University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points Thursday
August 30, 2001 | Football
Aug. 30, 2001
By Lee Pace
As the John Bunting Era approaches Game Two, a couple of Tar Heels have emerged as being perfect for the kind of qualities embodied by Bunting, the Tar Heel linebacker from 1969-71.
One is David Thornton, he's a great fit for a Bunting team because of his smarts.
The other is Brandon Russell, who unselfishly moved from tailback to receiver because he hoped it would help the team.
Thornton is a former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship last spring, and he proved his mettle by leading the Tar Heels in tackles Saturday at Oklahoma. Thornton, an outside linebacker, had 15 tackles, four of them for losses, in a respectable defensive showing for Carolina.
One factor to Thornton's excellent game was his ability to pick up on clues doled out by tailback Quentin Griffin as the Sooners lined up for the snap. With direction from linebackers coach Dave Huxtable during the off-season, Thornton studied tapes of Oklahoma's win over Florida State in the Orange Bowl and over Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship.
He noticed that Griffin frequently baited the defense prior to the snap. Griffin would swivel his head slightly from left to right, as if trying to gauge who on defense was going to blitz, and sometimes he would point to a defender, as if signaling to a teammate the player he would pick up in pass protection.
"He was trying to throw you off like, `It's a pass, I'm blocking that guy,'" says Thornton. "Then it would be a running play to him. Every time he did that, you could count on him getting the ball."
Thornton read Griffin's key on the Sooners' first play from scrimmage, at the Tar Heel 13 yard-line after an early fumble.
"I knew it was going to be an inside draw. I broke on the snap and he got the ball," says Thornton, who stopped Griffin for a two-yard loss.
Bunting first learned to study game film while at Carolina under the tutelage of linebackers coach Ron DeMelfi. He often took film and a projector home to his tiny apartment in Victory Village, a since-demolished housing project off Manning Drive. Bunting's coaches and teammates with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL credit his well-respected ability to dissect game film as a key to him having an 11-year NFL career.
"There's a lot you can learn studying film," says Thornton. "The linebackers watch it together every day, and I take tapes home and watch at least 30 minutes before bed every night."
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On the other side of the football, Russell led the Tar Heels in rushing in 2000 as a freshman with 508 yards on 145 carries. He missed spring football while playing baseball, hitting .206 and playing in 44 games as an outfielder. He showed solid pass-catching skills as a tailback last fall as well as the ability to make tacklers miss him in the open field, his downside as a tailback is his lack of power. Thus the decision by Bunting and the offensive staff to see if Russell would be receptive to a move to wide receiver.
"I wasn't too sure about it at first, but coach Bunting said it would help the team," Russell says. "If that's the case, then fine, I was happy to make the move. Whatever is best for the team is best for me."
Bunting frequently references the team aspect of football and talks about how it's more of a true team sport than other games which can allow individuals to shine over the team framework.
"This game isn't about individuals to coach Bunting," says Russell. "It's about the team."
Russell is also a starter on four kick teams--punt and punt return, kick-off and kick-off return. He has the quickness and tenacity that he hopes will result in getting his hands on a punt sometime soon just as it leaves the foot of an opposing punter.
"I really want to block a punt," Russell says. "I'm working hard on it. I almost got one Tuesday in practice. You have to be fast and quick off the ball. Being able to anticipate the snap is important. Then you have to turn your shoulders and angle your body to get best approach to the punter. It's not as easy as it looks. The natural reaction is to close your eyes when you dive to block it, but it's almost impossible to block one with your eyes closed. You've got to see the ball hit your hands. I'm working on it really hard. I hope it pays off."
Several TarHeelBlue.com readers want to know about potential playing time for freshmen. Lloyd White of Maysville, Ky., wonders with the lack of offensive punch at Oklahoma, perhaps there might be holes to fill on that side of the ball. Mr. White is no doubt particularly interested in the prospect of hometown product Harry Lewis seeing playing time.
Only one true freshman played at Oklahoma, that being defensive end Jocques Dumas, who was in for 12 snaps. Bunting has indicated that defensive back Chris Curry is likely to play as well.
