University of North Carolina Athletics
Gunter Brewer Unplugged!
June 10, 2000 | Football
June 10, 2000
When you watch a North Carolina football practice, you find yourself hoping that the players have the same passion for football that Gunter Brewer does. If they do, nobody will be more motivated than the Tar Heels.
Gunter grew up in the shadows of SEC football as an undersized wide receiver with a big heart. His father, Billy, was head coach at Louisiana Tech before taking the head job at Mississippi before Brewer's senior year of high school.
rewer was too small for Division I football, so he went to a junior college for two years before transferring to Wake Forest. Brewer graduated in 1987 after earning two letters at wide receiver.
rewer comes to UNC after four seasons as an assistant coach at Marshall. The Thundering Herd compiled a 50-4 record during that time, including a 13-0 record last year. Brewer coached Randy Moss, the 1997 Biletnikoff Award winner.
Gunter Brewer hopes his "retrievers" can help revitalize Carolina's offensive attack.
y: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue.com
TarHeelBlue: You're the new kid on the block. Tell us about yourself.
Coach Brewer: "I grew up in the South as a coach's son. My dad, Billy, was a coach for a very long time, plus he played in college and the pros. Dad was head coach at Louisiana Tech, then head coach at Mississippi from 1983 to 1994.
"My brother Brett also played college football. He played for dad at both Louisiana Tech and Ole Miss. I would have loved to have played for dad, but once you get to this high a level the stress and the things that are involved with it are just too much, plus I just wanted to get away and do my own thing. I did come back and work for him at Mississippi in '88 and '89.
"I grew up for the most part in Louisiana, then in my senior year of high school we moved to Mississippi.
"After high school I went to a junior college, N.W. Mississippi. I was a scrawny little runt, so I had to develop as a player. I had the mental ability, but not the physical tools. I really hit the weights and ran a lot after my senior year in high school.
"I ended up transferring to Wake Forest. It was a good fit for me, both academically and in football. They threw the ball a great deal under Al Groh. It was a good change for me. I really fell in love with this area of the country. I always knew I wanted to come back to this area.
"I tried several times to find jobs back in this area. It's such a great place. You've got the beaches, you've got the mountains, it's a very attractive state. I'm really glad to be back here."
TarHeelBlue: Were you happy at Marshall?
Coach Brewer: "Very happy. Coach (Bob) Pruett was on the staff at Wake Forest as a defensive back coach when I played there. We stayed in touch, then I recommended him to my father at Ole Miss, who ended up hiring him. Coach Pruett did a good job there, then moved on to a few other places before landing the head job at Marshall.
"He had always told me that if he ever got a head coaching job he would hire me. A lot of folks will tell you something like that, but he stuck to his word. I felt like it was a solid place with a lot of potential when he hired me, and we proceeded to go 50-4 with a lot of good players and coaches. It worked out well, and it's a good place."
TarHeelBlue: Has your family moved down here yet?
Coach Brewer: "Not yet, we've waited for the school year to end. We have found a house here. It's been tough being here without them.
"My daughter Lauren, who's almost nine, is ultra-competitive. She wants to follow big brother around and do whatever he's doing.
"I'll be very glad to get them down here so we can get involved with more people in the community. We were very involved with the community in Huntington, not just sports but community and school activities.
"My wife, Rhonda, was a cheerleader at North West Mississippi. We managed to stay in touch after college, and things have worked out very well for us."
TarHeelBlue: Do you think you would have wanted to get into coaching if your dad had not been a coach?
Coach Brewer: "That's a good question. I don't know.
"With my size and lack of talent, I could have easily not have pursued even a playing career. But growing up in the environment I did gave me a lot of drive. We were around the SEC, where football's so very important, and it was just contagious.
"It's a really tough profession. You can be here one day and gone the next, but that's also a thrill. Knowing you're on the edge 365 days a year gives you very little down time. You don't get to see your family very much.
"It's very important who you work for. That's why I chose to come here. If it had been anybody other than Carl Torbush, I wouldn't have come, whether it be here or at a Notre Dame.
