No hamburger-eaters: Mack Brown disappointed with practice; says film will determine who travels to Georgia Tech

The Tar Heels haven't continued their practice habits from the week leading up to Clemson

James Guillory - USA TODAY Sports

There might be fewer Tar Heels than usual on the sideline on Saturday when North Carolina travels to Atlanta to meet Georgia Tech.

After Wednesday’s practice, Coach Mack Brown wasn’t happy with what he’s seen from his team this week.

“I told them, ‘We’re going to grade this video really hard today, and if you didn’t play well in this video, we’re not taking you to Atlanta,’” he said. “’That’s it. So, you’re either playing hard or you’re not; you’re either playing good or you’re not. So, if you’re not, we don’t need any hamburger-eaters, then stay here.’”

It’s not that practice hasn’t been good this week.

It’s just that it hasn’t been to the same level that it was leading into the Clemson game, which left coaches and players praising the effort and attention to detail that they saw in that week’s practices.

Good simply isn’t good enough for Brown after seeing what his team could do with the right approach.

"Practice this week has been good; it hasn’t been as good as last week, which is the standard and what we needed to do," he said.

Learning to have consistent practice habits is part of the process, Brown admitted, but it’s no less disappointing to see his team not achieving the new standard after the players themselves saw what it could accomplish in hanging with Clemson.

“They don’t know how to be continuously good at this point,” he said. “We’ve got to do that. I told them today, ‘Your life is going to be predicated on whether you can get up and create an edge and have energy every day. If you can’t do it out here, you’re probably not going to do it in your life, so this is a great week to learn to grow up.’ And we’ll see Saturday whether they’ve listened or not.”

He also defined the term “hamburger-eater.”

“Either you came to eat hamburgers and steaks before the game or you came to play,” he said. “We don’t need any hamburger-eaters, we need players. The guys that really have energy and get excited about the game usually can’t eat pregame meal. The ones who are along for the ride look around to see whose steak is left so they can eat some more steak.”

So, don’t expect hamburger-eaters to make the flight.

“If we take 45 to Atlanta and all 45 are trying, I’m in,” Brown said. “I don’t care.”