Lewis was recruited as a quarterback and wide receiver and it appears he'll play wide receiver. He's currently run some snaps in practice with the second team in the Tar Heels' multi-receiver personnel groups. But as long as Kory Bailey, Bosley Allen, Sam Aiken, Chesley Borders, Brandon Russell, Danny Davis and Isiah Robinson remain healthy, there's probably too much climbing for Lewis this season.
Jacque Lewis is No. 4 at tailback behind Willie Parker, Andr? Williams and Michael Harris.
You never want a true freshman playing quarterback, offensive line or tight end, so it's not likely any will make an impact on offense this fall.
Tim Williams of Chapel Hill has a very perceptive question about perceptions. He writes:"I thought it was very interesting reading the comments this week after the Oklahoma game. Many were very positive and seemed to be focusing on the positive aspects of the loss. No remarks about the turnovers being a lack of preparation and coaching as in the past. It made me wonder what they would have been like if our last coach were still here. Isn't it funny how attitudes have changed ... or have they? Do you feel that the Maryland game could be the biggest game of the season for Carolina and coach Bunting? What do those comments look like next week if Carolina returns 0-2?"
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I've noticed the very same things. I'm glad for John Bunting that Tar Heel fans are on his bandwagon so far, and deservedly so. But I absolutely believe that once much of the Carolina fan base turned on former head coach Carl Torbush, those very same errors in another game would have been angrily attributed to poor coaching.
The fact is that the previous staff and this one as well commit large amounts of practice time to helping ball-carriers and quarterbacks focus on protecting the ball. Sometimes, however, the preparation goes for naught given the emotion and pressure of the game and the ability of the opposing team. But I have no doubt that if Ronald Curry had thrown that second-quarter pass for an interception and touchdown two years ago that he threw Saturday, the blame would have gone to offensive coordinator Steve Marshall for a bad play call. Now that Curry's a senior, no one is cutting him any slack.
The Maryland game is HUGE compared to the Oklahoma game. The Oklahoma game was an exhibition--pure and simple. This Saturday's is for real. We'll see afterward how much longer the Bunting honeymoon lasts. I do think he gets a pretty soft landing no matter what happens this year because people appreciate that he's a Carolina guy himself, that he's essentially an old-school, no-frills ball coach, and that he's renewing the emphasis on conditioning and toughness in the program.
Speaking of Ronald Curry, a number of Tar Heel fans want to know how long Bunting will stick with him against Maryland and offer that Curry should already be playing another position.
Bunting is the fifth Tar Heel football coach I've followed in a journalism career that began with the Bill Dooley era in the mid-1970s. Bunting is easily the best at handling tough questions like these from the media. He answers them straight on, eschews clich?s, doesn't take them personally and gives the media a reasonable amount of insight into his thinking.
He took on essentially this very question Tuesday at his weekly news conference. He said that he has indeed talked to Curry about the possibility of a position switch, but so far only as it applies to a professional career. For now, Bunting says, Curry is his man at quarterback. That's as it should be. The Tar Heels have played only one game. If Curry continues to struggle, then it's another issue.
"We are going to start Ronald in this game against Maryland, and we intend for him to play the entire game unless circumstances arise that we then make another decision," Bunting said. "Those circumstances are if the game gets out of hand one way or the other, if the game is not going well in protection of the quarterback, and third, if Ronald gets off to a very, very poor start, has a hard time handling it, then we'll consider making a change. I don't expect that to happen. I expect Ronald to be much, much more like Ronald. Therefore I don't expect to have Darian Durant play. That's my expectation."
You cannot ask for a more direct approach than that.
Jim Nichols of Ocean City, Md., writes, "I have always wondered about the logistics behind the Tar Heels on the road. Are managers sent in advance? What part does the host school play? Are red-shirt players allowed to travel? Are players given a per-diem? Will our transfers
(Blizzard, etc.) be allowed to travel? Etc."
Coincidentally, I addressed one aspect of that issue--how is the traveling squad determined--in last week's Extra Points Thursday column.
