Up next in 10
#UNC postgame press conference after Game 3 with Scott Forbes, Matthew Matthijs and Gavin Gallaher
Jun 23, 2026
Subscribe to the Tar Heel Tribune channel so that you don't miss any videos.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
As a courtesy to our fellow media
0:01
members, the coaches, and student
0:02
athletes, please silence your cell
0:04
phones at this time. Also, a reminder
0:06
that recording press conference video on
0:07
your cell phones is prohibited. Please
0:10
provide your name and media affiliation
0:11
each time you ask a question during the
0:13
press conference. We have two mic
0:14
runners. Please wait for the microphone
0:16
to reach you before asking your
0:17
question. Now joining us are members of
0:19
the North Carolina Tar Heels head coach
0:21
Scott Forbes, student athletes Gavin
0:23
Gallaher, and Matthew Mattias. Coach
0:25
will open it up with the statement from
0:27
you.
0:28
>> [snorts]
0:28
>> Yeah, um
0:30
Obviously, that's a tough loss. Uh but
0:32
first of all, I want to congratulate
0:34
Oklahoma.
0:35
Uh heck of a ball team. Uh they deserved
0:37
it. They played well tonight. They
0:38
earned it. Uh congratulations to Skip.
0:41
I've known a long time known him a long
0:43
time. I have a lot of respect for him.
0:46
Uh it's his second time
0:48
being in this game uh or a national
0:50
championship, and they got it done.
0:53
Uh
0:54
you know, so a big congrats to them,
0:55
their entire university. Um
0:57
you know, it's hard to do.
0:59
And they got it done. Um on the reverse
1:01
side of that, I couldn't be prouder of a
1:03
group.
1:04
I just talked to them in the locker
1:06
room.
1:07
Uh we talk all the time about service,
1:10
about serving one another.
1:12
Um
1:15
You know, I don't tell them this, but I
1:16
I I write it down every day for myself
1:18
in in Galatians 5:13.
1:21
True service, serving one another
1:23
through love.
1:25
Humbly in love and how how powerful love
1:28
is. This group loved each other all
1:29
season. They took us on a ride that was
1:31
unbelievable. We came up a little bit
1:33
short.
1:35
Uh
1:35
but I would take that ride again every
1:37
day
1:38
of the year.
1:40
Um
1:41
you know, while we're sad,
1:44
uh
1:44
the sadness will go away.
1:47
Uh we also talk about joy. Joy doesn't
1:49
go away.
1:51
And these guys have given me,
1:53
our coaching staff,
1:55
uh our fans, our administration,
1:59
um everybody.
2:02
A ton of joy and a ton to be proud of.
2:05
Um
2:06
the thing I'm going to miss the most is
2:07
just being with them.
2:10
Uh that's what I'm going to miss
2:12
the most. So, obviously it gets
2:13
emotional back there. Uh
2:17
but I'm thankful, too. I'm thankful that
2:19
I'm I've been given the opportunity.
2:21
It's an honor and a privilege to be the
2:22
head coach at University of North
2:23
Carolina. Don't take that lightly.
2:25
Um
2:26
you know, and and I'm just
2:30
I'm so proud is the word I will use of
2:32
this team
2:34
and what they did and the hard work they
2:35
put in to get us here.
2:38
Um and I love them. They know how much I
2:41
love them.
2:42
Uh and I'm just thankful
2:44
for the group and uh for the season that
2:46
we had.
2:48
Um and they they just took us on a heck
2:51
of a ride and I'm very I'll be eternally
2:53
grateful for that.
2:55
>> We're going to open it up to questions
2:56
for the student athletes.
3:02
>> Uh Spencer Haskin inside Carolina. For
3:04
both Gavin and and Maddie, um as the
3:07
captains and the leaders of this team,
3:08
how would you
3:09
describe and put into words what it was
3:11
like to lead this group this season?
3:16
>> Uh at times challenging, but uh
3:19
sometimes we're a little dumb on the
3:20
field, but there's there's nobody
3:23
nobody in that locker room that I
3:24
wouldn't want to go to battle for, um no
3:28
matter what, um what troubles we have.
3:31
Um just just thankful for for that group
3:35
and
3:35
asking I'm sure Gavin can say the same
3:37
thing. Just they voted us captains and
3:40
we tried to lead the best we could and
3:42
>> [snorts]
3:43
>> I'd go do this journey all over again
3:45
with them.
3:47
>> Yeah, he said it. He said it well. Um
3:50
just really thankful that
3:53
this team and this coaching staff, they
3:54
they trusted me to, you know, put the C
3:57
on my jersey.
3:59
Um
4:00
It's something that
4:01
UNC hasn't done for long and um
4:04
it's an honor and a privilege to to be
4:07
able to say that I was a part of that.
