University of North Carolina Athletics
A Conversation With Jim Webster
December 14, 2000 | Football
Dec. 14, 2000
y: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue: How does it feel to be "officially" wearing Carolina Blue again?
Coach Webster: "It's fantastic, it really is. I wish that there were one or two words that I could say to explain it, but there really aren't one or two words that can explain it. It has to be a lot of words.
"I just feel great. I'm still in a fog emotionally, because it just hasn't sunk in yet."
TarHeelBlue: Have you spent much time back in Chapel Hill after you graduated?
Coach Webster: "No, and I'll tell you why. I was kicked out of a football practice. It was a day I'll never forget.
"My son, who was five or six at the time, and I came up here from Roxboro, N.C. It was a beautiful spring day, and I said 'Let Daddy show you where he went to school and where he played football.' We went to Franklin St., then up on campus. He was having a ball. Then I noticed they were practicing football. I said 'Let Daddy show you where he used to practice.'
"We walked through the gate to the practice field, and a police officer told us we had to leave. I told him I knew some of the guys, and that I used to practice on that field myself. He said 'No sir, Coach says you've got to get out, you've got to go.'
"I said 'I sweated on this field, I bled on this field. I'm one of the guys who helped build this program back up, and I'm getting kicked out of practice?' He told me I had to get a pass. I said fine, then I left, and I never came back.
"The only time I was back after that was when I was at ECU. We came up to see Carolina play N.C. State, but I was not in this complex.
"The day before yesterday was the first time I've been in this building."
TarHeelBlue: What do you think of it?
Coach Webster: "It's indescribable. I'll tell you what it is. It's a tribute to all the guys between that building (pointing to the old field house), and this building. Between that building and this building, there had to be quality people who impressed the people who gave the money to build this building.
"To compete, whether in education or academics, you've got to have good facilities. You've got to. Facilities don't make tackles or score touchdowns, but they've got a great deal to do with how you prepare.
"I can't believe there's a finer building in the country than this facility. You can't expect to be the best at what you do and not be the best in other areas. If you want to be the best at whatever you do, then everything surrounding that has to be the best.
"If we say we want to have the best football program in the country, then everything we do has to be at that level. This is a heck of a starting point."
TarHeelBlue: When we hired Coach Bunting did you have a sense that something might happen concerning you?
Coach Webster: "Yes. John and I keep in contact with each other. I did an internship with the St. Louis Rams in their preseason camp before they won the Super Bowl, so I had a chance to spend some football time with him. We talked and chatted about a lot of things, including UNC. Then, when it looked like this job might open here, we communicated with one another.
"I felt in my heart that the best thing to do for this program was to hire a UNC man. I'm going to toot Dick Baddour's horn a little bit because, speaking for my values, who do you think's going to take better care of your child? You are, because that's your child. Nobody's going to take care of your child better than you are, because that's your blood, that's your skin, that's your heart.
"You take that same scenario and put it into this athletic program or anything else you do. What greater interest can somebody have in a program than someone who played in that program. John's someone who, when he came in the program was down, when he left we were ACC champions.
"John and I are convinced, and we talk about this a lot, that we didn't win because we were better or had the best players. We won because we worked harder than anybody else. When we were here under Bill Dooley, there wasn't a team in America that worked harder than we did.
"You're looking at four years of just nit and grit, tears and guts and sweat and just hard work. There was no way we were not going to win that championship. We fell short the year before that, so there was no way our senior year, after all that we had been through, that we would not win.
"How do I describe my four years with Bill Dooley? Pain, sweat, agony, hurt, tears, blood, broken bones, crying, fussing, shouting, mad, ACC champions. It took all of those things for us to win an ACC championship. There was no way we were not going to win it. The commitment was there from day one.
"It was just hard work. The more you invest in something, the greater your drive. We had a heck of an investment, there was even a life that was part of that investment. Billy Arnold was part of that investment. Through our quest to be champions, we lost one of our teammates. That really, really hurt. That was part of the trip.
"We weren't going to be denied. We won it."
TarHeelBlue: What kind of a teammate was John Bunting?
Coach Webster: "We were here in the sixties during the Vietnam War. If they had drafted me and said you've got to go, Bunting was going too. I wasn't going to go to the Vietnam War without him.
"I know that in the jungle it takes two, somebody's got to be looking in the front, somebody's got to be looking in the back. Your life would have been on the line. That's how I feel about him.
"But you know what? That's how all of us felt about each other on that team. That was the bond, because we all felt like we had been through hell. We went through hell every day under Bill Dooley. I'm just telling it like it is, and that's not a negative statement.
