University of North Carolina Athletics
Head Coach Carl Torbush
August 5, 1999 | Football
August 5, 1999
Torbush will direct the program this year without the defensive coordinator duties he has held the past 12 seasons. He began coordinating defense at UNC in 1988 when he was hired by Mack Brown and continued in that role after he became the head coach in December 1997.
"After the first season I knew there would come a time when I would hand the job over, it was just a matter of when," says Torbush. "I will still be involved in the defense, but I have great confidence that (new coordinator) Kenny Browning and the staff will do a great job."
Torbush has led the Tar Heels to two postseason wins in 24 games as head coach. The Tar Heels capped a 7-5 season in 1998 with a 20-13 victory over San Diego State in the Las Vegas Bowl. In the process, Torbush became the only coach in school history to rebound from a 0-3 start to finish the regular season with a winning record.
The 2000 season is Torbush's 13th in Chapel Hill. He was the architect of UNC's defense that led the Atlantic Coast Conference in total defense in 1995, 1996 and 1997 and was among the top five in the nation in every category in 1996 and 1997.
The 1997 team that led the ACC in total defense for the third straight year and was No. 2 in the country for the second straight season featured 11 players who were drafted by NFL teams in 1998 and 1999, while four other defenders on that unit signed free agent contracts with NFL squads.
The 48-year-old East Spencer, N.C., native took over the UNC program in December 1997 and guided the Tar Heels to a 42-3 victory over Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl the following New Year's Day.
The Gator Bowl victory capped arguably the greatest season in Carolina history as the Tar Heels finished 11-1 and earned a No. 4 national ranking. It was UNC's highest final ranking since Carolina finished third in 1948.
Torbush was named Carolina's 31st head coach on December 8, 1997. He is the first native Tar Heel to lead the state university's football team since Tom Young directed Carolina in 1943. In 1996, Torbush was named the National Defensive Coordinator of the Year by American Football Quarterly. He was one of five finalists for the 1997 Frank Broyles Award, honoring the nation's top assistant coach.
"When I have time to think about being Carolina's head coach, I still pinch myself," Torbush says. "I try not to get caught up in it because it could be overwhelming. Call it humble pride ' I am proud of being the head coach and still humbled by that. I was content being defensive coordinator here and would have been content with that rest of my life because this is where I want to coach. I did not want any other jobs. In my opinion, if there was ever a place where I would be a perfect fit for a job this is it."
During Torbush's tenure, Carolina's defense has developed into one of the nation's best. Carolina was No. 2 in the nation in 1997 in total yards allowed per game at 209.3. It was the second consecutive year in which the Tar Heels were No. 2 in the country in total defense. The Tar Heels were also third in the country in pass efficiency defense (81.52 points), fourth in run defense (77.9 yards per game) and fifth in scoring defense (13.0 points per game).
Cornerback Dre' Bly, defensive end Greg Ellis and outside linebacker Brian Simmons earned consensus first-team All-America honors in 1997 and middle linebacker Kivuusama Mays was a third-team A.P. All-America. It marked the first time in ACC history that a school had three consensus All-America defenders in the same year. The Tar Heels were the only team in the nation that year to have finalists for the Lombardi, Butkus and Thorpe Awards as the lineman, linebacker and defensive back of the year.
Torbush is best known in football circles as a defensive mastermind, but his reputation as a devoted family man with strong personal and spiritual convictions is far greater. True, he is an outstanding teacher of football techniques and strategy and is a tenacious recruiter, but if you ask his players and peers, it is his ability to teach life skills and build relationships that draws even higher praise.
"I've always thought Carl was an excellent tactician, but more than that he is a players' coach," says Mike Gottfried, ESPN's lead analyst. "Players love to play for him. They get excited about playing for him, they have a good relationship with him and they get in it for the long haul with him. I like him as a football coach, but I give him higher marks as a man for his high morals. It's nice to see good things happen to good people."
"I loved to play for Coach Torbush because he liked to take chances defensively," says Bly, who set the ACC's alltime record with 20 interceptions before moving on to the NFL in 1999. "He's a players' coach and the guys really respect him and look up to him personally. If you have a problem, even if it is not related to football, you can go talk to him. He's a great listener."
