University of North Carolina Athletics
Fullback Still Part of Tar Heel Attack
September 1, 2000 | General
Sept. 1, 2000
Are fullbacks going the way of parking spaces on Franklin Street?
Slowly disappearing, until the positions will all but be extinct?
It might seem that way to fans watching college games across the country as more teams seemingly run their base offenses with a one-back attack, featuring three or four wide receivers.
However, this is only an illusion. The fullback is still a key part of most offensive schemes. However, because teams are now running more multiple sets in an attempt to confuse defenses, the fullback may not be as noticeable as he once was.
Plus, the role of the fullback has changed somewhat in the last few years. That has certainly been the case at Carolina where Anthony Saunders and Ronnie Robinson are scheduled to split time at that spot this fall.
For much of the past three decades Tar Heel fullbacks had one major responsibility--be the lead blocker for a dynamic group of tailbacks who have rushed for at least 1,000 yards on 24 occasions.
From Saulis Zemaitis in 1969 to players like Geof Hamlin, Tim Kirkpatrick, Dickie Oliver, Billy Johnson, Bob Loomis, Doug Paschal, Alan Burrus, James Jones, Brad Lopp, Eddie Colson, James Thompson, Michael Benefield, Mike Faulkerson, William Henderson, Malcolm Marshall, Chris Watson and Deon Dyer, Carolina fullbacks have wiped out more linebackers and defensive ends than Chapel Hill has done to parking spots around town.
Well-- almost as many, anyway.
Most were also inside running threats themselves and kept defenses from completely keying on the tailback every play. Oliver, Johnson, Paschal, Burrus, Lopp, Colson, Henderson, Marshall and Dyer were especially dangerous with the football in their hands and some even played tailback on occasion.
But, with the sophisticated defenses of today, teams can no longer just line up in the I-formation on every play and simply give the ball to the tailback as much as they have in the past.
Defensive teams are too well-coached and have too many good athletes for that. Carolina, like almost everyone else in America, is trying to get more balance in its offense between the run and pass and thus keep opposing defenses guessing more.
"In the past Carolina fullbacks had to be blockers, first and foremost," says Darrell Moody, who coaches the Tar Heel running backs. "Then, they also needed to be good runners to take some pressure off the tailback.
"Now a fullback first has to be a great blocker, second a great receiver and third a great runner. Because of our offense, the fullback has to be able to catch the ball for us to be successful. It's harder to find backs who can combine excellent blocking skills and receiving ability."
In the past, only Paschal, Colson and Thompson have had at least 20 catches from the fullback spot. However, Loomis was an excellent receiver and, in fact, was shifted to tight end in 1978 where he had a team-high 31 catches.
"Because great fullbacks are so difficult to find, people are doing different things offensively," says Moody. "They're incorporating the tailback with two tight ends and having the second tight end taking on the role of the fullback.
"We're fortunate to have two exceptional tight ends (Alge Crumpler and Dauntae' Finger). We can use such a one-back set much easier because of that. You really let your personnel dictate what you're going to do.
"Depending on the game situation, we also might want to get into a four wide-receiver set on occasion and that could take our fullback out of the game."
Finding the type of player Moody wants in a fullback isn't easy. Usually, the best running back on a high school team is put at tailback and it's tough for coaches to evaluate his blocking skills as much as they would like. If a player is a great back, he generally would rather be running with the ball than blocking for someone else.
"We recruited William Henderson, Chris Watson and Deon Dyer as fullbacks," says Moody. "Malcolm Marshall was a wing-T fullback in high school. I'm sure Coach (Bill) Dooley's staff recruited Billy Johnson as a fullback and Coach (Dick) Crum did the same with James Thompson."
The majority of the other recent Tar Heel fullbacks were high school tailbacks. Today some linebackers, who may have doubled as fullbacks in high school, end up getting shifted to that spot in college. A tight end would also have the skills that college coaches want most in their fullbacks.
"What generally happens is everybody recruits tailbacks," says Moody. "Some of those players end up getting shifted to fullback when they get on campus. They may not have the speed needed by a tailback or they might gain the weight and strength that a fullback needs or perhaps they possess the blocking ability and good hands that this spot requires."
Moody says the position isn't disappearing, but that fullbacks are just being used differently. Plus, with all the multiple offensive sets, the fullback isn't on the field on every snap as he once was.
"It's interesting," he says, "that when William Henderson became a free agent a couple of years ago, he was surprised there wasn't a great deal of interest in him by other teams. He had just finished a couple of great seasons with the Packers, but other NFL teams don't use the fullback as much as Green Bay. So he ended up re-signing with the Packers."
The fullback still figures very much in Carolina's offensive scheme.
"We want to run the football," says Moody. "You have to be able run the ball to have a chance to win. Our fullbacks are going to play. Game situations will be a factor in how much.
"We're not ditching the I-formation. There's been too much success with that here. We may also go to split backs on occasion, but the fullback's responsibilities are going to be the same. We want him to be able to block and be a target in our passing game."
Over the last couple of years Carolina tailbacks had been plagued by an assortment of injuries which have not allowed the type of running game to develop that the Tar Heels must have. But, with more depth there this fall and some talented young players pushing for playing time, hopefully that will change and make the lead-blocking fullback a more visible part of the offense.
