University of North Carolina Athletics
Coach Caldwell On The Offensive Line
September 26, 2000 | Football
TarHeelBlue.com
TarHeelBlue: Could you go down the two-deep chart and comment on each of your players?
Coach Caldwell: "Louis Marchetti is doing real well. Mentally he's done a good job for us, knowing what to do. He's got to improve his footwork, and I'd like to see him become a little more physical.
"Right now it's more footwork and body position, but he's doing a good job for us.
"Greg Woofter has been doing a fantastic job for a freshman. The only thing he's lacking is experience.
"He got hurt last week and didn't get to play much the second half because his neck's stiff, so that held him back a little bit.
"Cam Holland is our spiritual leader. He really helps to get us excited. I hope he can learn how to use his hands better.
"Jupiter Wilson is hurt by a lack of experience, but he's above where I actually hoped he would be. He's got to learn more about the system. He's got to continue improving at the rate he has been. He's doing real well.
"Adam Metts has been one of most consistent players up until last week, when he had kind of a tough go of things with several mental errors that kind of hurt us a little bit.
"He never suffers from lack of effort. He's always full speed in the game, a very physical player.
"Marcus Wilson is way ahead of the game, even though he hasn't played a great deal. Part of the reason is that he's a freshman, plus a lot of people don't know that he's never played center before. He's actually done extremely well.
"Isaac Morford has been steady. I hope to continue to bring him along and get him more physical. He's very smart and knows the system as well as anybody. He kind of directs traffic out there. I've been very pleased with that.
"I've actually moved Riko Feemster up now, he's the backup guard for Isaac. That's an adjustment from being a tackle. He's really coming along. I've been very pleased with his progress.
"David Stevenson had been there, but David let his weight get up and got too heavy. I had planned to move Riko there next spring anyway, because I think he's a better inside player than a tackle.
"Everyone knows James Wagstaff has made a lot of improvement over where he's been in the past. He continues to be a very steady performer for us.
"I've got to get him to continue to lose weight, not just for us, but for his future on down the road. He's done a great job getting to this point, but like all of us who lose a lot of weight, it's tough to keep it down.
"He's a very intelligent player who knows our system well.
"Bryant Malloy has been making a comeback after undergoing knee surgery. It's taken him awhile to get back into the fold. Part of his problem has just been knowing the system. He's got to show us in practice what he can do, both mentally and physically.
"You probably noticed after practice how his knee hurts him running. Hopefully, we'll get more and more playing time out of him, particularly with Greg hurt this week. We need for Bryant to step up and give him some help.
"You might see Louis and James playing both sides, because right now we've only got three tackles with Greg out. Hopefully, by the end of the week, Greg will be better and able to get back in there. We need him for Saturday.
"What I'd like to see is more play out of our younger guys, but they've got to earn that in practice. They've got to be ready at all times.
"Right now we're a little bit hesitant with our younger guys. When you don't know the system real well, it causes you to be less physical. You've got to be able to relax to play well."
TarHeelBlue: How do you feel about the unit as a whole?
Coach Caldwell: "I love this group. They've worked hard and haven't backed off from anything we've asked them to do. They're a very special group in my heart.
"You know, everybody talks about us in the past, but I remind them it's not the past any more, it's the present and the future.
"We've got to continue to earn respect each week. I was so proud of them Saturday night, particularly on that last drive. However, not taking anything away from that drive, they've seen on film that there were things we could have done better in that drive.
"That was a very special drive. When the game's on the line and you've got to keep the ball, a seven-minute drive is a very special thing.
"We could probably have scored again at the end, but Coach Torbush and Coach O'Cain had it calculated down to the second. We knew exactly what we had to do, but we really got scared when we fumbled that snap.
"What happened is that Adam snapped a wet ball. He never should have done that, he should have asked for a dry ball. But that comes with experience. He was sweaty and the ball was wet.
"You could tell by the fire in their eyes that they were excited. Of course I was just going crazy inside. I was so proud of them.
"When we broke down the film, I told them to be proud of what they did, but that we have to be very critical when we break down film. We made some mental mistakes, we could have done a lot better.
"We did move the ball up and down the field well, particularly in the second half, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. They never got discouraged, they knew it was just a matter of time, and they hung together. They know there's going to be days like that.
"We improved in all phases of the game last week. My hat's off to Marshall, they're a good football team."
TarHeelBlue: Did conditioning play a role in that last drive?
Coach Caldwell: "I really think so. It was a very humid night. I felt we were really strong at the end.
"Right now is a very critical time for offensive linemen. When the weather cools, if you're not careful, you'll start putting that winter coat on too early. As you saw at the end of practice today, I want to really work on their conditioning so that we can keep that edge.
"If we get our tails beat, hopefully it won't be because we're not in shape."
TarHeelBlue: You look good in Carolina blue.
Coach Caldwell: "I'll tell you, I love it. I'm having a great time. What wonderful people we've got on our coaching staff.
"The people here at the University of North Carolina are just fantastic.
"I'm just so thrilled. I just hope we can win some games for our fans. They're very supportive.
"I've gotten a lot of calls this week from some of our former offensive linemen, talking about the beauty of that last drive. I really appreciate them taking the time to do so, not for me, but for the kids.
"A couple of ladies who were at our clinic for ladies, where I tried to educate them on offensive line play, have also written notes to the offensive linemen.
"Who knows what the future holds. We may get our heads knocked off, but we're going to go out there swinging and trying, trying to get after it."
Players Mentioned