A team can take as many players as it wants, but with the 85-scholarship rule, there are only so many players on any given roster that will be healthy enough, have the eligibility and/or be talented enough to help on any given Saturday. The Tar Heels travel with 70 players. Generally, freshmen, walk-ons and transfers--players who aren't scheduled to play this season--do not travel. Blizzard is not expected to play this season because he was a pass receiver at Kentucky and here the tight end is expected to block, he's not yet strong enough to handle the assignment and has a lot of work to do in the weight room.
The Tar Heels fly within the ACC to Maryland, Clemson, Georgia Tech and Florida State. They bus to Wake Forest, Duke and N.C. State. For trips to Virginia, they've traveled some years by plane and some by bus. Charlottesville is about a three-and-a-half-hour bus ride, and by the time you bus to Raleigh-Durham International, unload the buses, board the plane, fly, deplane and get on buses and drive to the hotel, you haven't saved much time.
Rick Steinbacher, director of football operations, handles Carolina's team travel. Each spring he'll visit the game sites for the Tar Heels' away games to make hotel, dining and ground transportation arrangements. He works with Delta Airlines on the air travel, designating either a 757 jet with 182 seats or a 727 with 148 for each trip. The Tar Heels stay exclusively at Marriott properties, unless there's not one in vicinity of the game.
This weekend for its trip to Maryland, the team will take the smaller plane. In addition to the 70 players, the travel party will include athletic director Dick Baddour and three of his associates, 10 coaches, two graduate assistants and two football administrators, three strength and conditioning coaches, 14 doctors and trainers, 11 managers, seven video technicians, five academic staffers, 14 cheerleaders, four members of the sports information staff, six on the broadcast crew of Tar Heel Sports Marketing, and two members of the UNC athletic ticket office staff. There is also a member of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol that travels with the team. It's customary that the head coach's wife travels with the official party on all trips. Most schools designate one away game as the "wives' trip," allowing all the coaches' wives to travel on the team charter. That game this year is next week's trip to Texas.
For most trips, two managers will drive a truck to the game site with all of the equipment, arriving on Thursday and having Friday to set up the visitors' dressing room. But for extremely long trips, such as the ones to Oklahoma and Texas, the equipment is flown out a day early by air freight. The players don't have to handle any equipment for travel.
Steinbacher says the custom for years, including his playing days as a Tar Heel from 1990-93, was to feed the team lavishly on the road--in essence, sparing no calorie or fat gram on the plane trip to the game site and the Friday night meal. First-year strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors has changed the team diet significantly, however. No longer, for example, are candy bars and sugar-rich ice-cream bars handed out en masse on the plane. Instead of prime rib and fried chicken on Friday night, the players eat low-fat white-meat turkey, chicken breast and flank steak. Instead of steak and lasagna for pre-game meals, they eat more of the same high-protein, low-fat fare. All of the players' eating needs are accounted for, thus there's no per diem. They have a bagged lunch waiting in their seat on the airplane on Friday, they eat dinner as a team and have a late-night snack. On Saturday, breakfast and/or a pre-game meal is eaten at the hotel, depending on game time. A pizza or submarine sandwich is waiting for each player after the game, and more food is available on the return plane trip. Sometimes it might be a bagged supper or a full meal, depending on the length of the flight.
For Friday night entertainment, the custom for years was to bus the entire team to a local theater on Friday night to watch a movie. But with all Marriotts having in-room movie systems today, two hours are blocked off Friday night for the players to watch a movie in their room.
It's all very structured and planned down to the minute. Sometimes, however, circumstances beyond the team's control intervene, such as the thunderstorms hitting Oklahoma late last Saturday night that delayed the team's return. The travel party waited for more than two hours in the Oklahoma City airport early Sunday morning. It was strange indeed finally getting airborne and eating a meal of shrimp cocktail, rib-eye steak and apple pie at 4 o'clock in the morning.
Send your questions to Lee Pace to answer in Extra Points Thursday at leepace@earthlink.net. Please provide your name and tell us where you live.
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