4:09
Um
4:09
but I mean, I love this team and
4:13
I love every single guy in that locker
4:14
room. Um
4:16
It's just It's a special group.
4:20
>> How about me from Inside Carolina,
4:22
Garrison and Maddie. If you can sort of
4:25
speak to that from the coaching
4:27
standpoint. When you listen to Coach
4:29
Forbes say what he said about you guys
4:31
and the journey and the the the love and
4:34
the fellowship that you guys have.
4:38
>> Yeah, I mean
4:42
Sorry. Um
4:45
Yeah, the the coaching staff um they're
4:47
amazing.
4:49
That's really I mean, that's all I can
4:51
say about them. Um
4:53
if you if you're if you're a player and
4:56
you're looking for a place that
4:58
that's going to that's going to care for
5:00
you and they're going to love you, um
5:02
they're going to put you as a person
5:04
before they put you as a player.
5:06
Uh they're going to show up every day
5:07
and they're going to give you your their
5:08
best um no matter what their lives off
5:11
the field look like.
5:13
>> [snorts]
5:13
>> Um it's it's something that I look
5:16
around at guys that I know at other
5:18
schools and they don't have the same
5:19
experience. So,
5:21
um
5:22
I mean, it's truly amazing. It's truly
5:24
amazing.
5:26
>> I'd be uh
5:27
I don't think there's another program
5:29
out there that that has the coaching
5:30
staff that um truly loves every single
5:33
player um
5:35
as much as as that man right there does.
5:38
Um
5:39
He cares about us. He uh he loves us.
5:42
Um there's there's no no other coaching
5:46
staff that
5:47
I would want to play for, spend my four
5:49
years. I just want to say thank you for
5:52
giving me opportunity when I was 14
5:54
years old. And uh
5:56
I've loved every minute. And thank you.
6:01
>> [snorts]
6:02
>> Noel Weisskopf of Tar Heel 24/7. For
6:03
Gavin, after the game when you're
6:05
standing in the dugout watching Oklahoma
6:06
on the field, what Can you just describe
6:08
what's going through your head?
6:09
>> Yeah, I mean
6:11
>> [laughter]
6:12
>> Um a lot of things, but
6:14
um
6:16
I mean, this is
6:19
probably the most hurt I've ever felt in
6:21
my life. Um
6:23
And not just because we're one game away
6:26
from doing something that no UNC
6:29
baseball team has ever done.
6:32
But more so just because uh it's this is
6:35
the end of the season. Um
6:38
We say it all the time from the very
6:39
beginning, this team will never be this
6:40
team again.
6:42
And I've been here for three teams, and
6:44
this is the
6:46
This is the best team I've ever played
6:48
with.
6:49
Um
6:50
Like I said earlier, I love every single
6:52
one of those guys in that locker room.
6:54
Um Matty said it, too. I would go to
6:57
battle for anybody in that locker room.
6:59
Just the way that everybody showed up
7:01
every single day.
7:03
Everybody put themselves to the side and
7:05
put the team first.
7:07
And no matter who you put on that field,
7:10
you could trust that they were going to
7:11
give everything that they had.
7:14
Um And that's just uh it's just a
7:16
requirement of being here. So, to see a
7:19
group um
7:20
buy into that as as much as we did, uh
7:25
Yeah, I that's just it's the reason
7:27
we're here.
7:28
>> We're going to take two more for the
7:29
student athletes.
7:31
>> Eugene Inside Carolina. Matty, you've
7:33
been with this program for four years.
7:35
You've battled injury. You've seen
7:36
adversity with the teams you've played
7:38
with. Just what is this journey as as
7:40
Tar Heel meant to you?
7:43
>> Um we talk about our pillars every day
7:47
and I mean what comes to mind right now
7:49
is just thankfulness.
7:51
Um thankful for this journey, thankful
7:53
for those guys in that locker room.
7:55
Um I'm not [clears throat] perfect. I
7:57
mean I'm not the perfect leader that I
8:01
can be all the time, but I mean those
8:03
guys just
8:05
um just
8:07
I just jumped on their backs and and and
8:09
just enjoy the ride. Um
8:12
And for this this uh this four years of
8:15
of college baseball, I mean
8:18
had some ups and downs, injuries
8:20
obviously. Um but
8:22
just ending it here, obviously we want
8:25
to win that that last game, but there's
8:27
there's nobody, no school, no no coaches
8:31
um that I would ever question um going
8:34
back on and uh not playing for the
8:36
University of North Carolina.
8:39
>> Last question for
8:40
>> the student athletes.
8:41
>> Uh Greg I Clinton and this is for NPR.
8:43
This is for you, Matty.
8:45
Yesterday the um your teammates
8:47
contained their offense, but
8:50
collectively Oklahoma's offense has been
8:52
on a roll in the postseason. What makes
8:55
their lineup so difficult to deal with?
