University of North Carolina Athletics
One-on-One with Kory Bailey
October 27, 2000 | Football
Oct. 27, 2000
Earlier this week, we encouraged Carolina fans to submit questions via email for junior wide receiver Kory Bailey.
Emerging this season as one of Carolina's top offensive playmakers, Bailey is slowly etching his name into the history books as one of the programs best wideouts. In last Saturday's loss to No. 3 Clemson, Bailey excelled on the field with a career-high 129 yards on seven catches. The Durham, N.C., native is the most experienced wide receiver on the team and is once again displaying the big-play capabilities that helped him set records as a freshman for most receptions (38) and most touchdown receptions (4) in a season.
Now, here's what Kory had to say:
Question from Maggie T. in Shrewsbury, Mass.: What did you do differently during the summer and off-season months to prepare you for this year after your disappointing last year?
KB: First of all, I took the strength and conditioning very serious. I made sure that I made it to every workout, and tried to lift as hard as I could. All of the receivers got together with Ronald Curry and the other quarterbacks and took our time running routes with them more so than what we have done in the past.
Question from Robert: First of all, great game last Saturday. How does it feel to play for the best college organizations in the country? Because being a Tar Heel is my lifelong dream.
KB: It's a lot of fun. There are always great people around this program. It's definitely an honor to come to such a university with a great history and past. It's an honor to meet people that have gone through the program as well as being able to play with the great athletes that are here now.
Question from Ernest in Halifax County, N.C.: I assume that you have pro football aspirations, but if that doesn't pan out, what would you like to do with a communications degree? Also, why do you think "enigma" is the term that best describes you?
KB: I'm not quite sure yet what I want to do with my major. My focus in communications is performance, so anything in the lines of entertainment is something that I would like to do. To bring joy to people would be fun.
As far as the term enigma, I just feel that there are a lot of things that people don't know about me. I'm a pretty different person off the field than I am on the field, and so sometimes I'm a little hard to understand. I give a lot of people a lot of trouble sometimes, so I just felt that it was an adequate word.
Question from Tia Sides in Greensboro, N.C.: I've watched you many times at the games getting the crowd excited even though you guys might not be winning. What gives you that energy to boost the crowd's intensity?
KB: I always feel like it's important for our fans to support us whether we are winning or losing a game. Some of the greatest teams in the country have really great fans. For example, South Carolina didn't win a single game last year, but they sold out their stadium for every game. I just think that it's important for your fans to always stay behind you, whether you're going through tough times or not.
Question from Steve in Lancaster, N.C.: How do you feel about Coach O'Cain's play calling this year?
KB: I think that he does an excellent job of calling plays. He lets us know the game plan in advance before the game, and he doesn't shy away from that plan whether we are winning or losing. We like the fact that he goes deep a couple of times a game, and that he puts us into a position to make plays. Because we are able to go out and do it, he has more confidence in us to call plays like that.
Question from Cornelius Dixon in Dover, Del.: As a freshman you came in with high expectations from the fans. Do you think that you're now finally living up to those expectations?
KB: I never feel like people expect a whole lot out of me. I thought my freshman year that I surprised a lot of people, and then they thought what was wrong with me last year. It's finally good to have the season that I have been looking forward to. Hopefully I can finish the year a lot stronger than how I started. It's always good to have a good season, because it boosts your confidence and the confidence you have in your teammates.
Question from G. Dickson in N.C.: Curry is a special athlete. What is it like playing with a quarterback of his calliber?
KB: It's exciting playing with hime, you never know what he is going to do. If there's a blown play, it seems like he can always find a way to make it exciting. If we have to break out of our routes, and he's scrambling, he can always sling it 70 yards or throw across his body for 20. You never know what he is going to do so we have to make sure to never give up on the play when he is out there.
Question from Bradley Everts: Since you guys have lost three straight very disheartening games, what has Coach Torbush said to keep you guys focused on the fact that you can still finish the season at 7-4 and have a chance to get a bowl invitation?