It is no surprise the players rallied around Torbush so dramatically when athletic director Dick Baddour was selecting Brown's successor. Half a dozen veteran players representing their teammates asked to meet with Baddour and gave Torbush a rousing recommendation. When Baddour announced Torbush's selection he said, "Carl is an outstanding coach and a person of the highest standards. He is one of the finest defensive minds in college football. He has wonderful rapport with the players and he is a terrific recruiter and student of the game."
"Coach Torbush is very passionate about excelling as a head coach," says standout tight end Alge Crumpler. "He is willing to go the distance in what it takes to have a top program. He was my choice to be the head coach from day one because I knew his philosophy was to get players to perform at a level higher than they thought they were capable of playing."
"He is the most intense person I have ever been around on the football field," says preseason All-America linebacker Brandon Spoon. "Anything to do with football, Coach Torbush does with 100 percent focus. He is determined to do a good job as head coach. Off the field, he is a great man, a great family man. He is the reason I am at North Carolina."
Since coming to Chapel Hill in 1988, Torbush has been one of the most popular people in UNC's athletic department and is one of the program's biggest fans. He is a huge men's and women's basketball fan, thinks field hockey coach Karen Shelton could whip any number of college football teams into shape and attends and supports as many Olympic Sport events as his schedule allows.
"I can't tell you how much I appreciate the support I have had from our other coaches," Torbush adds. "These are relationships I've developed over many years and they are very special to me."
What is special to those who know Torbush is his every-day approach to simply being a good person. Almost embarrassed by his spacious office in the Kenan Football Center, Torbush is careful to remain in touch with his roots.
"I do not want to change as a person just because I am the head ball coach," he says. "I want my staff to enjoy working here every day and I want my players to love the game of football and get their degrees. This is the University's football team, not mine. I want people to think they can approach me and say hello whether they are the Chancellor, a coach, campus police officer or custodian. That will never change.
"At heart, I am just a big sports fan. I enjoy saying we have one of the best athletic programs in the country " in all sports, not just football. I think it's important to be in the Top 10 in football and basketball, both men's and women's. I think it's important that the entire coaching staff pulls together. There's no jealousy here. That's important, too, and something I believe in."
Torbush also believes in an aggressive, man-to-man defensive philosophy and a pro-style offensive system that emphasizes both passing and running the football.
In his 12 years in Chapel Hill as defensive coordinator Torbush constructed one of the nation's toughest defenses. Thirty-six of his former players have made NFL rosters, including six first-round draft choices in the 1990s.
In 1999, the Dallas Cowboys selected defensive end Ebenezer Ekuban in the first round, one year after taking another UNC defensive end, Greg Ellis, with the eighth overall pick. Simmons (17th pick by the Bengals) and tackle Vonnie Holliday (19th pick by the Packers) were also first-round picks in 1998. Holliday finished second in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
"The expectations placed on student-athletes at Carolina are so great, and the coaching staff sets such a high standard for everyone who's a part of the program that when you leave here you not only know how to play the game of football, but you also know how to act as a person," says Holliday. "That was a tremendous help for me as a rookie in the NFL."
Four other defenders joined Ekuban as 1999 draftees, including second-round pick Bly, the only three-time, first-team All-America in ACC history.
Two other recent Tar Heel defenders " cornerback Thomas Smith and lineman Marcus Jones were first-round picks. Smith came to UNC as a walk-on, but was a first round pick by Buffalo in 1993. Jones earned consensus All-America honors in 1995 and was picked in the opening round the next spring by Tampa Bay.
Last year, 25 former Tar Heels coached on defense by Torbush played in the NFL, including Bly, Nate Hobgood-Chittick and Mike Morton of the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams.
"The University of North Carolina is very fortunate to have Carl Torbush as its head coach," says Gil Brandt, NFL consultant, and former Director of Player Personnel for the Dallas Cowboys. "While he is a stern taskmaster and works his players hard, after the players leave the field there is no more accessible coach than Carl Torbush. He has a special passion for his players. He understands that there is more to college life than football games and practice for his athletes. He believes the athlete should a well-rounded member of the student body."