8:59
>> I think they just uh
9:02
take advantage of your mistakes. You
9:03
make a mistake in the zone, they're
9:05
going to hit it pretty well.
9:08
>> Gavin, Matthew.
9:09
>> Thank you guys for your time.
9:12
>> I can take this this time, right? Okay,
9:15
just making sure.
9:28
>> We're going to open it up to questions
9:29
for Coach Forbes.
9:31
>> Rod Baxley, Fayetteville Observer.
9:33
Scott, you guys continue to be one of
9:35
the premier programs in college baseball
9:38
Uh getting to this point. Do you think
9:39
it's just a matter of time before you
9:42
get that national championship?
9:44
>> I sure hope so.
9:45
Um
9:46
>> [sighs]
9:47
>> We're going to try. That's for sure. Um
9:51
You know, that's something that
9:53
we're always going to do. We're going to
9:54
work our tails off to get back here and
9:56
and the more you get to a place,
9:57
hopefully you can knock that door down.
10:00
Uh
10:00
We just got to keep the main thing the
10:01
main thing and that's the players and
10:04
helping them get better, you know, leave
10:06
here better people and you got to feel
10:07
like eventually
10:09
uh that winning will take care of itself
10:11
and eventually we'll find a way to be on
10:13
the other end.
10:17
>> Coach Forbes, in that I believe fourth
10:19
inning it started to get away from you a
10:20
little bit. Can you just
10:22
shed some light on what was going on and
10:25
maybe what they were doing with Globe
10:27
out there. We couldn't understand from
10:28
the box.
10:29
>> Yeah.
10:29
Yeah, you know, I felt like they didn't
10:31
give him enough time. Um I'm not going
10:33
to come up here and talk about that part
10:35
of it at this point. Um
10:39
You know, all these guys, the one thing
10:41
they did is they gave everything they
10:43
had.
10:44
Uh and obviously
10:46
Oklahoma
10:47
made us pay. We walked too many, but
10:50
none of these guys were trying to walk
10:51
anybody. They were I mean, Globe we knew
10:54
was going to be a short stint, maybe 15
10:56
pitches.
10:57
Uh and everybody went out there, they
10:59
gave it all they had. We just ran out of
11:01
of gas when it's all said and done.
11:06
>> Scott, you mentioned the other day how
11:07
every every team you've coached, you
11:09
know, you learn something different and
11:10
every group is different. You bring in
11:12
seven new guys from the super regional
11:14
team last year. What did this group
11:15
teach you?
11:18
>> Oh man, I'd have to be here a while.
11:20
They uh
11:24
Oh man, you know,
11:27
I just told them in there.
11:29
Uh
11:30
They taught me the importance of what
11:33
being a team means.
11:35
Uh cuz you do have a lot of new guys.
11:38
Uh but they kept the team first.
11:41
And because of that
11:44
we're sitting here right now. We're just
11:46
not on the right end of it. So I I would
11:48
say the main thing I learned from them
11:50
is
11:52
if you work and you put that work in
11:55
every single day with the team first
11:56
mentality, you have a real chance to
11:58
play in the national championship. Even
12:01
if it's a bunch of new faces.
12:03
Uh even if it maybe it's not you know,
12:05
five first round draft picks. Uh but we
12:08
talk about the team, the team, the team
12:09
all the time and uh
12:11
that's what they, you know, continued to
12:14
teach me. Obviously, I thought that was
12:16
the case. I'll I continue to know how
12:18
important a team is.
12:20
Uh but they also taught me a lot of
12:21
other things. Um
12:23
you know, they reminded me the
12:24
importance daily of just watching them,
12:26
being around them, and of why you coach,
12:29
and the importance of
12:30
in my role, uh really just to be there
12:33
for them and to love them, uh and to
12:34
make sure that they know that no matter
12:36
how they perform.
12:39
>> Noah Weiskopf of 24/7. Scott, after the
12:41
game, a lot of your players, really all
12:42
of them, stood on the railing and just
12:44
sort of stayed there for a while. It It
12:46
looked like you walked up to just about
12:47
each one of them and said a couple of
12:48
words. Can you just take us into that
12:50
and and what you were telling each of
12:51
those guys in that moment?
12:52
>> I would just tell them I love them.
12:55
That's it. Um and and I thanked them uh
12:57
cuz they're the ones that brought us
12:58
here.
12:59
Uh coaches, you know, head coaches
13:01
especially get way too much credit. Um
13:04
you know, it's everybody else, the
13:05
staff, it's the strength coach, it's the
13:07
assistant coaches, the administration,
13:08
but at the end of the day
13:11
I've also, you know, I made my last out
13:13
in the Division III World Series, and I
13:14
know what that pain feels like. The
13:16
pain's the pain.