"There's just too many factors involved not to go work for someone with whom you have the same beliefs. He's going to allow you to have a family life. He knows that winning is very, very important, but there's a price that's paid with that. You have to have the values that you're not going to win at all costs.
"You've got to maintain your graduation rates, you can't play with a bunch of thugs. What is the price for that? Life's too short to be dragged through the mud every day, worrying about if you wake up and read the paper and see that one of your players is in trouble.
"I was looking for a quality institution that employed quality people. That's the kind of person I am, and I wanted to be surrounded by that type of person. Then you lay it out there and if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it's not because you didn't work hard."
TarHeelBlue: What was your prior relationship with Carl?
Coach Brewer: "It was a very professional relationship. We recruited the same area for about eight or nine years. He and Coach Case are long time friends and acquaintances. They both worked for my father.
"Carl knew me as a person before he did as a coach. (Laughing) That may have been more of a negative than a positive in my hiring. I don't say that in a bad way, it's just that once you see someone in one life, you've got to take it out of a personal context and put it into a professional realm. That was probably hard for both of us, what with the family's being such good friends.
"But, Carl had seen the work I'd done in recruiting, plus some of the players I had developed. Carl wouldn't have hired me if he hadn't been sure of my competence, because every Saturday we go out and put our jobs on the line. You only get eleven shots at it each year.
"I'll let my record and my experience speak for themselves. Although I'm not an ancient guy who's been around forever, I think I bring a lot of energy and experience for my age. I've grown up around this profession, I know what to expect.
"Plus, as a Wake Forest grad, I'm here to tell you that everybody in the world wants to beat Carolina, but that's where you want to be. It excites you as a coach that your team is the one that everybody wants to beat.
"You also have to realize that things go in cycles. You can't expect a freshman to be as good as a senior. It's hard to beat experience and maturity.
"You have to give any head coach the time to put in his system, and you've got to give that system a chance to work. You judge how someone does over a period of time, not just on one season.
"There's a lot of variables that go into a season. The coaching world is very sympathetic to what happened here last year. They have seen quarterbacks go down, they've seen a bunch of injuries, then they go 'whew, I'm glad that didn't happen to me.' You've just got to keep fighting and don't give up.
"This team last year came on strong at the end and showed a lot of courage. They got a lot of respect in the coaching ranks outside of this area. When you go to conventions you hear things like 'boy, I can't believe how they stuck together and came on at the end.' It would have been very easy to give up with the other team on the one-foot line, feeling like we're going to lose again.
"It's a tribute to the coaches and players who stuck with it.
"I was very delighted with the work ethic I saw during the winter workouts. That's a barometer of how you're going to do. They were very disciplined. They showed up at six in the morning on time, dressed in what they were supposed to be dressed. The kids stepped up to the plate and said let's go, let's play tomorrow. That's what encouraged me as a newcomer."
TarHeelBlue: Could you give me a brief rundown of each of your players? Let's start with Bosley Allen.
Coach Brewer: "Bosley Allen can be an impact player. From what I understand, he was potentially that type when he was a freshman before he got hurt. He's returned to what everybody tells me is his old form, but all I know is his new form.
"He's very physical, he's very fast, he's very competitive. He's too hard on himself at times, being overly competitive. My job with him is to make sure he doesn't get too down on himself with his expectations. We've got them way up there, and he has them even higher. That's good, but in a realistic sense you don't want to get in peaks and valleys, you want to stay on a level plain.
"I think he can be as good as anybody who's ever been in the league, period, because he has all those attributes. He has size, he has hands, he'll block and he's competitive. Those are all the ingredients to make an outstanding receiver."
TarHeelBlue: Do you think he's 100%?
Coach Brewer: "I do, he's as fast as I think he needs to be. When he gets the ball, I don't see anybody catching him, and we've got some fast DBs because Knight and Waddell can fly, along with some others.
"What he was before that, I don't know and I don't care. If they catch him, they catch him. He can put the ball in the end zone, that's all I know. They're going to have a hard time catching him."
TarHeelBlue: He must have worked really hard in his rehab.
Coach Brewer: "Extremely hard! He's still working hard. He's here in the summer working hard, both academically and athletically. He'll be a force if we can get him the ball and get him in the right situations."