Torbush has coached some of the top linebackers in Carolina history. Hollier, Tommy Thigpen, Eric Gash, Harris, Kerry Mock, Eddie Mason, Morton, James Hamilton, Simmons, Mays and Newman have all earned NFL opportunities after playing under Torbush. Current seniors Spoon, Sedrick Hodge and Merceda Perry should all get the same opportunity in the NFL a year from now.
"Coach Torbush was definitely instrumental in teaching me the skills about being a linebacker," says Hollier. "I owe him a lot and I am very appreciative of the lessons on football and life that he has taught me. Coach Torbush taught us a work ethic that is required in the NFL. Even when you don't have to, you need to be working out or doing something to prepare yourself. We spent a lot of time at Carolina learning the game of football."
In the last 12 years, Carolina has received 41 All-ACC selections on defense, including 18 first-team choices. Carolina placed five defensive players on the 1997 All-ACC first team and three more on the All-ACC second team. That totaled eight of the 11 starters on defense among the top 22 players on defense in the ACC.
Six defenders have received All-America accolades, including first team selections Bracey Walker (safety, 1993), Jones (1995), Bly (1996, 1997 and 1998), Ellis (1997), a finalist for the Lombardi Award, and Simmons (1997).
"Regardless of your athletic ability, Coach Torbush makes sure that every player learns the proper technique," says Simmons. "Then as you get older, he allows you to 'freelance' more within the system and let your athletic ability and aggressiveness make plays. On and off the field, Coach is a straightforward guy. He makes you feel welcome and you trust him and can come talk to him about anything, not just football."
Mays was a finalist for the Butkus Award, which is presented to the nation's top linebacker. That year, Carolina was the only school in the country with four players on the Butkus Award Watch List (Mays, Simmons, Spoon and Newman). A two-time first-team All-ACC selection, Mays made over 100 tackles for three consecutive seasons.
The 1997 defense was one of the finest in Atlantic Coast Conference history. The 209.3 yards allowed per game was the lowest figure by an ACC team since 1963.
Other defensive highlights from recent years include:
In 1996, the UNC defense ranked first in the nation in points allowed per game, second in total yards allowed per game and third in pass efficiency defense and run defense. The Tar Heels forced 34 turnovers in the regular season, the fourth-most in the country, and forced West Virginia, which had committed the fewest turnovers in the country, to turn the ball over four times in the Gator Bowl. Carolina allowed just 10.0 points and 225.6 yards per game. Bly (consensus first-team), Simmons (second-team) and Ellis (second-team) earned All-America honors.
In 1995, Torbush had just three returning starters on defense, but fashioned a new, aggressive scheme around a pair of sophomore linebackers " Mays and Simmons " and a dominant frontline led by Jones, Terry and Ellis. Carolina led the ACC and was sixth in the nation in total defense in 1995 as it allowed 267.3 yards per game. It was the first UNC team to lead the circuit in defense in 12 years. Jones earned ACC Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors and consensus All-America honors and broke Lawrence Taylor's career school record for quarterback sacks.
In 1994, Carolina was third in the ACC and 27th in the country in total defense. The Tar Heels were 16th in the nation against the run at just 115.2 yards per contest. All three starting linebackers that year were in NFL camps, including Morton who plays for St. Louis and Eddie Mason, who plays for Jacksonville.
In 1993, the Tar Heels placed seven defensive players on the first- , second- or third-team All-ACC squads after finishing second in the league in total yards. Carolina was seventh in the nation against the run and 21st in total defense. The defensive highlight that year came in UNC's 24-0 shutout win over Clemson as the Tar Heels limited the Tigers to three yards rushing. It was the second time in 14 years that Clemson had been blanked.
The Peach Bowl win over Mississippi State that capped a thrilling 1992 season was led by a defensive stand in which Carolina gave up just three points in the second half. The 1992 Tar Heels were second in the ACC in total defense behind Florida State and 31st in the nation. In 1991, Carolina was 19th in the country against the run and 23rd overall.
