University of North Carolina Athletics
Coach Tenuta On The Defense: Part I
July 25, 2001 | Football
July 25, 2001
By: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue: Would you give us a position-by-position look at the defense?
Coach Tenuta: "I'll start with the defensive ends.
"Obviously, Julius Peppers is an outstanding player, an outstanding athlete. We didn't have him in the spring, but we've seen enough film to know what he can do. He's been working hard this summer. He'll be an outstanding player for us.
"I'm excited about just having the opportunity to be out there on the field with him at practice. I'm excited about seeing all the different things he can do. I mean 15 sacks a year ago, he's a player.
"He's raw in some aspects, but I'm real excited about his potential.
"Joey Evans is a good football player. He plays hard, he practiced very well in the spring. He showed me a lot of good things.
"I think we have two outstanding defensive ends.
"Jermicus Banks and Issac Mooring are both young. When you're young you don't get as much playing time, then you go into spring practice and you've got to shine. They both showed sparks here and there at different practices.
"One of those guys has got to be the true backup to either side, then hopefully the other guy will come along. We'll see how those guys progress. They've got to step up.
"I think at inside Ryan Sims is a good football player. He does a lot of good things. Rod (Broadway) does a great job. He's coached a lot of guys who've gone on the next level. I think Sims, under Rod's tutelage, will progress and be another one of those players.
"He's got a lot of tools. He's tough against the run, he can rush the passer. I'm very impressed with him.
"Will Chapman will probably be our nose tackle. He's an athlete, and his motor is 110% on every snap. He can really run, he can make plays. I'm excited about him. He's got great athleticism.
"Every thing he does is at full tilt. He's such a competitor, he's never going to go at less than 110%. That's just the way he is.
"I think Eric Davis did a great job during the spring. He was inside at the nose tackle the majority of the spring. He worked and got better.
"He's a little bit older. When your time in history comes, you've got to produce.
"Jonas Seawright is a big man who's got a lot of tools. Both mentally and physically, he's just now getting there. I'm sure Rod will do a good job and get him where he needs to be. There's a guy who I look for big things from down the road.
"At linebacker, Quincy Monk is a guy who played at both Mike and Will during the spring. He's going to be the Mike linebacker going into fall camp.
"He's a very smart player who can play the game from the neck up. He's tough, he can cover ground, he can run from sideline to sideline. That's the type of guy I want in the middle. I want the smart guy, the tough guy, in the middle where he can take control of things.
"At Sam linebacker, we hope Merceda Perry comes back and is healthy, because he's a physical specimen. He can run, he's big with long arms.
"He's worked very hard this summer. They took that screw out right during the middle of spring ball. I'm excited to see exactly what he can do. When you watch film of him from two years ago you can see that he's got a lot of ability.
"Time will tell about Merceda, both mentally and physically. The onus goes back to the player. You know you're going to have pain, and you've got to work through it. I think he's done a pretty good job of it this summer. I look for big things out of him.
"David Thorton is the guy who to me did a heck of a job for us during the spring. I think he played outstanding. He's a very smart player. He may not have as much lead in his pencil as some other guys, but he can run, cover ground, he's a good tackler, he can play over tight end. We can play him at either the Sam or the Will position. It helps us to have a guy like him in our linebacker pool.
"Thinking of the younger guys, Robert Harris, Clarence Gaddy, Devllen Bullard, I'm excited about those guys in terms of what they did in the spring. Just watching them in nine on seven, watching them in seven on seven. I think all three of those players have a chance to be good players for us.
"We've got some pretty good freshmen coming in at linebacker. We'll see. A lot of people think there's a weak aspect there, but I think we're fine at linebacker, to be honest with you.
"In the secondary the guy who will be the cover corner, the guy who will have to cover the better receiver, will be Michael Waddell. He had an outstanding spring for me. He has a lot of tools. Everybody talks about his speed, but there's more than speed to the game, though it really does help you.
"He really got a lot better in his cover ability and playing the football. I look for big things out of him.
"At the other corner you've got Errol Hood. He had some issues before spring ball that took away from his mindset, but I think that once the first week went by in spring ball he got back into the groove.
"He doesn't have tremendous speed, but he does have good speed. He needs to be more of a technician. That's something he worked on a lot during the spring to be a good corner.
"Any time you have a guy who has been in combat and has played, they understand a little faster what happens. I think once that first week went by, he got more comfortable in a system that's a little bit different than he's played in in the past.
"With Kevin Knight and Derrick Johnson, there's two guys who, if people put four wide receivers on the field, you have a chance to have a nickle and a dime that are good players and good cover guys. Knight has tremendous speed, and Johnson has very quick feet, plus Derrick has good reaction and good vision.
"Those two guys are going to push Hood and Waddell. But you have four guys who you know you go out there and you have a chance to play some man coverage. Plus, they're not bad zone players. You can do some things with them.
"That helps you when offenses get multiple on you. I feel comfortable with those four guys.
"At the safety position, a guy who has a lot of ability and is tough as nails, and who I really like the way he practices and plays the game, is Dexter Reid. Dexter is a football player.
"I've moved him to free safety because of what he can do. I like his mentality and the way he goes to practice. Football is big to him, and he studies it. I enjoy being around him.
"The guy who I think understands the game better than anybody on our defense, besides Quincy Monk, is Billy-Dee Greenwood. Billy-Dee is a guy who has clearly had his ups and downs, but I judge everything on what he's done for me. I don't judge things that happened in the past. Sure, I study film and see what happened, and there was some good and there was some bad.
"But, his leadership and his understanding of the game keeps those guys calm, right where I want them to be. He's a little bit ahead of the game than all those other guys as far as understanding the game.
"I thought he was very steady in the spring. He made some checks and did some things that guys who have been around me may have taken two years to learn, and he did it in about twenty minutes. I'm not kidding.
"That's the plus that he has. Now, obviously we've had to work on his tackling. He did get better with it in the spring. I think that's something a lot of people held against him.
"DeFonte Coleman is a physically good looking kid. He banged his shoulder up and didn't get to practice as much as I would have liked. He's a guy who I want to see a lot more of in summer ball. He's got a lot of ability. He's going to try and get in that fray and get a job back that he had a year ago.
"Then you've got Marcus Jones and Justin Browne and some guys who got a lot of reps in the spring. They're going to try and get their minds right and get themselves out there and make every rep count and try to get into the fray. We'll see who can step up and earn some playing time.
"I'm excited about that. You know, you're excited about the freshmen who will be coming in, but these are the guys you've been in spring ball with, these are the guys you've got to start with. Hopefully, some of those freshmen can work themselves into a number two spot, but the game's a lot faster than what they're used to."
Look for Part II on Thursday, July 26.
