WEBVTT - Mac & Bone Show - Jones Angell Interview 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:19.690 Sports Radio 92.7 WFNZ. This music was playing loud and 0:00:19.730 --> 0:00:25.150 proud on Saturday as the Heels got it done. Got 0:00:25.170 --> 0:00:26.990 a little scary there. Got a little dicey for the 0:00:27.010 --> 0:00:30.550 heels after they blow the 17-point lead. But they rally 0:00:30.590 --> 0:00:34.430 with a great clutch late drive. And they get the dub. 0:00:34.670 --> 0:00:38.269 They get the victory bell. And little Billy has beaten Duke. 0:00:38.690 --> 0:00:41.700 And Bone is very happy for Bill Belichick. 0:00:41.810 --> 0:00:44.220 I'm having a signal problem over here on the other 0:00:44.260 --> 0:00:44.980 side of the room. 0:00:46.580 --> 0:00:48.860 Bone's been dreading this conversation all week. 0:00:48.900 --> 0:00:50.760 How about you talk to Jones and I talk to 0:00:50.780 --> 0:00:52.740 the guy that called me a baked potato on Twitter? 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:54.200 Yeah, you deal with that guy. It seems like you're 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.160 into a nasty feud there on social media. 0:00:56.180 --> 0:01:00.100 Like that's like not a compliment. Who doesn't love baked potatoes? 0:01:00.440 --> 0:01:02.900 Let's bring in Jones Angel, who I think has probably 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:05.740 been looking forward more to this conversation than you, Bone, 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:08.740 as we talk about the Heels beating Duke and now 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:11.160 trying to go to 5-2 with a game against the 0:01:11.220 --> 0:01:15.080 Cuse at home. Jones Angel, voice of the Tar Heels. Jones, 0:01:15.140 --> 0:01:17.339 I'm guessing that was a fun one to call on Saturday. 0:01:18.590 --> 0:01:20.370 It was a fun one for sure. I've had this 0:01:20.430 --> 0:01:23.190 circled all week, Bone. I'm ready for this conversation. I'm 0:01:23.250 --> 0:01:27.840 excited for it. No, it was a great win for Carolina. 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:32.950 You know, the game itself, I think, it shows both 0:01:33.010 --> 0:01:36.240 the good for Carolina and kind of where The Tar 0:01:36.260 --> 0:01:39.380 Heels still need to go. Had such a great start 0:01:39.420 --> 0:01:44.200 to the contest, led 17-0, as you referenced, 17-7 at halftime. 0:01:45.380 --> 0:01:47.660 But then, to Duke's credit, Blue Devils played a lot 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.680 better in the second half, took advantage of a handful 0:01:50.740 --> 0:01:52.520 of Tar Heel mistakes, and then all of a sudden 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:55.760 it was 20-17 with four and a half minutes to go. 0:01:55.860 --> 0:01:59.160 And so for Carolina to answer again like the Heels 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:01.680 have done a couple of times now, with some key 0:02:01.760 --> 0:02:04.930 plays down the stretch to get the win, I think 0:02:05.330 --> 0:02:08.790 was impressive. Now, it also shows you that this team 0:02:08.830 --> 0:02:11.870 has still struggled a little bit to find that consistency. 0:02:12.490 --> 0:02:15.310 I think you can go through almost every game outside 0:02:15.340 --> 0:02:19.190 of the East Tennessee State game And you can go, man, 0:02:19.210 --> 0:02:21.399 there were some great stretches of play, and then there 0:02:21.419 --> 0:02:23.459 were some stretches of play that the Heels would like 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:27.040 to have back. And so you hadn't really seen 60 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:30.480 full minutes yet, even in a win, again, outside of 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.730 an FCS opponent. And so the Tar Heels would like 0:02:33.750 --> 0:02:36.510 to continue on that path to gain that consistency, but 0:02:37.130 --> 0:02:39.950 absolutely nothing bad about the Heels getting that big win 0:02:40.030 --> 0:02:42.669 and being 4-2 and feel really good about what they've 0:02:42.690 --> 0:02:44.620 done through the first half of the season. Wow. 0:02:45.350 --> 0:02:48.230 Jones, first of all, good morning, Jones. I asked you 0:02:48.290 --> 0:02:52.020 about Jordan Shipp last week and his leadership, what he means. 