In 1990. the Tar Heels set a school record that still stands with 45 quarterback sacks. Hollier and Thigpen both earned All-ACC recognition that year, a season that was highlighted by a fourth quarter goalline stand that forced a tie with eventual co-national champion Georgia Tech.
"That third year here (1990) was when I saw it start to happen," says Torbush. "I saw it in the spring after the second year. As coaches we could see guys like Thigpen, Rondell Jones and Tommy Smith were special. We were recruiting better athletes. The win over Wake Forest in 1990 when we came back from 24-10 down was a key game. After that game we started to feel like we had a chance to win."
Torbush joined Mack Brown's original staff on December 28, 1987, after resigning as head coach at Louisiana Tech. Torbush was 3-8 in his first season as a head coach. He left as a result of a change in administration at the Ruston, La., school, and for the opportunity to coach at Carolina.
He had taken over the Louisiana Tech program after 12 years as an assistant to Billy Brewer at three different schools. He coached linebackers and defensive ends at Southeastern Louisiana from 1976-79, was the assistant head coach and coached linebackers at Louisiana Tech from 1980-82 and was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Mississippi from 1983-86.
Torbush spent those 12 years under Brewer alongside Robert Youngblood, currently the head coach and assistant principal at Oxford (Miss.) High School. Youngblood coordinated the defensive staff at SE Louisiana and Louisiana Tech and then switched places with Torbush at Ole Miss.
"If I had a son, Coach Torbush would be the one that I would want to coach him," says Youngblood. "He's a tremendous person. His character and integrity are the best, he is the whole ball of wax.
"I don't think you could pick a better man to run a football program. He's a great motivator, a great tactician and a great teacher. He's just so very thorough and such a hard worker, and that's what it's all about. He does things the right way."
SE Louisiana finished 9-1-1 and was ranked in the Top 10 in Division II in 1976 in his first year as a fulltime assistant coach. Linebacker Calvin Favron went on to play for the St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL.
Torbush also was the head baseball coach at SE Louisiana and was named Gulf South Conference Baseball Coach of the Year in 1978 as he led the Lions to the conference title. The baseball team was 15th in the country in 1978 and 12th in the nation in 1979.
He spent three years in his first stint at Louisiana Tech and helped guide the Bulldogs to the 1982 I-AA semifinals. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 2 in the final I-AA poll in 1982. Torbush coached four linebackers who played in the NFL, including Tank Landry (New Orleans), Andre Young (San Diego), Kenny Williams (Pittsburgh) and Tony Boles.
In his four years as defensive coordinator at Ole Miss, Torbush overhauled the Rebel defense. Ole Miss was last in the Southeastern Conference in total defense his first year in Oxford, but was No. 1 in the SEC in 1986, his final year there. Ron Case, Carolina's defensive backs coach since 1996 and Torbush's position coach in college, rejoined Torbush at Ole Miss. The Rebels played in two bowl games in those four seasons, including the 1983 Independence Bowl, Ole Miss's first postseason appearance in 12 years.
Torbush helped coach a number of outstanding players at Ole Miss, including future NFL standouts Jeff Herrod (Indianapolis), Freddie Joe Nunn (Colts), Wesley Walls (now a tight end with the Carolina Panthers), Tony Bennett (Colts) and Stevon Moore (Baltimore Ravens).
"Carl is a very well organized, very intense guy, a guy who works at it all the time," says Brewer, his boss for a dozen years. "He's a tremendous communicator and a relentless recruiter. This man can coach."
Torbush began his coaching career as assistant football and baseball coach at Carter High School in Knoxville, Tenn., in 1974-75. He resigned after the baseball season to play professional baseball in the Kansas City Royals organization. Torbush was signed by the Royals in February 1975 and played in the midseason All-Star Game with the Royals' Class A franchise in Sarasota, Fla. John Schuerholz, the general manager who constructed the Atlanta Braves in the 1990s, is the executive who signed Torbush to a pro baseball contract. Torbush was teammates with future major leaguer Clint Hurdle. Swing guru Charlie Lau was his batting instructor.
