University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Spring Game Is Dawn Bunting's Radio Debut
April 11, 2002 | Football
April 11, 2002
By Adam Lucas
TarHeelBlue.com
John Bunting is concerned.
Not about his team's quarterback situation or inexperienced defense. He's worried about the color announcer for Saturday's spring football game.
The game will cap a full couple of days for Tar Heel football. The festivities begin Thursday night with a live spring version of the John Bunting Live! radio show from Lucy's Restaurant in Chapel Hill. Bunting and host Woody Durham will take calls and give their take on spring ball beginning at 7 p.m. Fan participation is encouraged.
It will also be encouraged on Saturday, when Tar Heel Town will be open from 11 a.m. until 12:30 prior to the 1 p.m. spring game kickoff. It's then that the newest member of the Carolina broadcast team, Dawn Bunting, will make her debut.
Bunting is filling in for Mick Mixon, who has prior commitments that may result in him forever being known as the Wally Pipp of broadcasting if Bunting usurps his job. After learning of Mixon's conflict, Durham casually asked Dawn Bunting if she would like to do the color for the game. Her response was an enthusiastic yes.
Her husband, who also happens to be the head football coach, had even bigger concerns when asked if he thought the newest announcer might be a little inexperienced.
"She's not just green," he said with a small smile. "She may just have a vendetta."
The addition of Bunting should make it the most listened-to game in spring football history. Of course, there's not a lot of competition for that honor, since the only other game to hit the airwaves happened in Carl Torbush's first year, when Torbush himself joined Mixon and Durham in the broadcast booth.
Bunting's delivery is likely to be a little different than the ex-coach. The lively former softball coach is more than just a typical coach's wife. She's also a former football player herself, making her the John Madden to Durham's Al Michaels in the broadcast booth.
"I told Dawn two things," said Mixon, who will sweat out his job security during the spring game. "The first is that she should listen to tapes and listen to what I do. Then, don't do that. The second is that unless there's a break in the action, her time to talk is from after the tackle is made and Woody identifies the tackler and the down-and-distance to when the offense breaks the huddle."
It's a nice idea to have those types of guidelines. But the truth is that most typical guidelines don't apply to Bunting. She attends every Tar Heel practice and knows more about football than almost everyone else there. She comes up with slogans, like last year's "Answer the Bell." And she has never been shy about saying what she thinks.
"They've been teasing me about having to have a seven-second delay," she said. The broadcast will in fact not have the usual delay, giving it a Saturday Night Live feel that promises plenty of unpredictability.
Durham and Bunting are preparing as though it's a normal game. Thursday, they will visit with the coaching staff to get their thoughts on how practice has gone so far and what to expect on Saturday.
"Nuclear power plants have been built with less planning than what Dawn has put in," Mixon said.
But the 13-year veteran of Tar Heel broadcasts doesn't want his replacement to be too prepared. It's one thing to help out a rookie. It's quite another to battle for a job. Players go through spring practice judged strictly on performance. Broadcasters don't have the same luxury. Mixon is well aware that if everything else is equal, his rival holds the tiebreaker in the Kenan Football Center.
"Despite my frequent appearances and faithful attendance at press conferences, Dawn is much better connected in the football office than I am," he said.
Connections and the rapt attention of the head coach-the mark of a stellar broadcaster.