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:56.160 What about Jelani Thurman and his role and what he's 0:02:56.220 --> 0:02:57.739 done for this year's offense this year? 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.799 Well, let me say one thing about Jordan. I thought 0:03:01.820 --> 0:03:05.900 you saw some of the leadership aspect of him because 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:07.639 he had a mistake in this game. He had that 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:09.910 fumble that dude picked up and ran in for a 0:03:09.930 --> 0:03:13.110 touchdown yesterday. that really got Duke kind of back in 0:03:13.130 --> 0:03:15.090 the neighborhood of the game when it looked like the 0:03:15.130 --> 0:03:17.670 Tar Heels might run away with this thing. And you 0:03:17.710 --> 0:03:21.760 saw Shipp immediately, you know, take accountability for it. And 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:25.799 sometimes leaders, that's leadership. When you say, look, hey, I 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:28.120 did something. I know that was a screw-up on my part. 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:30.420 I own it. Now I'm going to fix it. Let's 0:03:30.500 --> 0:03:32.660 all move forward, and I'm going to help us get 0:03:32.690 --> 0:03:35.130 it back. And I think that's part of leadership, too. 0:03:35.710 --> 0:03:38.670 But to better answer your question about Thurman, he's just 0:03:38.770 --> 0:03:42.690 such a– He's just such a mismatch at that position. 0:03:42.770 --> 0:03:45.910 He is one of those tight ends that has good size. 0:03:45.970 --> 0:03:49.710 His improvement in the blocking side of things has been 0:03:49.730 --> 0:03:54.220 pretty dramatic. But he is just such a physical, difficult 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:58.380 matchup for the other team. He's too fast for a 0:03:58.420 --> 0:04:01.720 lot of linebackers. He's too physical for a lot of safeties. 0:04:02.300 --> 0:04:06.060 And we know that Bill Belichick, number one, has had 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:09.320 some great tight ends through his career in football. So 0:04:09.380 --> 0:04:11.800 he has a pretty good idea how to use guys 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:14.860 like that. And Bobby Petrino has done a really good 0:04:14.900 --> 0:04:19.020 job in finding ways to get Thurman open and finding 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.580 ways to get him mismatches within the game. Now, he 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.220 didn't have his biggest game of the season. against Duke, 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:27.940 but he did have that huge fourth down catch on 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.530 the final drive that allowed that drive to continue and 0:04:30.570 --> 0:04:34.390 Carolina to eventually score a touchdown. So Thurman's been a 0:04:34.510 --> 0:04:37.730 huge part of what Carolina's doing and I would assume 0:04:37.810 --> 0:04:39.670 would continue to be a huge part of what they 0:04:39.690 --> 0:04:41.070 do the back half of the year. 0:04:41.830 --> 0:04:43.909 We're talking to Jones Angel, voice of the Tar Heels 0:04:43.950 --> 0:04:47.530 on the Tar Heel Radio Network. They play 7.30 on 0:04:47.970 --> 0:04:50.510 Saturday night, so 6.30 they'll be on the air on 0:04:50.540 --> 0:04:54.880 the Heels Radio Network, which are one of their affiliates 0:04:54.900 --> 0:04:57.960 here in Charlotte down the hall, our sister station, WBT, 0:04:58.400 --> 0:05:01.200 if you want to tune in. What do you think 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:05.120 about this team moving forward, Jones? Like, kind of as 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:08.180 you were saying, there does feel like– you know, this 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:10.500 team does have its limitations, right? I guess is the 0:05:10.550 --> 0:05:14.890 way I would put it, but you know, they found 0:05:14.970 --> 0:05:17.290 a way to win, you know, two games in a 0:05:17.350 --> 0:05:20.430 row that were there in the balance and you can 0:05:20.570 --> 0:05:23.950 see the culture and the vibes are improving. Like, what 0:05:23.970 --> 0:05:27.589 do you think this team is, is capable of moving forward? 