Amid tragedy, UNC coach Mack Brown shares ‘appreciation’ for Virginia’s Tony Elliott
North Carolina coach Mack Brown has a lot of respect for Virginia’s Tony Elliott, and not just for Elliott’s coaching background or the football program he is trying to build.
Both coaches have had to cope with tragedy involving the death of players. At UNC, wide receiver Tylee Craft died earlier this month at age 23 from cancer. For Elliott, it was a far different circumstance
In November 2022, Virginia football players D’Sean Perry, Devin Chandler and Lavel Davis Jr., were killed in a shooting incident on campus. Another football player and a UVa student were wounded.
Christopher Darnell Jones Jr., a former walk-on member of the football team, was charged with the shooting, which came after a bus returned from a class field trip to Washington.
Elliott, a former Clemson player and assistant coach, was in his first year as head coach at Virginia. The final two games of the 2022 season, including the Virginia Tech game, were canceled as the program was overcome by grief and shock. It was a lot to process and try to handle.
“It feels like a nightmare, honestly,” Elliott said at a 2022 press conference at UVa. “I’m ready for somebody to pinch me and wake me up.
“You prepare for the job (but) there’s no chapter on a situation like this. I’m just trying to figure out, step by step, how to be strong for these young men.”
Now, Brown is trying to do the same at UNC after Craft’s death as he prepares his team for the ACC road game Saturday against Elliott’s Cavaliers at Scott Stadium.
Craft’s death on Oct. 12 came after two and a half years of cancer treatments, after constant chemo and radiation, after many physical ups and downs. Craft remained at UNC and remained upbeat when around his teammates and coaches, dutifully attending practices and games.
“For them to handle this emotionally over the last month is something that is really eye-opening and a life lesson, for sure,” Brown said of his players.
Craft died on the day of the Tar Heels’ game against Georgia Tech at Kenan Stadium, on Cancer Awareness Day at UNC, on a day when the game was dedicated to him. It was only after the game, after the Heels’ final-minute, 41-34 loss, that Brown and the team first learned that Craft had passed away.
Brown said Monday he had not yet talked to Elliott since Craft’s death, but admired how Elliott handled himself, his team and his program after the horrendous shooting deaths at UVa. two years ago.
“Tony is an outstanding person,” Brown said. “They went through the tragedy of losing three (players) and did it with class. Going through what we’ve been through, you appreciate even more somebody who handled the loss of young lives on a team and worked with the families and all the mental health they had to go through.”
Remembering Tylee
The Tar Heels (3-4 overall, 0-3 ACC), had their bye week after the Georgia Tech game. They put in some practices. Some injured players healed up. The players were given some time off.
The team traveled Sunday to Sumter, South Carolina, Tylee Craft’s hometown, for a memorial service. Brown called it a “wonderful funeral,” saying many of those whose lives were touched by Craft were there to remember his short but influential life.
“Watching that casket close yesterday was really hard,” Brown said.
Brown said the players requested that signs that say “Tylee Strong, Keep Swinging” be posted near the tunnels leading out to the stadium, both home and away.
“We’ll take one to Virginia this weekend and each player will touch it on the way out to the stadium, to make sure his legacy is one that is remembered longer than just the players on this team,” Brown said.
Craft’s locker in the Kenan Football Center locker room remains untouched and will remain, Brown said. A “Tylee Strong” logo will be on the Kenan Stadium playing surface for the final two home games, the coach said.
Wide receiver J.J. Jones, one of Craft’s closest friends on the team, wore Craft’s No. 13 jersey during the Georgia Tech game. Brown said a player will don the jersey at every practice and one receiver will wear it in the final five games of the regular season.
“I feel like our program is as good as any in the country off the field,” Brown said. “Now, we’ve got to go back and start winning football games.”
UNC tries to ‘move forward’
Brown said the 2024 season has been the “strangest” of his career. Offensive line coach Randy Clements missed time with a serious illness. Starting quarterback Max Johnson suffered a broken leg in the opener. The Heels soon were playing their third-string quarterback, Jacolby Criswell, behind an offensive line beset by injuries.
Then there was what Brown called the “awful day” — the 70-50 loss to James Madison at UNC. That was the start of a four-game losing streak leading into the Heels’ bye week that ended with what he called the “absolutely devastating” loss to Georgia Tech — the Yellow Jackets winning on Jamal Haynes’ 68-yard TD run in the final seconds to break a 34-34 tie.
“Then you take a devastating loss and turn it into a discussion about a player who has lost his life,” Brown said.
The Tar Heels are treating the Virginia game like they’re starting the season over, Brown said. It’s five games to the finish line.
“You look at games across the country and they’re coming down to who makes the plays at the end, and that’s what we haven’t done for the last three (games).” Brown said. “We’ve got to do that. That’s it. We can either win the last five games or we can lose the last five games. ...
“We’re not going to forget about Tylee, for sure. But we are going to move forward and grow with his legacy but make sure we continue to grow as a team.”
This story was originally published October 21, 2024 at 4:08 PM with the headline "Amid tragedy, UNC coach Mack Brown shares ‘appreciation’ for Virginia’s Tony Elliott."
