University of North Carolina Athletics
Brandon Spoon's ACC Media Day Quotes
August 19, 2000 | Football
Aug. 19, 2000
Media: Talk to us about Ryan Sims' improvement?
Brandon Spoon: "He's great, he's outstanding. He dominated this spring. He was the outstanding defensive player of the spring.
"This summer, he's continued to show the same thing he showed in the spring. If continues to improve the way he has, and he's a tremendous student of the game and Coach Browning's a tremendous teacher, the sky's the limit.
"Ryan is unbelievable. I'm so glad he's in front of me."
Media: What do you see on the other side of the ball?
Brandon Spoon: "More speed than I saw last year. There's a lot more athletic ability with Ronald coming back, then you've got Bosley (Allen).
"Willie Parker is great, he impresses me a whole lot. He's a great running back.
"Alge is 100%. The key to the offense is to stay healthy.
"The offensive line should continue to improve as the season moves along. They're very young, and they need the experience.
"The offense should be really exciting, especially with Coach O'Cain bringing his philosophy in. They've done a lot of good things. It's fun to watch them in practice."
Media: Adam Metts plays really hard, doesn't he?
Brandon Spoon: "Yes, I went to high school with Adam. He's a funny dude. He's a scrapper. When you look at him, you're not looking at the prototypical lineman.
"Talking about Sims, Adam's the only guy who can handle him day in and day out. Adam's great. I like Adam a lot. He's a good offensive lineman.
"When it comes to blocking, Adam gets the job done."
Media: If an offense can run a half a dozen successful options a game, what does that do to the defense?
Brandon Spoon: "That settles the defense down, because if you've got an offense that is varied and has a lot of weapons, you can't go blitzing all the time, because you're afraid of getting burned.
"If you can get an offense one-dimensional, that's when the defense takes control."
Media: Kitwana Jones moved over to linebacker this week. What are your impressions of him?
Brandon Spoon: "He's only practiced with us once, because he's been in orientation. I do think he can be good. He's small, but he's really fast.
"All through two-a-days, he's been hanging around the linebacker room, telling Coach Rucker he wants to play linebacker.
"He's really happy. I think he's going to be a big addition to the defense, because he's got the speed and the playmaking ability. It's a matter of working with Coach Rucker and learning the defense."
Media: Is he playing behind you?
Brandon Spoon: "No, he's the outside linebacker. My backup is Robert Harris. He was running with the ones last spring when I wasn't practicing."
Media: Do you think you'll be flying around out there, or do you think you'll be tentative?
Brandon Spoon: "I'll be fine out there. I've always been flying around out there. I'm not going to stop just because I got hurt."
