ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL KICKOFF

July 25, 2024

Conner Harrell

North Carolina Tar Heels

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Conner.

Q. You were a valedictorian, you gave the speech at graduation, yes?

CONNER HARRELL: There were a couple of valedictorians. I did not give a speech. I remember a girl, Abby McGhee, gave a speech. I did not.

Q. To be on a team where not only you're competing for the job at quarterback, but Max is here with you today, that relationship that you both have to be competitive but to also be family.

CONNER HARRELL: Yes, sir. Obviously I get asked this question a lot. I always say, me and Max are the only people in the world going through this situation with these coaches and with this team. Obviously it brings you closer. We're together all the time, working together, trying to figure out how to make the team better. That brings you closer.

I think the end goal is we want to win a championship. That creates a bond, so...

Q. In these kind of quarterback competitions, we hear this guy versus this guy. What are you learning from Max and what do you think he can learn from you?

CONNER HARRELL: Obviously Max has played a lot of football. He has a lot of experiences, different receivers, a lot of good stories about different guys, LSU, behind Joe Burrow and stuff. He's had a lot of experiences that I can learn from. He's learned from a lot of different guys.

Whether that's pocket presence or me just unconsciously picking up good things that he does, with him not even saying anything, is invaluable when you're going against a really good player, so...

Q. This year on offense you guys got a lot of talent, running back, receivers. How has that helped you and the other quarterbacks kind of get acclimated to the offense, just gelling the offense together?

CONNER HARRELL: Yeah, we have, I think, really good players in every position. Tight end, receiver and running back. Leaning on all those guys to help us succeed in the spring, the summer, becoming closer in every position.

I think it's going to be important to use everybody, every position. Just trying to get the most out of everybody, so...

Q. In high school you were a team captain. Are you a vocal leader or a lead-by-example leader?

CONNER HARRELL: I think both. I think I've done a lot better job of becoming vocal this year. I've been trying to make that a focal point in my leadership, talking more. Guys respond when you're talking to 'em, and you're speaking to 'em. There's a lot of effect that can have on younger guys, freshmen, if I have a conversation with them, have dinner with them. I've been trying to get better at it. I think I've become a lot more of a vocal leader this year.

Q. What is it about UNC, about the coaches that allow the quarterbacks to be successful and give you the opportunity to be following that next line of past UNC quarterbacks?

CONNER HARRELL: Yeah, I mean, I think it starts with recruiting. Coach Brown is always going to recruit great guys, great humans, great players. Sam and Drake are great guys. The offense really plays to their strengths. I think that's a huge thing, we all have different strengths, different abilities, different talents. Being able to cater to what we do best is very important. I think we've done a really good job of that the last few years. I think we'll continue to do a good job of that.