TarHeelBlue: What about Sam Aiken?
Coach Brewer: "Sam was probably the biggest surprise. When I got here on February 9, I didn't know anything about anyone. All I saw was a big, tall guy, and I wanted to find out if he could play football or not from winter workouts.
"I loved his attitude, I loved his work habits during winter workouts, and he continued that throughout the spring. He became an impact player in the spring, he's looked to as a go to guy.
"He's learned a new system, which I think the younger guys will flourish in. Every day he got better. He can very easily be a big-time player.
"He has the tools. Does he have the experience? No. That's one thing we're lacking as a group. We're very deep, but as a group, doing it out there in front of 50 to 80 thousand people, they haven't done it yet, but I don't think that will be a problem."
TarHeelBlue: How's Kory Bailey doing?
Coach Brewer: "Kory is a kid who has all the tools in the shed, he's just got to sharpen them up and refine them. I think Kory got his confidence back this spring. I think the kid lost some of his confidence. From what I've heard he had a great freshman year but not such a good next year.
"I said hey, there's not a lot positive about a 3-8 season. I've been around when we didn't win any, and I've been around when we won them all.
"Psyche and momentum is a strange thing. Just ask the Portland Trailblazers. Win for three quarters, then you can't make a bucket. Are they any better or any worse as athletes, absolutely not. Psyche and momentum had a good deal to do with Kory.
"We struggled to get the ball to them, because we didn't have quarterbacks. The offense changed, the situation changed, I think that affected him and the rest of them.
"He's matured a little bit. I think he'll be ready to return to what people saw as a freshman. There's no reason for him not to be good.
"It's going to come down to concentration and self worth, how he feels about himself as a player and as a person."
TarHeelBlue: What about Danny Davis?
Coach Brewer: "Danny is the guy who can play it all. Danny unfortunately has had a rash of injuries. He went through spring as tough as a pine knot.
"He had a little thing in his knee he wouldn't tell anyone about for a long time. They went in and found some floating cartilage that wasn't attached to anything. He was just playing and it would float around and just about kill him, so that tells you how tough he is.
"He's what I call a glue player. He does anything you ask him to do. He's counted on like a utility guy in baseball.
"He's a guy who earns playing time because he works so hard. He's the guy we bring in out of the bullpen. We're depending on him."
TarHeelBlue: Tell me about Chesley Borders.
Coach Brewer: "I was really pleased with Chesley. I had heard of Chesley from a friend of mine who coaches at Kentucky and had recruited him there. He was really high on Chesley.
"Chesley's sneaky fast, which is a good attribute for him, because people don't know how fast he is. He's not known as a speed guy. He got deep a couple of times this spring because people didn't give him credit for his speed.
"He needs to become more consistent in his assignments. We threw a lot at him this spring. He's right in the hunt."
TarHeelBlue: How about Jamal Jones?
Coach Brewer: "A lot of people know about him because he was highly recruited. He's got a great reputation for speed, which he does have, but Jamal hasn't had any experience.
"He could use his speed to get open in high school, but there's a lot of speed on the other side of the ball at this level, so he's got to work on his technique. That's what he worked on extremely hard this spring, becoming a fundamentally sound receiver. Run good routes, play hard, be a good blocker.
"I told him the first day, I don't care if you catch 1,000 passes, if you don't block, you're not going to play, period. I told them all this individually.
"The reason you don't have big runs is because the receiver's not blocking down field. You will please me more and get a lot more production points by making a great block than making a great catch.
"For a lot of receivers, that's a hard pill to swallow, because they're out wide, they're pretty, they're nice, they're fast, they're expected to catch the ball, but it's just the opposite. If they can get the secondary knocked down, then it's over, we've got guys who can take it the distance.
"We had some vicious blocks in the spring. They started feeling a sense of pride in their blocking. Jamal came on strong in that area. From the first day to the last day, there was a tremendous amount of improvement from doing the little things.
"He's a guy you'll see out there this fall in certain situations. We've got to get him experience, but we don't want to throw him to the wolves, either. I hope we can bring him on early."
TarHeelBlue: What about Isaiah Robinson?
