University of North Carolina Athletics
Spring Football: Brad Lawing Enjoying First Spring In Chapel Hill
April 1, 2003 | Football
April 1, 2003
By Adam Lucas
Tar Heel Monthly
Brad Lawing is a man who likes challenges.
That's a good thing, because Carolina's new defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator may have the biggest task on the Carolina defense for 2003. Last season, Tar Heel defensive linemen collectively gathered just eight sacks, with three of those going to the departed Will Chapman.
The players who return on the line are another year older, although they're still a fairly young group. But Lawing, who came to Chapel Hill after four years as an assistant at Michigan State, doesn't plan on using youth as an excuse in 2003.
"I try not to make a big deal out of that," he said this week. "I want us to have an attitude of no excuses. I don't want us to say we're too young or we're not strong enough. The bottom line is we've got to go out and perform well."
To get the maximum performance out of his charges, Lawing has juggled some positions throughout the spring. Former defensive end Issac Mooring is now lining up inside at tackle, as is Jermicus Banks. And on Monday, fullback-turned-defensive-end-turned-fullback Madison Hedgecock moved back to defensive end, repeating a move he made late last season.
There's still plenty of time to cement their positions before the 2003 season opener against Florida State. The eventual starters are likely to be the ones who can get the most pressure on the quarterback.
"We'd like to be able to do that with a four-man rush," Lawing said. "If not, we'll have to manufacture it with a more than four-man rush. What we've done as a coaching staff is look at a lot of different way to stress protections and get pressure on the quarterback. But we'd like to do it with improving our fundamentals in a four-man attack."
According to the new DL boss, two of those four men who have been most impressive this spring are Mooring and senior Donti Coats. Mooring was moved inside to encourage him to play more physically, a requirement of trench-fighting tackles. Through the first two weeks of spring ball, he has responded well to that move and also provided valuable depth at a position where Carolina is not deep. Coats turned in a terrific offseason in the weight room, including reaching Super Ram status, and has carried that achievement over to spring practice.
"He has really impressed me," Lawing said. "He has appeared to me to do things better than I might have anticipated."
Those expectations were built in a very short time period. Lawing was hired on December 21, a time at which he had to dive almost immediately into recruiting. Between making phone calls, sending letters, and visiting prospects, however, he still found time to watch cuts of the 2002 Carolina defense.
Although he had seen them play on film, Lawing still made it clear to the linemen that they were working on a clean slate with him.
"I told every one of them that they have a fresh start with me," he said. "There's been some competition, and we've had some pleasant surprises with competition. The thing we have to do is bring as many guys along with us who want to be a part of a championship defense."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