KB: He just lets us know that we our playing pretty good football, but we just have to focus on being able to finish our games. We've always started good but just haven't been able to finish in the third and fourth quarters. He lets us know that this is not a situation like last year. We're playing good football and all we have to do is focus and execute, and we'll end up with a couple of victories. Hopefully we'll be able to go to a bowl game.
Question from Larry in Soutern Pines, N.C.: Did you excel at any other sports when you were growing up? When did you know that you wanted to focus on football?
KB: My best sport growing up was probably baseball. But I didn't like the way you had to sit around all the time with baseball. My passion was basketball. I just loved to play basketball. I wasn't the best at it but I was a pretty good role player. I decided that I was going to play football in 11th grade, because I gave up playing baseball and focused on track in the spring to try and get me faster for football. I just had a pretty good talent for football. I love being out on the football field. It's just one of the most unique team sports because there are a lot of guys and different faces out there that have to work together in order to be successful. I just love the team aspect of football.
Question from Justin Wheeler in Fayetteville, N.C.: What would it mean to you to become one of Carolina's all-time top receivers? Are you aware of the records you have set and are approaching?
KB: I know that I got the freshman touchdown record and freshman reception record. That was special for me, because there have been a lot of great receivers to come through here like Octavus Barnes and Na Brown. I'm not really sure about any other records, but somebody told me the other day that I was getting close to 100 catches. That would be pretty special as well because not a lot of guys have done that. I just try to keep it all in perspective and hopefully if I can keep being successful and healthy then I'll be able to break some of the records that have been around for a while.
I came in my freshman year with people like Octavus Barnes, who had a great career here, Na Brown, who was catching 50 balls a year, L.C. Stevens was coming off his season where he had seven touchdowns. It's just a great honor being associated with guys like that, because they were the guys that I looked up to in my first year here. To be mentioned with them when I leave would be a great honor.
Question from Tate Singerman in Boulder, Colo.: How do you see the team finishing up the season? What part will you play in the success of this team for the remaining four games?
KB: I think that we will hopefully be 7-4. I think that we have a great chance to do it with the teams that we have ahead. In order to do it though, we have to be consistent. The most important thing for us is that we have the capabilities to make the big plays and dominate the ball game. But we just haven't shown that we can do that consistently. If we get down, we just need to get our heads up.
Question from Kevin Fox in Charlotte, N.C.: What has been your most memorable experience on the field at UNC?
KB: One of the most memorable moments would be my kick-off return for a touchdown against Georgia Tech my freshman season. Also, playing up in Virginia for the first time was pretty memorable. Most of us on the team had never seen such a hostile crowd. It was just amazing to me to see what kind of spite people had toward us players. That just let us know how heated the rivalry was. And of course the overtime game in Charlotte against N.C. State. If we didn't win that game, we weren't going to go to a bowl game that year. It was just a great game, and I was glad to have taken part in it.
Question from Steve Wyatt in Reidsville, N.C.: It looks like there are going to be some great match-ups in this game with Virginia. How is the focus of the team this week? Hope you guys have a great game!
KB: I think that our focus has been real good. We're not down on ourselves. We're real upbeat and positive. We're going into the game to have a lot of fun and hopefully end the losing streak that we've had up in Virginia. We just want to do our best and come back with an important win.
As always, thanks to everyone for the great questions. We weren't able to get to all of you, but be sure to check back next week to see who will go one-on-one next Friday.
One-on-One Archives
One-on-One with B. Russell (October 20, 2000)
One-on-One with B. Allen (September 15, 2000)
One-on-One with Wags (September 8, 2000)
One-on-One with R. Sims (September 1, 2000)
One-on-One with A. Crumpler (August 25, 2000)
One-on-One with E. Hood (August 18, 2000)
One-on-One with B. Spoon (August 11, 2000)