Coach Brewer: "Isaiah comes from a very good high school (Reidsville), which turned out Na rown. He had a hamstring in the middle of the spring and fought through it. He had his worst day this spring when his high school coach was here. It was bothering him, and he didn't tell anybody. He's a very quiet kid.
"I sat down with him and we had a one-on-one conversation, then I found out what was going on. I said we've got to keep the line of communication open, you've go to tell me when you're injured.
"He said 'but my coach was here, it's the spring, I've only got so many days to try to win a starting position.' I said 'yes, but you can't do it when you're hurt.'
"He'd make a great catch, then drop one. He'd make a great block, then miss one. We talked about consistency. I think that's what separates our top three or four guys from the next three or four guys.
"There's a level of separation right now between those two groups, with different guys floating in and out on different days. Some guys are hot one day, but not the next, which is ok, but we've got to find consistency. As the bar raises, they've got to come with it.
"When somebody sets the standard, he's the leader, and somebody's got to follow and then push him. I think they've accepted the challenge that we've got to have big plays. We've got to have big plays."
TarHeelBlue: Who's your fastest receiver?
Coach Brewer: "On pro day, there were some good times. I know Bosley and Jamal both ran well, but so did Sam. I'd say those three healthy would be the three fastest.
"But like I said, Chesley ran real well. It shocked me how he ran this spring. He got deep a couple of times, even though we didn't get him the ball.
"Technique can be as much a part of it as speed, because without ruffling any feathers, I don't think there's been a Randy Moss here, a 4.29 guy who's 6-4. There's a couple of guys here now who speed-wise are on the level of the Florida States of the world"
TarHeelBlue: Which of your guys has the best hands? Could you pick one over the others?
Coach Brewer: "I asked them to vote on that after the spring, and I told them they could vote for themselves. I also asked who ran the best routes, and who was the best blocker.
"Kory got a lot of votes in running good routes. Several of them got votes as blockers, because they all improved so much. Bosley and Sam had some crushing blocks, but Danny was also tenacious in blocking.
"I will say that Sam was very consistent catching tough balls, balls across the middle where he knew he was going to get hit. That really stuck out, because it's harder to catch the ball across the middle than it is out on the fringes."
TarHeelBlue: Have you ever coached any guys who you could tell were afraid of getting hit?
Coach Brewer: "Yeah, I've had some. You've got to teach them how to catch the ball over the middle. You teach them how to protect themselves.
"That's where the technique part comes in. There's a difference between catching the ball on your body and in your body. I lot of folks don't understand that. When balls go off your pads, that's not good. You're catching the ball with your body, not in your body.
"There's certain parts of the body that are very soft, and there's crevices that are formed by certain things. The shoulder pad goes across your chest, and you don't want the ball to hit your shoulder pad. You want to either lower or raise your center of gravity and put it in the sides or the softer parts. The ball is very difficult to catch between right below your chest level and your hips. You've got to either turn your hands down or keep your hands up. That's a hard decision to make in a spit second.
"You've got to position your body correctly. You've got to put yourself between the defender and the ball and protect yourself. If I catch the ball out in front of my body and I get hit, the ball gets jarred away. But if I catch it in my body and I get hit, I bounce around like a little rubber ball, but I hang on to the ball. It looks vicious, but actually it's not. It's a combination of using your hands and your body.
"These are the kind of things I'm trying to relate to my players. We've got every individual route they ran in spring practice, both side view and back view, on film. They can come in see what they did well, and what they didn't do well. They look at their own routes as well as those the other guys have run. You've got to be open minded. You have to accept criticism as well as learn from watching the good things the other guys do.
"No matter how good you are, you have to constantly try to keep improving. That's what separates the good players from the great ones. You want to accentuate your positives as well as work on your negatives. These guys need to know that if you're not getting better, and your competition is, then you're actually losing ground. They've got to understand that, and I think they do."
TarHeelBlue: Can you improve somebody's hands?
Coach Brewer: "Absolutely, absolutely. Can they become an all-time great, probably not. Most of it is concentration, confidence and a feeling of self worth. Then, there's a natural knack. Personally, I always had a knack for catching the ball.
