University of North Carolina Athletics
A Conversation With John Bunting: Part IV
January 3, 2001 | Football
y: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue: Are you looking forward to getting out and recruiting, selling the University of North Carolina?
Coach Bunting: "Growing up, my Dad and my older brother had a tremendous impact on me. A 4th-grade friend that is still my best friend, he's an artist in New York, those three people had tremendous impacts on me in different ways, but nothing has impacted me like the University of North Carolina.
"I can sell this place. I love this place. I think this is the greatest place to go to school. To sell the University of North Carolina is an easy sell for me. It's something I'll enjoy doing. It's something I'll do with all the enthusiasm and joy and gusto in my body.
"That's going to be fun, that's going to be easy, and it's going to be intense. That's the only way I know how to do things. When I like doing it, I'm going to do it in an intense way. So, I really do look forward to doing it.
"Now, I haven't been in anybody's house yet, but I've been on the phone a lot. We've had some recruits up last weekend, and we're having some more up later. I'm looking forward to it.
"Once again, it's going to come back to one thing. Why am I here, why am I doing this? Why did I leave pro football where I was enjoying some success?
"It's simple. It's the place I want to be. This is the school I want to sell. You're going to love it here. Give me a chance to show you this place. Give me a chance to show you what our program's all about. You're going to want to be here, you're going to want to be a part of the experience that I had. It's going to be the same. It's going to be equal to or better now, because of the people that are here.
"I mean the Academic Support staff, the medical people, the trainers, the equipment managers, they're great people. They have as much pride as I do in doing the right thing and making the right choices. We're all a team. We're all in this together.
"That's why I have enjoyed success. It's not just because of me. It's because I was a team player and liked being a part of the team. ut, I've always enjoyed playing a leadership role in that team. I don't want to be just a role player, I want to be a leader.
"So, I hope that in my own small way, I can lead this part of the University."
TarHeelBlue: Do you look forward to following all the other sports at Carolina?
Coach Bunting: "No question about it. My wife and I are competitors. She's a basketball coach, she's a softball coach, she loves competition. Yes, we'll be at the games. We followed Willie Scroggs to the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament years ago.
"Once again, I felt special. I loved watching those guys, because they're special. They have a lot of pride in a place like this. So do I.
"I'm really, really looking forward to following all the other teams here at Carolina."
TarHeelBlue: Has it sunk in yet? Has it really sunk in that you're the head football coach at The University of North Carolina?
Coach Bunting: "Nope. Something happens every day where I realize it hasn't sunk in. I'll go, 'Oh, wow.'
"It happened yesterday when I was leaving with a couple of coaches that we had in to visit with us. As we were walking out the door, it was just starting to get dark. You know, I always loved North Carolina because we have a true fall, and I smelled what I used to smell when I was here.
"When I would walk over from Ehringhaus Dorm to Franklin Street, when you walked at night, you could smell it. It was a distinct smell, the leaves, the pine trees. It was a little cold last night, and I went 'Wow, this takes me back thirty years.'
"And here I am taking two coaches out the the airport who had just visited with me. I'm the head coach. What a responsibility, what a great feeling to be back home again, doing what I want to do.
"Something like that happens on a daily basis. Anytime that curtain's open, and I look out there, I get that special feeling.
"People that I'm running into are excited about a Carolina guy coming home. They're fired up about that, I'm fired up about that. I think it's exciting for all of us.
"I really believe that we'll do the right things and make the right choices to make this thing work. We never leave here the night before without a plan for the next day. We have not left one single night where we didn't have the entire next day planned out.
"We're making long-range plans for spring practice. We're going to tinker with it a little bit, because we've got two players involved in basketball. We don't leave at 11:00 or 12:00 at night without a plan for the next day.
"It's so important that we do things as well as we possibly can. Don't let anything go by, don't miss a detail here at the start, because it may affect us down the road.
"Right now I'm not looking past anything beyond the opener against Maryland. That's what we've got our sights set on. That's our target right there."
TarHeelBlue: You looked like you enjoyed walking through the student section at the basketball game the other day. Do you look forward to interacting with members of the general student body, not just the football players?
Coach Bunting: "Yes, I do. I did when I coached before at Rowan College. I'd go to the cafeteria and hang out with the people there.
"One of my former players came down last weekend. He knew he couldn't get me over the phone, so he just came down. He goes 'Make sure that you still have the players do their costumes on Halloween.' We used to do that. I like to have a little fun with these guys. We dressed up and went around campus in our Halloween outfits.
"I want these guys to have fun here. They're going to work hard, and they're going to learn how to win, but I want them to have fun, too. So, yes, I do look forward to mingling with the students.
"I look forward to when I can get out of this office and start to go up on campus some. I want the players involved with everything on campus, because I think it's important for their growth. That's the personal development part of our program. I want this to be the best experience they've ever had in their life. Part of that is getting involved with campus, so if they're going to get involved, I'm going to get involved.
"I also want to say this to the fans in general. I want to help deliver a program that they're proud of, a program that they enjoy being a part of. They're part of it, too. I think that success on the field will bring success off the field, to a point that they'll have an extra special feeling about what we're doing.
"They are going to share in that. I want to unite the Carolina family. I want them to feel real good about what we're doing with this program. I won't be able to please everybody. There'll be times when they're going to be mad.
"But, they're going to know up front that we're doing everything possible to do the right things for the players that are here, and the right things to bring the program back to the tradition that was established when Jimmy Webster and I played here in 1971.
"One game at a time, one play at a time, sixty minutes."
Part I - Wednesday, Dec. 27: Bunting on his preferred style of offense and defense, as well as a look at how he will delegate the responsibility for coaching the special teams.
Part II - Friday, Dec. 29: A look at the Tar Heels' biggest challenge, plus more.
Part III - Monday, Jan. 1: A look at the hiring process, plus the impact that other coaches have had on him.
