University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points Q&A
November 1, 2002 | Football
Nov. 1, 2002
By Lee Pace
It's not surprising this week that few Tar Heel fans wrote with specific questions about personnel, plays from last week's game or the various minutiae that sometimes pops into their heads seeking an answer. In the aftermath of the Tar Heels' demoralizing 31-0 loss Saturday at Wake Forest following losses to N.C. State and Virginia, fans are more interested in dissecting the big picture and the overall direction of John Bunting's program at Carolina.
Several readers wondered why the Tar Heels had gotten into a position of having to play so many young players on defense. Following is a list of Carolina's last four recruiting classes and the players who are no longer in the program (not including the current freshman class):
1998 Class (potential fifth-year seniors) - WR Bosley Allen, DB Marco Bryant, DT Eric Davis, DT Brian Norwood, DE Willie Quick, OL Don Peters, OL Isaac Morford, FB Richard Moore, OL Bryant Malloy, QB Luke Huard, WR Leroy Handy.
1999 Class (players who would be fourth-year juniors or true seniors) - LB Ian Alexander, CB Justin Browne, TB Daniel Davis, OL Riko Feemster, WR Jamal Jones, OL Chris Kocaj, CB David Scott, OL David Stevenson, OL Greg Woofter.
2000 Class (third-year sophomores, true juniors) - TB Jason Crawford, P Blake Ferguson, LB Kitwana Jones, QB Aaron Leak, DB JoVon Lewis, DT Isaac Montgomery.
2001 Class (second-year freshmen, true sophomores) - DT Antavis Barrino, DE Ike Emodi, WR Harry Lewis.
That list includes six potential down linemen on defense and seven offensive linemen. The defensive line has been a major problem this year for Carolina, and although the offensive line has improved and played well for the most part, it would be nice to have some of that depth that those seven departed players could have provided. The Heels could really use more depth this week now that starting right tackle Jeb Terry sprained his ankle in practice Tuesday and missed practice Wednesday and Thursday.
For those still not able to grasp the measure of Carolina's personnel problems, perhaps a little comparison with the Heels' outstanding 1997 season might help. That 11-1 team was so good because it had a lot of great, older players. Mack Brown's 1993 signing class included 20 players. Four years later, an amazing 10 of them were still around and starting as fifth-year seniors -- Octavus Barnes, Mike Baxter, Omar Brown, Greg Ellis, Mike Hobgood, Ryan Hoffman, Jon Linton, Kivuusama Mays, Jeff Saturday and Brian Simmons. Two more players were key reserves -- Terry Billups and Nate Hobgood-Chittick. For 60 percent of a signing class to have been red-shirted and had the opportunity to develop over four years, and to have dodged the myriad of academic, injury and personal problems that sidetrack so many careers, is an unheard of figure in college football.
Carolina's 1998 class had two superstars who had great careers and went to the NFL -- Julius Peppers and Ryan Sims. Beyond that, the Heels are being helped by their fifth-year senior class only by Chesley Borders, Zach Hilton and DeFonte Coleman.
That is a major difference.
Here's another stark comparison: The 1997 defense started six seniors, four juniors and one sophomore. Five of the six seniors moved on to the NFL.
Of this year's front seven on defense, six are freshmen or sophomores. The secondary has plenty of experience -- two juniors and two seniors. But so far only one player is showing the skills that might advance him to the NFL (safety Dexter Reid). That 1997 secondary had three future NFL players -- Dre' Bly, Robert Williams and Omar Brown.
The reality is there's nothing to do but sit back and wait as the current Tar Heels mature and grow and as Bunting and staff find more players in recruiting. As I said in Extra Points on Monday, we survived it in 1988-89 and can survive it again. Fortunately, most Tar Heel fans seem to grasp the situation and have pledged their support and patience as Bunting and staff try to dig out from their personnel shortages. A few of their comments follow.
... When I came to UNC as a freshman in 1992, it was common knowledge that you went to football games to socialize, drink, and be seen ...then you eat, sleep and breathe basketball. Those were the teachings of our upperclassmen at that time. My, how Mack Brown changed that in basically one season. Can you imagine a freshman year better than the 1992-93 football and basketball seasons? As a life-long Tar Heel fan, it was beyond my wildest dreams that I would enter Carolina that year and witness the great victories I saw (Brown beating nationally-ranked Georgia Tech at homecoming, winning the Peach Bowl against an SEC team, then watching Dean Smith win his second national championship in basketball). Where could you go from there? But one thing for sure was, I was BOTH a football and basketball die-hard fan from that point on ... hook, line, and sinker ... I really believe Bunting understands what it's going to take to return UNC football to greatness, and I think he has the road-map to get us there. If anything, Chuck Amato's good fortunes down the road and Jim Grobe's instant success at WFU will "sharpen the saw" and make Bunting and staff just that much hungrier to have winning seasons.
Nathan West, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Thanks for a great Extra Points this week. I am a 1982 grad of UNC so I, too, have been around for the lean years of Mack Brown and Carl Torbush. I am really sick and tired of the supposed "fans" who complain and gripe, but never show up at the games. I have good friends with season tickets who bag home football games on a regular basis.