"It really helps if you grew up in a passing offense, where catching the ball is something you do all the time. The more you do something, the easier it is. Do you become a master? It depends on how much you work on it.
"If you don't do something well, it's hard to tell them to go out there and work on it a whole bunch. There's fear of failure, of getting embarrassed.
"You can work on your hands. It takes time, it doesn't just happen, there's not a magic pill you can take."
TarHeelBlue: You're very vocal and enthusiastic on the practice field. Do you get that from your dad?
Coach Brewer: "I don't know. I guess it's just my personality. I think to play this game, you've got to be enthusiastic. At the receiver position, you've got to have a calm sense about you, but I think you have to play with vigor and enthusiasm.
"My style is right for me, but not for everybody. I think my enthusiasm is one of the positive things I do, so I need to accentuate that. When things aren't going well, you've still got to stay enthusiastic.
"No matter what the situation is, you've got to find something positive and go with it. There's no use in getting down and feeling sorry for yourself. The other team's certainly not going to do that. What are you going to get out of being negative? Nothing.
"I've been very successful so far in my career, and I just think that's the correct approach."
TarHeelBlue: What ticks you off the most on the practice field?
Coach Brewer: "Lack of effort. I think that's probably true for every coach. It takes no God-given ability to line up right and to know your assignments.
"The assignment and alignment will beat you more than anything. It's not who wins the game, usually, it's who loses it. Mistakes are what causes games to be won or lost.
"Doing the fundamental things takes no athletic ability. Then once the ball is snapped, those other things do take athletic ability. Assignment and alignment are my two pet peeves.
"Seeing people waste talent bothers me, because I didn't have a lot of it, and I had to work so hard. It makes me mad to see guys waste their talent."
TarHeelBlue: I know you're very big on running precise routes.
Coach Brewer: "Yes, I am. That's something I think people don't spend enough time on, partly because of the time restraints in college athletics. It's hard to get everything in and be able to work one-on-one with a kid.
"I think precise routes are kind of a lost art, as well as blocking. Those things are the kind of thing that, if you take pride in them, if you're talented you become ultra-talented. That's where the Jerry Rices of the world have separated themselves, because they've taken talent and competiveness and combined it with the fundamentals of the game. They've wanted it more, and they've worked on it the hardest.
"Having that drive is so important, that's what I'm looking for. I need to bring energy to the practice field to say 'hey, I'm going to accentuate this every day, whether you like it or not.' If they ever get perfect at it, we'll stop doing it, but there's only person I know that's ever walked this earth that was perfect, so they better just get ready, because we're going to do it every day.
"You practice things until you can do them with your eyes closed, then you can do it without thought. Then you run a route without thought, it just happens. It's like riding a bike. You never stop learning."
TarHeelBlue: I assume your guys will be working out a lot on their own this summer.
Coach Brewer: "Hopefully. We encourage them to do so, of course the coaches can do virtually nothing during the summer, other than encourage them to work out.
"I talked to Ronald today, and he said he had four of them out there working out with him. Some had to work, some were in class. You get a different group of them out there about every day, but of course we're not allowed to watch them.
"You want them out there playing flag football or just tossing the ball around. Anything to keep their skill levels up."
TarHeelBlue: How does your offensive philosophy jive with Coach O'Cain's?
Coach Brewer: "Good. I'm coming from a different offense in that it was a one-back offense completely, where we (Marshall) threw the ball to set up the run. We didn't have a quarterback who was capable of running the option proficiently, he (Chad Pennington) was a pro-style quarterback.
"Obviously we've got a couple of guys here who can both run and throw the ball, so use that to your advantage. I'm looking forward to not having to throw the ball 40 or 50 times a game to win.
"You've got to have the ability to both run and throw the football. That's what I like about his scheme. It's very flexible, it can get the ball to the right people at the right time. It will be beneficial as a whole to become a complete offense, so the trigger man doesn't have to do it all.
"The key to a good offense is 11 men doing the right thing all at one time, and that's hard. You don't know how hard that is.
"Defense is hard too, but you can have ten defensive players screw up and one guy make a great play, and you wouldn't know the difference. But on offense you can have one guy screw up, and it'll all be wrong in a hurry. It just takes one guy to mess it up.
