University of North Carolina Athletics
A Q&A With Coach Jim Fleming: Part II
July 17, 2002 | Football
July 17, 2002
By: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue: How do you most effectively communicate with college athletes these days?
Coach Fleming: "The first thing is that you're honest and straight forward. You tell it like it is from your heart.
"You lay out what you think will make them successful. How much they listen is their choice.
"You effectively communicate with kids the way you should effectively communicate with anybody. You say 'Guys, this is what we're trying to achieve, and this is how we're going to do it.' If you don't do A, B and C, you're not going to achieve X, Y and Z.
"You need to be specific with the points you're trying to make, and don't try to do it all at once. Take little bits and pieces and build on each thing. But, your foundation can only be so many things. You can't have a hundred different things they need to focus on. Discipline, hard work, physical toughness and conditioning are so important.
"Special teams play is huge. There's 70 or 80 plays on offense or defense each game, then there's 25 special teams plays. Which one's more important? One out of 25 is more important than one out of 80.
"You've got to make them understand this is how we're going to approach a game, this is how we're going to win the game.
"Off the field, they've got to understand you can't have off the field instances. You've got to be straight forward with them. Of course there's always been a certain percentage of guys, either today or twenty years ago, who won't listen and have to learn the hard way. You just go on without them."
TarHeelBlue: You mentioned special teams. What is your role on special teams?
Coach Fleming: "Coach Bunting named me the special teams coordinator.
"It's not a one-man effort, it's a true sense of coordination. Gunter is in charge of the kickoff returns, Jim Webster is in charge of the kickoff coverage team, I'm going to handle the punt return and Coach Powell is going to handle the punt team. Field goals will be the offensive staff, and Coach Broadway will handle field goal blocking.
"All coaches are used on various teams to coach specific areas, so it's definitely a staff effort.
"My job is to coordinate it, to determine what we're going to practice on what day, what approach we need to take game to game and tie that in to the offensive and defensive philosophy."
TarHeelBlue: Would you give us a quick look at each of your defensive backs and how they did in the spring?
Coach Fleming: "Michael Waddell has tremendous potential to be a dominant player. His speed is something you can't teach. He's got make-up speed.
"If he will continue to concentrate on technique and become more of a technical corner, it will help him to be in better position at times."
TarHeelBlue: What about his hands?
Coach Fleming: "If defensive backs could all catch really well, they'd probably be on the other side of the ball. I see a kid who can catch punts very softly. I see him in ball drills and he can catch well.
"Some times when you drop some possible picks, it's not always the hands. Maybe you didn't look quick enough to locate the ball a little sooner.
"Those are things we will continue to work on. There were only two picks in the back end last year. Part of that was Peppers stealing them before they got back there.
"I'm really looking forward to summer training camp. I think we can make some big strides now that we all know each other."
TarHeelBlue: How about the play of some of the other defensive backs?
Coach Fleming: "I'm excited to see what Derrick Johnson can do this year. He looks tremendous. I know he's been working hard this summer. He's got good feet. He's got an opportunity to put two good years together and be productive for us.
"He's going to be our guy who goes in when we go to nickel, and we move Kevin (Knight) off the corner inside.
"Chris Curry and DeFonte Coleman are going to have a tremendous battle this fall. Chris made great improvement in the spring and got the job. His understanding of the defense grew a great deal.
"DeFonte came off a very unsatisfying junior year for him, after playing very well as a sophomore. He's got a good look in his eyes. He looks outstanding. I've told those two guys it's going to be a competition in the fall. That's going to be a very interesting one to watch.
"DeFonte couldn't be in all the team work this spring because of his shoulder, but he moves around well. I'm really interested to see what he can do once he's back in the groove. I hope Chris will continue to develop like he did in the spring.
"Dexter Reid is a heartbeat type of kid. You talk about someone who loves the game, he loves to hit, he loves to play. He's an exuberant guy who loves to yell and scream and go out and play the game.
"He's also a guy who has to step up. There are expectations for him now. He's getting some preseason notice. Regardless of that, the expectation I have of him is to continue to improve and help mold the team together. He's a very influential guy on our football team.
"He's got tremendous skill.
"Michael Harris had a very good spring. He'll be a legitimate guy for us in the secondary. I'm looking for even more improvement from him in the thirty practices we have before our season opener.
"With our four safeties, we'll definitely be able to have two good ones on the field at all times.
"Kevin Knight is a tremendous asset to our football team. He'll be the starting corner, but when we go nickel he'll play that spot, which is a very difficult position to play. A lot of things happen fast in there, and he handles it very well.
"He stays under control and has very good speed. I'm looking for him to have a big year.
"Chris Hawkins is working to improve. He moves around with tremendous ease, he's got good skills, and he'll get better as he learns to play the game. I'd be disappointed if he doesn't improve enough to get to the point where I can get some quality snaps out of him.
"I've got to mention Ronald Brewer. I told some kids at camp recently that if they had Ronald's heart, they'd bypass college and go straight to the NFL. He's the spiritual leader of this football team.
"He's got very good feet, he's got very good change of direction. When you're his height (5'5") it's a disadvantage at times. Your vision lines are different, and you have to be in almost perfect position at times.
"He has the desire and interest to be able to try and achieve that perfect spot. If he's able to do that and make plays, he'll earn an opportunity to get out on the field."
TarHeelBlue: What about the overall speed of the secondary?
Coach Fleming: "It's ridiculous, but it's something I've learned to expect out of Jeff Connors' program. He takes good athletes and makes them great. He takes great athletes and makes them even better.
"The first meeting I had with the DBs this year was right after pro timing day. I asked one of them what he ran and he said 4.28. I asked another and he said 4.3. I've been coaching 15 years and I've seen just a couple of 4.3s. I thought these guys were pulling my leg.
"I've been blessed with a bunch of fast guys in the secondary."
Part I, Monday, July 15: Coach Fleming on how he turned around the football program at Sacred Heart University.
Part III, Friday, July 19: Coach Fleming discusses the differences between the cornerback and safety positions, the "quarterback" of the secondary, staff chemistry, recruiting and more.