0:05:29.010 --> 0:05:30.750 Yeah. I mean, I think if you look at, and 0:05:30.940 --> 0:05:33.300 you know, dangerous to do when there's still such a 0:05:33.339 --> 0:05:34.740 long way to go, but if you look at these 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:38.540 six games in total, uh, And certainly Miami next weekend 0:05:38.580 --> 0:05:40.770 is going to be a heavy favorite against Carolina. They're 0:05:40.790 --> 0:05:42.720 the number one team in the country. They've had a 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:47.250 terrific year. I think every other game is going to 0:05:47.290 --> 0:05:52.539 be almost a toss-up, including this week against Syracuse, where 0:05:53.390 --> 0:05:55.700 the Tar Heels might be a little better in some areas, 0:05:55.740 --> 0:05:58.200 the opposition might be a little better in some areas, 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.860 but there's not this dramatic difference between the Tar Heels 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:05.900 and any team that they play, again, outside of Miami, 0:06:05.940 --> 0:06:08.040 who I do think has proven to be one of 0:06:08.060 --> 0:06:10.830 the best teams in the country. So it comes down 0:06:10.850 --> 0:06:14.029 to the same stuff that Carolina's been talking about all year, 0:06:14.089 --> 0:06:17.710 and that's continuing to try to gain that consistency, continuing 0:06:17.730 --> 0:06:20.969 to play good, solid defense, try not to hurt yourself. 0:06:21.110 --> 0:06:24.030 I think Carolina has done that pretty well this past 0:06:24.050 --> 0:06:27.380 game against Duke. I thought it was one of the games, honestly, 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.940 that the Tar Heels made the most mistakes with a 0:06:29.960 --> 0:06:32.800 couple of turnovers. They had that really strange play where 0:06:32.820 --> 0:06:34.919 they had the backup punter just straight up drop a 0:06:34.940 --> 0:06:38.240 snap in the fourth quarter. But they were able to 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:41.290 overcome all that. And I think, guys, that's one of 0:06:41.330 --> 0:06:44.740 maybe the best qualities of this team. And you talked 0:06:44.770 --> 0:06:48.909 about the culture, the vibe. is that the Tar Heels 0:06:48.930 --> 0:06:54.060 just keep playing, whether it's good, whether it's bad, whatever's happened, 0:06:54.420 --> 0:06:57.380 they just keep playing. And I think that's been one 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.780 of the real almost endearing parts about this team is 0:07:00.820 --> 0:07:04.159 that you can tell that they just keep going. And 0:07:04.220 --> 0:07:06.580 it's not always perfect, and they don't do everything right. 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:11.240 but that doesn't automatically eliminate them from the game. And 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:14.380 so I think that's been fun to watch is just 0:07:14.420 --> 0:07:18.280 their kind of dogged determination within the game to keep 0:07:18.340 --> 0:07:22.230 playing and try to keep advancing. And so I think 0:07:22.270 --> 0:07:24.590 that's been fun, and hopefully you continue to see that 0:07:24.890 --> 0:07:26.050 through the back half of the season. 0:07:26.670 --> 0:07:29.950 Jones, what do you think of the 2014 playoffs starting 0:07:30.090 --> 0:07:33.150 in 2027 as it pertains to the Heels' future? 0:07:35.020 --> 0:07:38.010 Yeah, that's such a complicated topic, right? I'm sure you 0:07:38.050 --> 0:07:39.890 guys have talked about it a bunch here over the 0:07:39.930 --> 0:07:43.310 last two weeks or so. I will say this, for 0:07:43.350 --> 0:07:48.470 a team like North Carolina, which has knocked on the 0:07:48.510 --> 0:07:51.470 door of the playoff a few times, that has knocked 0:07:51.530 --> 0:07:55.640 on the door of being in that conversation, expanding it 0:07:55.720 --> 0:08:01.400 certainly gives them a larger opportunity to be into that event. 