13:18
Uh and I just wanted them to know how
13:20
grateful I am for what they've
13:23
taken us all on. And it's been an
13:25
amazing
13:26
ride from and down uh to Southern Cal to
13:29
playing to the very last day of the
13:31
college baseball season.
13:33
And that's pretty cool.
13:36
>> [snorts]
13:36
>> Noah Benenfeld 11.7 Coach, Oklahoma
13:38
scored the the two runs in the second
13:40
inning and then you guys get some action
13:42
in the bottom of the half of that inning
13:43
with three hits and then the bang-bang
13:46
play, the right field throw that uh
13:47
third out at third base. Can you just
13:49
take us through your point of view on
13:50
that play?
13:51
>> Yeah, gosh dang. Um you know, it's hard
13:53
for me to get mad at Coach Wrench. Uh I
13:56
was mad in the moment. We all make
13:57
mistakes. I make them every single day.
13:59
Uh we talk about next play mentality. Uh
14:02
you just got to move on.
14:03
Um but it was a mistake. Uh but he owns
14:05
the mistake. We all own it. Uh you know,
14:08
it is what it is from that standpoint,
14:10
but that wasn't the reason we lost the
14:12
game. Obviously, it hurt our momentum
14:15
a little bit. Uh but you know, baseball
14:17
can be a it's the best game there is.
14:20
You know, you look at this box score.
14:22
They outhit us by four.
14:24
Uh but they beat us pretty good. Um
14:26
you know, so there's a lot more in
14:27
within that box score than just the
14:29
hits. Uh but that was just a a tough
14:31
play and uh
14:33
you know, it is what it is. We just had
14:35
to deal with it.
14:37
>> We'll take two more questions for Coach.
14:39
>> Uh Michael Koh WCHL Chapelboro.com.
14:42
Scott, the two guys who are sitting next
14:44
to you, Gavin and Mattie, they're both
14:45
from North Carolina,
14:47
but they both had very different careers
14:49
here. Gavin comes in, he's a day one
14:50
starter,
14:51
and he moves around different positions.
14:53
Mattie's an All-American, then has the
14:54
injury, and comes back, and is able to
14:57
pitch this season. How do those two guys
14:59
embody what you look for in Tar Heel
15:01
baseball players?
15:03
>> Everything.
15:04
Uh that's what made That's where the
15:05
tears come from. Uh for me personally,
15:08
it's not from the loss.
15:10
Um I'm going to have joy either way, but
15:12
it's just from
15:13
not knowing that this might be it for
15:15
Gavin Gallery. He might sign
15:16
professionally, and this is definitely
15:18
it for Mattie Mathias.
15:20
Um but they're not the only ones. You
15:23
know, what what's so special about a
15:24
team is
15:26
uh it's not just about the guys that are
15:28
playing every single day. There's a lot
15:30
of more players that are on the team
15:32
that make a team go.
15:34
Uh and to see a guy like Kyle Purcell
15:36
stick with it, have injuries, uh be a
15:38
phenomenal leader. Kyle Purcell was a
15:40
big reason we're here.
15:41
Uh it may not look like that in the stat
15:43
sheet, but more goes into it than people
15:46
think.
15:47
Um but those two guys up here, you know,
15:49
they they make my job extremely easy
15:52
uh by being the captains that they they
15:54
have been.
15:56
>> Last question for coach.
15:58
>> Chris Nugent, Inside Carolina. Coach,
16:00
what went into the decision to start
16:01
Jackson Ross today? And then what have
16:03
you seen from Jackson Ross and Caden
16:05
Graber this entire season?
16:07
>> Yeah, you know,
16:09
I didn't feel the the only other person
16:12
we talked about starting was was Jason
16:14
DeCaro.
16:16
Uh
16:17
but I I didn't I mean he's going to be a
16:19
major leaguer and and he's he's got a
16:21
whole career.
16:23
Uh he had one day. Uh I told him, "Hey,
16:26
maybe if there's a situation where we
16:27
have a lead and I can bring you in,
16:29
maybe throw one inning."
16:31
Um and I just feel like Jackson Ross
16:33
deserved it. You know, you look at it,
16:34
he walked three, he punched out five.
16:36
I'd do it again.
16:38
Uh I thought he's one of our hottest
16:39
pitchers. I thought he competed his tail
16:41
off. I mean, you talking about a true
16:42
freshman. I know they threw a a true
16:44
freshman as well.
16:46
Um but I'm proud of him and I'm proud of
16:49
of without Jackson Ross we wouldn't have
16:51
got
16:52
this far. Uh but the really the decision
16:55
was I felt like he was the best option
16:57
for us to win the game.
16:59
>> That marks the end of this press
17:00
conference. Coach, appreciate all your
17:01
time.
17:02
>> Thank you.
17:03
>> Hamlin Communications will post a
17:04
recording of this press conference in
17:06
the NCAA digital
#Sports