University of North Carolina Athletics
A Q&A With Coach Jim Webster: Part I
December 5, 2001 | Football
By: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue: What lesssons have the players learned this season?
Coach Webster: "You know, it's amazing, but you don't know what certain games mean at the time you play them. You just never know, so the guys have to make the play every game.
"I was talking to one of my players the other day, and I said let me expose you to two points. One was, did you have any idea when we played Maryland that that was for the ACC championship? If we had won that game, we would have tied for the ACC. You can never take a game off or a play off.
"The other point I made to him was that, out of all the games on our schedule, the one I looked most forward to coaching was the Duke game, not East Carolina, but the Duke game.
"That's the old rivalry. When we played here, it was Duke. That's still my number one rivalry, and I didn't get a chance to coach in that game.
"The point I was making to him was that you've got to take every play as if it is for the world championship, or as if tomorrow's not going to come. You just never know. You've got to enjoy every day.
"One game represents about one month of work, so you've got to put everything you've got into it. How can you not be motivated?
"It's got to be special to you, whether you're playing SMU or Texas or Wake Forest. Every game's got to be special because you never know the value of that game down the road.
"I think the great thing about this season, and I try to find something positive in everything, is that there were so many lessons learned this year, lessons that we can use for the rest of the time we're here developing this program.
"Ten years from now you'll be able to look back at something that happened this season that can be a motivating or a teaching factor. We've learned in one season lessons that sometimes take other teams three or four years to learn. Plus, the good part about it is even though they say you learn most lessons through losing, we still came out with a positive finish."
TarHeelBlue: Did those things you pointed out make a difference late in the season?
Coach Webster: "Yes. I really believe we won the SMU game because of the lessons we learned against Wake Forest. That game (SMU) had an eerie feeling to it. It had the Wake Forest feeling all over again.
"We didn't have a big lead, it was just 7-0. But we come out for the second half and boom, we fumble, they score, and it's tied up 7-7. I'm sure there were people in the stands going, 'Hmmmmm, Wake Forest all over again.' But, because we had gone through it against Wake, we realized that once that slide starts, it's hard to get things going again.
"Our players realized that we couldn't let this thing start sliding downhill. We had to get it turned around and regain momentum. You saw the lesson we learned against Wake Forest yesterday against SMU.
"We were able to apply a lesson we learned in the same season. We thought the Wake Forest game may have knocked us out of the Peach Bowl. Well, the SMU game got us back in it.
"It was a season of learning to never quit. We started out 0-3 and it would have been easy to lay down and quit, but the kids never did that. They kept fighting."
TarHeelBlue: What did you learn by playing Georgia Tech?
Coach Webster: "I think we learned that we've got to be able to handle the spotlight. If you're going to play big-time football, if you're going to have a top program, you're going to be in the spotlight where you're on national TV and you're the only game in town.
"When you're in that spotlight game, you've got to perform. You've got to stop them on third down, you've got to get the first down on third down when you're on offense. Bottom line, you've got to win in their backyard.
"You've got to go into those hostile environments and win those games."
TarHeelBlue: Tell us about the Duke game and your experience that day.
Coach Webster "Even though I wasn't there, the Duke game may have been our toughest one all season. I really do believe that.
"I'm talking about preparing for the game all that week. The preparation for the game, getting started, getting a lead, then finally saying, 'Whew,' when it was over. Even though I was totally out of it that day, I imagine that if I'd been there coaching that game, that's exactly what I would have said when we finally put it away.
"You worry yourself to death because you know that it is Duke and Carolina and anything can happen. On any given day anybody can beat anybody. You just say 'Lord, please don't let it happen today. Don't let it be this day.'
"Duke's going to beat somebody eventually, and what better day to end the streak than against Carolina. Duke's good enough to beat you, they can put some points on the board.
"You're afraid your players will lose the sense of the rivalry you have against Duke. With just a little bit of a letdown and Duke getting more excited because it is the Carolina game, all a sudden a fumble or an interception happens and you can be behind. Then it's like 'Whoa, what's happening here?'
"You worry about things like that happening. It's just not quite the rivalry with the younger guys as it is for me. To me, Duke is still the main rivalry.
"Duke's still number one with me, I still respect the rivalry."
TarHeelBlue: Were you able to listen to that game at all?
Coach Webster: "No, I was totally out of it. It wasn't even a concern with me. I was more interested in saving my life than winning a game."
TarHeelBlue: What exactly happened?
Coach Webster: "I was talking to my guys, making a point, when I put a glass down and it broke and cut my hand. Unfortunately for me, I hit an artery. It was awful. Things started to go downhill in a hurry. It got very scary.
"I'm thankful. I'm very, very thankful. And I love this day, I love the air, I love the view."
TarHeelBlue: Did the accident change you?
Coach Webster: "Yes. I think that when you go through something like that, the recovery is not just physical. Your body will handle the physical part of it. The toughest part of this recovery is both emotional and mental.
"You have things come into your mind that you don't want to think about. What could have been, what could have happened, what almost happened, what did happen. Where you are today, where you could have been today.
"You don't want to think about those things because it can really drag you down a bit. You try to push those things out of your mind. That's the mental battle.
"The emotional part is that the things you love, the things you enjoy doing, the people that you love, those things could have been taken away from you. You think about that. You try to move forward with your thought processes while being very thankful and appreciative for what you do have and what you're able to do.
"I'm also very thankful for all the doctors that were there, including Dr. Taft and Dr. Smith and everyone who helped.
"It does change you, it really does.
"I'm just excited about being alive."
Part II: Friday, Dec. 7:
A thorough discussion of motivation and emotion, two subjects that are very
important to Coach Webster.
Part III: Monday, Dec. 10:
Webster will discuss discipline, his relationship with Julius Peppers, plus
more.