While I long for a return to our "glory" days of the mid-1990s, I am more hopeful for a change in the mindset of so may Carolina fans. Come to the games. Support the teams. Quit being such fair-weather contributors and detractors the rest of the time. Heck, I even scheduled my own wedding five years ago on an open date in football season!
Don Shaw, Greensboro, N.C.
You are so right. This season is eerily similar to 13 years ago. I first started with my season tickets in 1988 and lived through some tough years as did other fans. We did believe in Mack Brown and he did not lie. John Bunting strikes me the same. He will win because he says he will. Like you, I feel he is worth going to war with. Thank you for your optimism and usual interesting insight.
Ray McCraw, Concord, N.C.
... When I'm in Chapel Hill during the summer and see those kids out running their tails off and know they are devoting so many hours to lifting while everyone else is at the beach or home, I cannot in good conscience stay at home on a game day. I like to get there early for the Old Well Walk and "pull a Bunting" ... look 'em in the eye as they head for the game and let 'em know that they're our team and we'll be with 'em whether they're 2-6 or 6-2! I saw Chris Curry's family in a restaurant after the last home game and told them to tell Chris and the others not to quit and not to become discouraged. If I can devote my entire weekend to getting to Chapel Hill for a game from Atlanta, I hope the bandwagon folks and student body can manage to show up and show their support. If nothing else, it shows these kids that we appreciate all the work they do all year long on days other than Saturdays in Kenan.
Perry Collette, Atlanta
I recently read the story of Sam Aiken in Tar Heel Monthly. I wanted to comment that I believe that this kid has his head on straight. My question is that for someone like Sam to give so much to his family and the UNC football program, what are his chances at playing at the next level? Also, I traveled this past weekend to Wake Forest searching for a victory and like others came back empty-handed. I can handle a loss and a defeat but what I cannot handle is when it looked like some of the players had no heart. I love what John Bunting is trying to do at UNC and I wish that if his players could learn one thing from that man, it is the passion that he has for UNC. His passion will bring glory back to UNC.
Randy Finch, Knightdale, N.C.
Sam Aiken is indeed an excellent player and leader on this team. I think he'll be drafted this year and have an excellent shot at playing in the NFL.
More than one fan wrote this week expressing sentiment of the ilk that the Tar Heels gave up in the second half. That's a difficult thing to measure, and it always looks that way late in a losing effort. You're demoralized and tired. The other team's having fun and feeding off all the positive energy. Bunting said Sunday he believed he got a solid effort for 60 minutes. One interesting thing, though, is Bunting said he stood outside the Tar Heel locker room after the game to watch his players walk off the field. He wanted to look in their faces and see what kind of emotion was there.
"It's important for me to know how our players feel," he said. "That's not the first time I've done that. I saw guys who were hurting. I saw guys who care."
I am a diehard fan, class of 1972, living in California ... Do you know why Carolina doesn't do more national recruiting? Wearing my Carolina hat over the course of 25-plus years in California, I have spoken with a number of very good high school athletes (who ended up at schools like USC, UCLA, CAL) who would have been willing to consider Carolina if there was any interest on the school's part. Carolina has a tremendous reputation in California and this state is constantly turning out blue-chip athletes. With the school's nationwide reputation, an effort should be made to expand the recruiting base by at least contacting the top players in every region. If it is determined that they have some interest, the staff could then expend the necessary resources to recruit the kid.
Nick Lampros
 Chris Keldorf  |
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Your question is an interesting one and valid one. When Mack Brown built the Tar Heel program through recruiting in the late-1980s and early-1990s, he was obsessive about getting the best players in North Carolina, then scouring Virginia and South Carolina, and then selectively going further out-of-state. He landed some fine players from other regions -- QB Jason Stanicek from Chicago and safety Omar Brown from Pennsylvania, for example.
In general, though, the further you go from home, the more mistakes you make. Brown's best recruiting was from the 1992-94 recruiting seasons. As the mid-1990s unfolded, he fancied Carolina as more of a national recruiting power. If you review Carolina's signing classes from 1995-98, you'll notice an inordinate number of highly-ranked prospects from far-flung areas who never panned out.
Bunting is making use of his and his staff's histories and connections in other areas of the country to help find players. Bunting has extensive contacts in the Philadelphia-South Jersey area, as does defensive backs coach Jim Fleming. Defensive tackles coach Rod Broadway recruited South Florida for years coaching on Steve Spurrier's staff and is using that expertise. Bunting and staff will continue to use every edge they can to find quality players -- no matter where they are. But he'll still try to build on the foundations that worked for Bill Dooley and Mack Brown -- the closer to home, the better.
TarHeelBlue.com football expert Lee Pace will again answer your questions about the Carolina program this season in an exclusive column published each Friday. Pace, editor of the Extra Points newsletter that appears each Monday morning, will answer your questions on personnel, strategy, opponents and anything on your mind about the Tar Heels. Please send your questions to Lee at lpace@nc.rr.com, and include your first and last names and your hometown.
Players Mentioned