0:08:02.370 --> 0:08:05.630 So I think from that angle, there is some excitement there, 0:08:05.950 --> 0:08:10.250 but I do think there's just so much more about this. 0:08:10.710 --> 0:08:14.940 There's the, yeah. How do you manage the regular season? Yeah. 0:08:15.340 --> 0:08:17.760 Do you really want teams that maybe have, you know, 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:21.300 go eight and four, you know, do they deserve to 0:08:21.340 --> 0:08:25.380 be in a playoff to, to win a national championship? It's, 0:08:25.540 --> 0:08:28.500 I know everybody uses the basketball tournament as an example, 0:08:28.580 --> 0:08:31.650 but guys, you know, this is, If number one plays number, 0:08:31.890 --> 0:08:35.880 let's say, 25 in basketball, number one's going to win 0:08:35.940 --> 0:08:40.260 more often. But it's going to be 80% of the time, 75% 0:08:40.260 --> 0:08:44.420 of the time, whatever. In football, if number one plays 0:08:44.460 --> 0:08:49.510 number 25, number one's going to win over 90% of 0:08:49.530 --> 0:08:52.530 the time. It's just the nature of the game. There 0:08:52.550 --> 0:08:55.390 are fewer upsets in football, I think, than any other 0:08:55.550 --> 0:09:00.209 sport because of the physicality. And so there's just a 0:09:00.370 --> 0:09:03.120 lot of questions about adding this many teams. Are you 0:09:03.179 --> 0:09:07.099 actually adding teams that can win the tournament, that can 0:09:07.140 --> 0:09:09.580 win the title? Or are you just adding teams so 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.459 they can say they made it, so that they can 0:09:11.500 --> 0:09:14.840 say that their investment has been worth it because they 0:09:14.940 --> 0:09:19.090 were the 22 seed in the tournament? So I think 0:09:19.330 --> 0:09:22.710 on one hand, it works. And when you're in it, 0:09:22.770 --> 0:09:24.730 maybe you feel differently where it's like, man, all right, 0:09:24.750 --> 0:09:26.370 you're playing. If you win this game, you get a 0:09:26.370 --> 0:09:28.990 playoff spot. And I'm sure that would be exciting when 0:09:29.010 --> 0:09:31.240 you're in that moment. But I do think there's some 0:09:31.270 --> 0:09:35.580 kind of global overarching questions to think about as you 0:09:35.820 --> 0:09:38.380 look at this and see where everything goes moving forward. 0:09:38.980 --> 0:09:41.560 Jones, that was a good, honest answer from Jones. Jones, 0:09:41.580 --> 0:09:43.079 you could have easily just said, hey, it would help 0:09:43.100 --> 0:09:45.280 the heels. Let's do it. You know, let's do it. 0:09:45.380 --> 0:09:47.020 I mean, I do think it would help the heels. 0:09:47.260 --> 0:09:50.740 I mean, I think... Like Carolina has plenty of times 0:09:50.980 --> 0:09:54.010 lived in that 15 to 25 kind of ranking. Right. 0:09:54.390 --> 0:09:56.390 And where you've had a good year, but but you 0:09:56.429 --> 0:10:00.200 hadn't quite been good enough. And so there've been plenty 0:10:00.220 --> 0:10:04.280 of times, I mean, even back in 2023, certainly 2015, 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.010 you know, some years here in the last 10 years 0:10:06.070 --> 0:10:08.450 or so where Carolina would have definitely been a playoff 0:10:08.490 --> 0:10:12.610 team and, in this particular format. And so, I don't know, 0:10:12.630 --> 0:10:14.890 it's just a complicated issue, guys. A lot of different 0:10:14.950 --> 0:10:15.590 aspects to it. 0:10:15.610 --> 0:10:17.270 I think you nailed it, though. It's like you have 0:10:17.309 --> 0:10:20.430 these boosters being asked for more and more money for players, 0:10:20.860 --> 0:10:22.679 and I think they want to be able to tell him, 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:26.020 like at schools across the country more often, hey, boosters, 0:10:26.340 --> 0:10:28.520 look where your money went. We're in the playoff. you know? 0:10:28.540 --> 0:10:31.670 But I, but I do wonder at some point, does 0:10:31.710 --> 0:10:34.010 it wear off bone where boosters are like, yeah, you 0:10:34.030 --> 0:10:36.370 made the playoff two times in the last four years, 0:10:36.670 --> 0:10:39.050 but you lost by 25 and you were like the 0:10:39.050 --> 0:10:41.820 22 seed, like Jones said, you know what I mean? 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:45.340 So anyway, it's going to be fascinating watching moving forward. Jones, 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:46.720 thanks for coming on, man. 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:47.220 Everybody. 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.339 If you're a heels fan, you know, the routine, turn 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:52.780 the sound down on your TV, turn it up for Jones. 0:10:53.140 --> 0:10:56.670 and the crew Saturday night, 7.30 game against the Cuse. 0:10:56.770 --> 0:10:58.450 Thank you, Jones. We'll talk to you next week. 0:10:59.540 --> 0:11:00.980 Thanks, guys. Always enjoy the time.