Following the 1975 pro baseball season, Carl and his wife-to-be, Janet Gilbert " who he met at Carson-Newman " hopped into their non-air conditioned 1975 Toyota Corolla and drove from Sarasota to Waco, Texas. Torbush began his college coaching career as a graduate assistant under Grant Teaff at Baylor. He earned his master's degree in physical education and health at Baylor in 1976.
"I've known for a long, long time that Carl would be a Division I-A head coach," says Teaff, who is now the Executive Director of American Football Coaches Association. "I was fortunate to work with him early in his career and it was obvious that he had all the necessary characteristics for becoming a great head coach.
Torbush launched his coaching career after an outstanding playing career at the junior high, high school and collegiate levels.
His father, Carl William Torbush, moved the family from East Spencer, N.C., to Knoxville, Tenn., when Carl Jr. was 11 and one-half years old, midway through his seventh grade year. Carl played most sports as a kid, excelling in baseball and basketball and playing sandlot football. He played organized football for the first time in the eighth grade. He claims his football career began when he was sitting on the front porch with his dad and some ninth graders walked by on the way to practice and asked Carl to join them. He did and has been playing or coaching the sport ever since. The second day of practice he became a center and linebacker and never got a chance to play running back, his dream position.
His junior high coach, Bob Addonizio, made him one of two eighth graders to start on his junior high football team. Although Torbush excelled at a young age in football, baseball and basketball, boyhood friend Randy Wood says his track career actually tells a lot about Torbush's determination.
"When Carl moved to Tennessee everyone thought he was this funny-talking kid from North Carolina," says Wood. "We were in all the same classes together so we became friends and we are still friends to this day. We played a lot of ball together. Carl was a really hard worker. He may not have had as much talent as some kids, but no one worked harder than Carl. He hated to lose, even in practice. We would stay out there practicing until he won. You could tell even back in high school that he was a leader.
"Carl also ran track because we were a really small junior high school. He was a star in football and baseball but in track he ran the 880 and came in last in every meet all year and took a good deal of ribbing for it. But he kept trying and working hard at getting better and in the last meet, the city meet, he finally beat someone. He didn't finish last. I think that was one of his greatest thrills " not finishing last in that city track meet. That just shows you the way he was. Even if he was not very good at something, he would just work harder and harder."
Torbush attended Austin-East High School in Knoxville and played for Coach Bob Polston, who was almost a second father to him. Oddly, he played center on offense and cornerback on defense as a sophomore and junior and led the league in interceptions as a junior with eight. As a senior he moved to linebacker. Polston's teams lost just four games in Torbush's three years.
"If you had a son you would like him to turn out exactly like Carl Torbush," says Polston. "He's one of the finest kids I have ever been associated with. I didn't know he was going to be a football coach, but I was sure he was going to be successful at whatever profession he chose. He's dedicated, intelligent and works at it. Plus he loves the game. He came from a good family."
"His dad, Big Carl, was at every game," recalls Wood. "He would sit back real quiet, but you always knew he was there supporting us. Big Carl was a really good influence on Little Carl."
A multi-sport standout, Torbush had several Division I scholarship offers, but he was holding out for an athletic scholarship from the University of Tennessee. When one didn't come, he attended UT anyway and walked on the football team. He did not play as a freshman, but worked his way up to the second team and even started in the spring game.
The summer after his first year at UT, however, he signed a scholarship to play baseball and football at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. He had to sit out the first football season, but played immediately for the baseball team. Not playing in games, however, did nothing to contain his competitive fires.
"His first year he was ineligible to play because he had transferred from Tennessee so he played against the first team," recalls Coach Case, who was linebackers coach under head coach Dal Shealy at Carson-Newman. "Coach Shealy, he's the type who never wants to stop practice until the first team scored. With Carl on the other side, there were a lot of nights we had practice go for a long time."
Torbush played three years of football and four years of baseball at Carson-Newman and performed so well that he earned first-team All-America honors in both sports and has been inducted into the Carson-Newman and Knoxville Sports Halls of Fames.