"Eleven guys going in the same direction in a new system takes work. We've got a young offensive line, so we can't rare back and throw it 50 times a game and put that pressure on the line until they're ready. When they're ready, great, but don't ask someone to do something they can't do.
"Let's get good at something, and if it's not good enough, let's go to something else, we'll find another way to get it done. All we want to do is have one more point than they do.
"If we're ugly doing it, then so be it. If we're pretty doing it, and we get our butts beat, then I'm looking for a job, period."
TarHeelBlue: What's your honest assessment of the offensive line?
Coach Brewer: "They're very talented, not very deep, but very talented. They're an athletic group, but they're really lacking in experience.
"You would always like to have six or eight guys across the board who can run 4.9 or better, but that's not the case with us. Now who's fault that is, it doesn't matter. These kids are good enough to win with, and we're going to win with them. It's all we've got, and we're going to go with them.
"I don't coach them, I don't know. But I'll tell you this, there can't be a better guy working with them than Robbie Caldwell. Fundamentally, tough-nosed, get it done, period, no excuses, that's Robbie Caldwell. If we've got the talent there, he'll bring it out of them. I'll promise you that.
"He's got a great reputation. I'd heard about him for years, and I'm just glad to be around him. Give him the time and the talent, and that guy will get it done."
TarHeelBlue: Do you think the offense in general is both picking up and trusting the new offensive scheme?
Coach Brewer: "I think so. That's a question I asked all my players. We evaluated every player, and they evaluated us. They thought the offense was a lot more flexible, a lot more user friendly. They thought the opportunities were there for each one of them to flourish, in the right place at the right time.
"They felt comfortable with it, and that was a positive coming off of 15 days of spring practice. They're very excited about our capabilities. You can't get it all in just 15 days, but it was a very good introductory course.
"The thing that does worry you is that it is a new offense, and the main guy (Curry) wasn't there. You have to hope that his talent will overcome his lack of experience in the offense."
TarHeelBlue: Do you like aggressive wide receivers?
Coach Brewer: "Very much so. That's the type I've always coached and been around. Whether you're running or throwing the ball, be the aggressor, force things and make something happen.
"Get the first lick in. Don't be the guy who waits to see how the play develops and then goes and blocks somebody. It's too late then. Go out there and knock someone down, then look up.
"If you're on the back side of a pass and figure you probably won't get thrown to, then you come out of your break a little lazy and suddenly the ball is there, you're not ready for it. It's always, always, always the time you're not expecting it when it comes. It's always that way, in life or anything."
TarHeelBlue: What do you do when a player suddenly just can't catch the ball, or do you do anything?
Coach Brewer: "Oh absolutely. Same way with a receiver or a quarterback, you've got to find a way to build their confidence back up. You've got to create something, whether it's a two-yard pass or a screen pass, that will give them confidence.
"Do things in practice to build their confidence back up, then you've got to throw them back in there and see how they react to it. Most of the time, they do. Sometimes you'll have a guy who never gets it back, but usually they do. You have to play your way out of it.
"It's all mental. Their hands haven't changed. Their size hasn't changed. They're still the same speed. It's mental. You've got to find the right button to push."
TarHeelBlue: Will you be on the field or up in the booth next fall?
Coach Brewer: "I think I'll be on the field. I'd like to be down there. I think I can be more useful down there. I like to talk to my players.
"I don't see as well on the field, but you lose a little feel for the game when you're up in the box. There are some advantages upstairs. You have a better view, plus it's quiet so you can concentrate better.
"But I like to be with my guys. You can look in a guy's eyes and see if he's ready, or does he have that deer in the headlights look.
"A player can be on the phone telling his coach he's not tired, but you look at him and he looks like a horse that's been running for three days, he's all lathered up and he's finished."
TarHeelBlue: Does good tight end play make a receiver's job any easier?
Coach Brewer: "Tremendously. It controls all the underneath coverage. If they can get vertical, it forces the safety to make different reads.
"Tight end is the hardest position to play, no question. He's an offensive lineman who has to be a receiver. Now you tell me how you get that body. The guys who are great ones are dominators, just because they can run, they can catch and they can block you.