"It's a positive statement when I say we went through hell every day in practice. In fact, we went through hell three times a day, because we would practice three times a day during preseason. Practice was hell. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it, but we survived, and we came out champions.
"And right now, ain't nobody gonna beat me. Nobody. Nobody. And that's because of what was instilled in me playing for Bill Dooley. You might have setbacks, but you don't lose. If you have a setback, you've got to fight back and get tougher."
TarHeelBlue: There were some real characters on that team.
Coach Webster: "Oh, were there ever. You go right down the line. Bud Grissom, Paul Miller, Ricky Packard, John Bunting, Judge Mattocks, Richard Stilley, Lou Angelo, Lewis Jolley, Ike Oglesby, Tim Kirkpatrick, Gene Brown, you go down the line.
"Everybody was committed. You had different personalities, some guys were loose, some guys were tight, but everybody depended on everybody. That was part of the Bill Dooley philosophy. All of you guys are in this together. If one failed, we all failed.
"I can't begin to get you to imagine the camaraderie that had to be developed in order to survive. It was about survival."
TarHeelBlue: Do you think Coach Bunting will have Dooley's influence in his head coaching technique?
Coach Webster: "I think there are some of Dooley's qualities that will be a part of his coaching. Obviously, the main quality is we're going to win. Another quality is going to be toughness. Another quality is going to be hard work. Commitment will be another. Effort. I'm sure these are all qualities that John will carry over to his job.
"Those are positive qualities that you have to have in order to win."
TarHeelBlue: You've coached every defensive position. Is there one position that you enjoy coaching the most?
Coach Webster: "I love all of them. It doesn't matter to me."
TarHeelBlue: If you have the athletes to run it, what type of defense do you prefer? Attacking, bend-but-don't break, or what?
Coach Webster: "I like being aggressive. I like being aggressive. You know the saying, do unto others before they do unto you. I think that's a good way to play defense.
"There are a lot of ways to be aggressive, but you have to be aggressive using your common sense. Just because you've got a car that can go 120 mph, you don't go 120 mph all the time. Sometimes you have to go 70 mph, sometimes you have to go 35 mph, but you know the power's there.
"It's great to have that power. I think defense is about being aggressive. Whatever the scheme is, I'm sure it will be a scheme of aggressiveness."
TarHeelBlue: You were an under-sized head hunter at linebacker who excelled at tackling. Are kids today taught proper tackling techniques?
Coach Webster: "There are a lot of kinds of tackling, but I've never seen a bad tackle. The whole idea is to get the man on the ground. If you get him on the ground, it was a good tackle.
"Now I've seen some bad form used, but I've never seen a bad tackle. Tackling starts with getting the man on the ground. Now you teach proper technique, you teach wrapping up, you teach grabbing cloth.
"You teach see what you hit. I'm big on that, see what you hit. If you're going to hit it, see it. It teaches you to keep your head up to avoid injury, plus it teaches you to see what you hit. That is a starting point, then everything else goes from there."
TarHeelBlue: You've worked for a lot of coaches since you left here. Which ones had the most affect on you?
Coach Webster: "I don't think there have been any who have had an emotional affect on me, because I am an aggressive person, and I really get involved emotionally. So I haven't been around anybody who is more emotional than me. That's not something you learn, that's something that's inside of you.
"I am who I am, and that's an aggressive person, a strong person who loves the game of football. Aggressiveness and the will to win is something that's always been inside of me.
"Now where coaches have had an affect on me is with the external things. Doug Dickey at Florida loved his players and communicated well with them. That made an impression on me. His passion for his players is what impressed me about Doug Dickey.
"I would say that the coach who made the biggest impression on me, externally, was Coach Dooley, with the will, the determination and the drive to win. Of all the coaches I've worked with, the will to win was the greatest with Coach Dooley.
"Steve Logan at ECU made an impression upon me. The impression that Steve made upon me is, don't be afraid to try something. Don't be afraid to take a chance and do something different. He's not afraid to try something that nobody thinks you'll do, and that's one reason his program is as successful as it is.
"He doesn't have a mold. He's shown me you don't have to have a mold, you can go outside the lines. And it may fail, and that's ok, but it may work, and that's great."
TarHeelBlue: Do defensive players have a different mentality than offensive players?
Coach Webster: "No doubt whatsoever. There's a distinct difference between an offensive player and a defensive player.
"When I go out recruiting, and I love to recruit defensive players, the first thing I do is look in their eyes. That may sound crazy, but the first thing I do is look in a recruit's eyes. That's because every good defensive player I've ever seen has that same look in his eyes.
