University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Stephens Just Trying To Get Better Each Day
July 24, 2002 | Football
July 24, 2002
By Adam Lucas
TarHeelBlue.com
Jimmy Ray Stephens had a few clues that his son would turn out to be a quarterback.
There was the time that five-year-old Chris tagged along with his dad to practice at the high school where Jimmy Ray coached. The team spent the afternoon installing the run-and-shoot offense, and on the way home, Chris piped up from the backseat, "Hey Dad, on the drop on that 'Gangster' pass, it's one-two-three-four and then throw it on the fifth step, right?"
Or there was the time when 13-year-old Chris rode along with his father and another coach from Gainesville, Florida to Tampa to attend a Fellowship of Christian Athletes camp. The two coaches were talking football, and the youngster sat in the backseat with a notepad. During a lull in the conversation, Chris asked, "Hey, against a cover-two zone, don't you want to throw it down the middle and deep down the outside?"
Well, yes, you do. But 13-year-olds aren't supposed to know that. Even some college quarterbacks, frustratingly, don't know that.
It's always been that way for C.J. Stephens, whose mother called him "C.J." and father still refers to him as "Chris." Either is fine with the quarterback, who is so unflappable that he will answer to pretty much anything.
Stephens arrived as a transfer from the University of Florida prior to the 2001 season with the reputation of the prototypical quarterback. He had been caught in a three-way playing time battle for the Gators, and when former UF assistant Rod Broadway left for Carolina, Chapel Hill was the only place Stephens visited before deciding on his new home.
Carolina is not a place that's used to quarterbacks out of central casting. Standing 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, wearing number seven, Stephens looks the part, and he acted the part last year during practices, when he had to sit out a year per NCAA regulations. His crisp throws and feathery touch made it clear even while relegated to the scout team that he would be a contender for playing time in 2002.
"He's got an extremely strong arm, a very accurate arm, and he's very mobile," said his father. "He's certainly smart enough to run any offense. He's just lacking the game experience."
Despite being a coach's son, Stephens actually came late to the sport. He spent most of his childhood playing soccer and baseball exclusively, and didn't get serious about football until ninth grade. Even before quarterbacking Bucholz High for three years as the starting quarterback, however, he had a quality role model-former Florida Gator quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Danny Weurffel is a close family friend and was coached by Jimmy Ray Stephens at Fort Walton Beach High. The two QB's still talk on a regular basis and Weurffel attended the Super Bowl this January with the elder Stephens.
It was shortly after the Super Bowl that the musical quarterbacks situation began in Chapel Hill. Darian Durant departed and then returned during spring practice, clouding a quarterback picture that had appeared to include only Stephens.
"It's going to be a decision that Gary [Tranquill] and I will come to an agreement on," John Bunting said recently. The head coach indicated that it could be as late as the week before the Miami of Ohio game before the Tar Heels pick a starter.
It's the kind of situation that can spark some grumbling among players. But Stephens has handled the competition beautifully. On the day Durant returned to the team this spring, reporters flocked to Stephens, hoping to get a disgruntled quote, but he did not comply. Even now, several months later, he spends most of his time talking exclusively about what he can do to get better, not focusing on the aspects beyond his control.
"It has been exciting to be a part of a team that is extremely dedicated to trying to become better every single day," he said. "There are not a lot of people taking a day off, and that's exciting."
Practice opens for the upperclassmen in approximately three weeks. And when they do, number seven will have a very clear idea of what to do against the cover-two zone.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com
