Posted by: Chris Vannini on November 15, 2012

North Carolina may not be eligible for the ACC Championship Game or a bowl game, but the Tar Heels are still fighting for a division crown.

At 3-3 in the Coastal division, UNC still has a chance to win its division, starting with a game at Virginia on Thursday night. While on The Tim Brando Show, Larry Fedora explained how his Tar Heels still have goals in front of them.

"Every goal that you have that's still viable, you're still talking about it and you're still thinking about it," he said. "It's November. We're getting to the middle of November, and there are a lot of teams out there that don't have anything to play for, whether they thought they could go to a bowl game at the beginning of the year or not, they don't.

"It's always tough. You still have to manage your team and the energy level, the attitude of your football team throughout the year. We're still at a point where our guys have a tremendous amount to play for."

Like many other teams, UNC has been decimated by some injuries. Fedora explained that, even if players are ready to start at the beginning of the year, there's a good chance they'll be called upon at some point during the season.

"That's why it's so important you take those young guys through the year," he said. "You know that they may not be ready during fall camp, but you've got to keep working with them, because at some point, they're going to have to play for you during the season.

"With a maximum of 85 scholarships, and if you look at all 120 teams, maybe 10 percent of 15 percent have 85 on scholarship. It's a problem that everybody has to deal with."

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Chris Vannini is the lead writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered Michigan State sports for The State News, The Oakland Press and MLive.com. He writes a weekly column for the Detroit Free Press on behalf of SB Nation. Vannini lives in Big Ten country, so his foot speed is far from SEC caliber, but his pulse on coaches is hard to match. Be sure to follow @CoachingBuzz on twitter and send your feedback to chris@coachingsearch.com