In 1971-72, Torbush received second-team All-America honors as a catcher. In 1972-73, he was named honorable mention All-America as a linebacker and first-team All-America in baseball. In 1973-74, he was first-team NAIA All-America in both sports. He hit .420 as a junior, .454 as a senior and still holds the career batting average record at .401.
One of his teammates at Carson-Newman for two years was Ken Rucker, a linebacker, who is in his third year as Carolina's linebackers coach and special teams coordinator. "Carl was the kind of teammate you could depend on," says Rucker. "Playing alongside him, you never had to worry about the job getting done. He's a friend, but he is also the kind of person I respect because he respects others. I've known him for almost 30 years and I have grown to love him and I am thrilled to get the opportunity to coach here and work alongside him again."
The Eagles lost to East Texas in the NAIA championship game his junior season. East Texas was led by Harvey Martin, who went to star for the Dallas Cowboys. As a senior, Carson-Newman was ranked sixth in the country.
"As a player, Carl was really a playing coach," recounts Coach Shealy. "He was a strong leader on the field who studied the game ' he knew all the players' assignments, on both sides of the ball. He was a super competitor. Carl has excellent self-control and he brings his high principles and standards to his coaching."
Torbush has coached defense his entire career, but his admirers do not rest solely on that side of the ball.
"Carl Torbush is an honest, straightforward guy," says former UNC wide receiver Corey Holliday. "He speaks the truth and lives the truth and only good things come from that. He is more than just focus and attitude. There's more to life than football. He wants to know more about you than just football, he wants to get to know you personally and that is what a good coach is all about."
"Coach Torbush has always been one of my favorite coaches," adds former UNC fullback William Henderson. "He's got a personality that works well with the players. I am sure the guys will learn a lot from him. He's one of those guys you just want to play for."
Torbush will turn 49 on October 11. His wife, Janet, has a Ph.D. in education and teaches at Elon College. Their son, Trey, is 10 years old.
Personality Chart
Carl Torbush embarks on his third full season as head coach of the Tar Heels and does so with 46 returning letterwinners from a squad that went 3-8 a year ago, but won its last two games over arch-rivals NC State and Duke. Those two victories and the improvement Carolina showed in the final stretches of last season have given the Tar Heels a new sense of optimism and confidence.
Head Coach
Carl Torbush
Carl Torbush Year-by-Year Coaching Record
Year School Responsibility Record Postseason 1975 Baylor Graduate Assistant 3-6-2 1976 SE Louisiana Linebackers/Defensive Ends 9-1-1 1977 SE Louisiana Linebackers/Defensive Ends 6-4 1978 SE Louisiana Linebackers/Defensive Ends 7-3-1 1979 SE Louisiana Linebackers/Defensive Ends 6-5 1980 Louisiana Tech Asst. Head Coach/Linebackers 5-6 1981 Louisiana Tech Asst. Head Coach/Linebackers 4-6-1 1982 Louisiana Tech Asst. Head Coach/Linebackers 10-3 I-AA Second Round 1983 Mississippi Defensive Coord./Linebackers 7-5 Independence Bowl 1984 Mississippi Defensive Coord./Linebackers 4-6-1 1985 Mississippi Defensive Coord./Linebackers 4-6-1 1986 Mississippi Defensive Coord./Linebackers 8-3-1 Independence Bowl 1987 Louisiana Tech Head Coach 3-8 1988 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 1-10 1989 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 1-10 1990 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 6-4-1 1991 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 7-4 1992 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 9-3 Peach Bowl 1993 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 10-3 Gator Bowl 1994 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 8-4 Sun Bowl 1995 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 7-5 Carquest Bowl 1996 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers 10-2 Gator Bowl 1997 North Carolina Defensive Coord./Linebackers* 11-1 Gator Bowl 1998 North Carolina Head Coach/Defensive Coord. 7-5 Las Vegas Bowl * became head coach 12/8/97 Head Coaching Record: 11-13 (8-5 at North Carolina)
