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