"Again, I know this may sound crazy, but every good defensive player I've ever been around has that same look in his eyes. The eyes tell the truth, they tell the story. I love that look, because when you see it, you go, 'God, this player's going to be a good player.'
"I get excited about it when I see it."
TarHeelBlue: Have you got a feel yet for our talent level here?
Coach Webster: "No, not yet, because we haven't looked at any film yet. We'll wear the machines out before spring practice."
TarHeelBlue: What's more important, talent or desire?
Coach Webster: "Desire, without a doubt. My number one word is effort. Everything for me starts with effort. I don't care how big you are, how fast you are, how smart you are, because I'm looking for effort. If you're not giving effort, you don't play for me. I don't care what your credentials are.
"I refuse to put a player on the field who's not giving effort, because it's not fair to the guy who is giving effort."
TarHeelBlue: Whose responsibility is it to motivate a player? Is it his coach, the player or a combination of both?
Coach Webster: "I personally never had to be motivated by a coach, because it came from within. I wanted to win. I wanted to be the best that I could be.
"Now there were coaches who got me fired up more than other coaches, but as a player I didn't need a coach to get motivated. I like guys like that.
"All I wanted was someone to give me a helmet and point me to the field. Ok, you don't have a helmet, the heck with the helmet, let's go play. Let's go out there and kick some butt.
"That's the guy you're going to play, that's the guy you're going to put on the field.
"I never had to be motivated. Gosh dang, give me the helmet and let me out on the field. Just give me a chance to play, I want to hit somebody."
TarHeelBlue: Can you describe Coach Bunting in one word?
Coach Webster: "One word or two words? You tell me what you want."
TarHeelBlue: Ok, five words.
Coach Webster: "Friend, loyal, committed, tough, winner. It gives me goose bumps on my body to say those words, because that's how I feel.
"If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't be sitting here."
TarHeelBlue: How important is a good Strength & Conditioning coach?
Coach Webster: "The most important assistant coach on a staff is the Strength & Conditioning coach. He is the most important coach on the staff besides the head coach. He will spend more time with the players than any other coach on the staff. That's why he's the most important, he spends the most time with the players.
"That's the guy."
TarHeelBlue: How do you think it will feel when you make your first recruiting trip representing the University of North Carolina?
Coach Webster: "Well, I haven't made my first recruiting trip, but I've made my first recruiting calls, and it felt great.
"I can talk to recruits with a passion. It's not about money, it's not about facilities, it's not about a job. It's about the University of North Carolina, and we're going to get the program back where it was, where it should be.
"If you want to be a part of it, come on, because it's going to happen."
TarHeelBlue: There's a lot that goes into having a successful football program.
Coach Webster: "What people have to understand is that this is a football 'program.' This is not a football team. A football team is part of the program. The fans are part of the program. This stadium is part of the program. This facility is part of the program.
"I'm part of the program, John Bunting is part of the program. You, the equipment managers, the cheerleaders, the band, you're all a part of it.
"People need to understand that for the program to be successful, all parts of it have to succeed. The players have to be successful, the coaches have to be successful, the fans have to be successful.
"Coach Bunting will put together a successful staff. We will recruit well. We will produce a successful program.
"It's not just one phase, it's every phase, it's everybody.
"That's where I'm coming from. You know, everybody talks about rivalries. I'm looking forward to the UNC-Florida St. rivalry, I'm looking forward to the UNC-N.C. State rivalry.
"You know, every game is a rivalry to me. I want to beat them all. I don't want to beat one guy, I want to beat everybody.
"You work twelve months a year, and you play twelve games, including a bowl. What does that mean? That means that one game is worth one month's work. Every game you play is equal to one month of work.
"So, my God, how can you not go out there and play hard and lay it all on the line?
"Football is a year-round deal. There is no out of season. Every day is in-season, every day. I don't understand how anybody can go out there and not lay it all on the line.
"If you don't have the passion, you don't play for Coach Bunting."
TarHeelBlue: You played on a team that won an ACC championship. Are you going to coach one?
Coach Webster: "No doubt. I don't have any doubt at all in my mind. To go back to Bill Dooley, there's nothing I can't do. I can beat anybody. That's what Bill Dooley instilled in me.
"And it's not just about football, it's about everything in my life. I can beat anybody at anything.
"When everybody on a team believes that, it's going to happen. It doesn't happen when most of the players believe it, or nine out of ten coaches believe it, it happens when everybody believes it.
"It happens when every player on that team, and every fan in that stadium, all believe it's going to happen.
"I hope this big, luxurious building here was built on solid ground, because it's going to shake. It's going to rumble, and it's going to shake.
"I'm telling you!"