"There's been great receiving tight ends, there's been great blocking tight ends, but the guy who can do both is invaluable. We've got two really good ones here, and a couple of young ones who are going to be really good."
TarHeelBlue: You like to refer to your guys as retrievers.
Coach Brewer: "Oh yes, they throw the ball, we retrieve it. That's our job. We've got to go out there and wherever they throw it, we've got to go get it. Whether it's high, low or wherever, who cares. That's our job, go get it.
"I tell them to worry about the catch. Don't worry about getting hit. Don't worry about your feet, that becomes natural. You're going to get hit, that's why they give you pads.
"More people drop balls on the sidelines worrying about their feet and not looking at the ball. If you're in, you're in. If you're not, you're not. If you don't catch the ball, it doesn't matter if you're in bounds or not. Don't worry about getting hit, because you're going to get hit whether you catch it or not."
TarHeelBlue: Does Curry throw a very catchable ball?
Coach Brewer: "He seems to. I had him some in the spring in one-on-one passing drills, and he threw a very accurate, tight ball.
"I don't know much about his touch. We had him throwing some fade routes on the goal line, and he showed a nice touch on that. Other than that I couldn't tell you about a ball in the seam, because he wasn't out there enough."
TarHeelBlue: Who's job is it to motivate a player. Is it the coach, the player, or both?
Coach Brewer: "I think it's a mixture. I think a kid has to have a self-drive. I can't replace his motor, and that's the heart.
"There's kids like Doug Flutie, who people said couldn't get it done, who have such a high motor that never stops running. I think you've got to find out what makes a guy tick. Whether you kick him in the butt, or whether you love him.
"Some guys are motivated by your staying on them. Maybe that's the way they grew up, maybe that's the kind of environment they're from. Some kids grew up in a touchy-feely environment, and if you jump on them, they go in a shell. You have to be careful about that, because you may not be able to get them out of that shell.
"The player also has a big responsibility. If a player isn't motivated to go out there and work in 90-degree heat, and he doesn't want to do it, you're spinning your wheels. I can't work with guys who don't want to be there. If they want to be there, and they're just having a bad day, that's fine.
"It's a two-way deal. Now if you take a highly motivated guy, then you don't have to press him too much. All you've got to do is change the oil every few thousand miles or so. You usually have to back a guy like that off, and that's a good problem."
TarHeelBlue: When you're looking at high school prospects, what are you looking for?
Coach Brewer: "I'm looking for production. I want a productive player. Whether he caught two passes or made the winning block, is he a productive guy.
"If you turn on the film, could your wife pick him out. Is he a guy that shows up, is he a guy that's always around the pile. Is he a guy that enjoys playing, does he have fun, is he energetic.
"I like the kind of guy where I can turn on the film, I don't have to tell you who I'm looking at, and you can spot him. Those are the guys you want playing for you."
TarHeelBlue: How do you unwind after a game?
Coach Brewer: "(Laughing) My wife and I usually sit there and watch ESPN or ESPN2 and watch the next game. I like to see how all my friends did in their games. I watch the scroller at the bottom of the screen.
"I also love to spend time with my kids after the game. That really helps me relax."
TarHeelBlue: What motivates you as a coach?
Coach Brewer: "I'm very competitive, I'm definitely a Type A personality. I just like to have fun and win. I enjoy what I'm doing. I like being around and meeting people.
"Coaching is kind of like a chess match. You're trying to get your guys to be better than their guys. I like the challenge of a new day and new kids, different teams.
"I enjoy the whole coaching experience. I like the recruiting, I like developing community relations, I like being around people. When you're working with young kids you see just about everything, both the positives and the negatives.
"I really like the camaraderie of this staff. It's a really good mix. I don't know whether the last one was or not, but I think this one is very good.
"The combination of Coach O'Cain and Coach Caldwell blending offensively with myself and Coach Lewis and Moody is tremendous. There are no egos, or not enough to notice. We are all very competitive, but when we get in the staff room it's all very open. We're all working for the same goal. We don't care whether we get it done through the air or on the ground.
"There's one common goal. That's to win."
Players Mentioned
