University of North Carolina Athletics
A Q&A With Coach Brad Lawing: Part I
July 2, 2003 | Football
TarHeelBlue kicks off a series of interviews with the football coaching staff with a two-part interview with new defensive line coach Brad Lawing. Lawing comes to Carolina after successful tenures at Michigan St. and South Carolina.
In the weeks leading up to fall practice, we'll publish exclusive, multi-part interviews with each member of the coaching staff, plus Strength & Conditioning Director Jeff Connors.
The Tar Heels open their season at home against Florida St. on August 30 at 8:00 p.m. (ABC).
TarHeelBlue: Would you go down the depth chart and comment on each of your players. Let's start with the tackles.
Coach Lawing: "Coming out of the spring Issac Mooring emerged as the starter at right tackle. He really got bigger and stronger. He made a lot of improvement.
"Chase Page was hurt most of the spring so I haven't been able to observe him much in person. I've seen him on tape and I know he has a lot of ability.
"Donti Coats had a good spring. He and Issac sort of came out on top after the spring.
"We have to make sure we get some plays out of Jonas Seawright, whether it's three plays and take a break or what. I'm not quite sure how I'll fit him into the rotation, but he'll be in there.
"Mickey Rice improved, Jermicus Banks made a lot of improvement.
"I feel pretty good about our tackle situation. We've got some depth there along with the freshmen we have coming in. I feel good about tackle, but I'm really concerned about defensive end. I don't feel we have the depth that we need there."
TarHeelBlue: Would you discuss your ends?
Coach Lawing: "Tommy Davis was probably our best defensive end coming out of spring. Madison Hedgecock came on, and Jocques Dumas is a guy who can do some good things.
"Behind those guys, Alden Blizzard and Xavier Rainey have got a ways to go. Of the freshmen, Brian Rackley is probably the farthest ahead.
"Kendall High is a guy who has a wealth of potential but who needs to learn to work harder. I expect him to do that.
"We're just not as strong at end as at tackle. We still don't have a guy who can get us off the field on third down. We're having to manufacture a lot of our pass rush by twisting, pressuring, blitzing, things like that. We don't have a third-down end. We're recruiting some now, but they won't be here until 2004.
"Melik Brown is guy who can put his hand on the ground and maybe rush the quarterback when we get in nickel situations."
TarHeelBlue: Do you anticipate playing any true freshmen this fall?
Coach Lawing: "Yes. I don't know who yet, but I'm hoping we have some. I know the level of talent we have in this incoming class. I've seen them all on tape, and I'm very excited and impressed with a lot of them. I'm hoping that some of them will be ready to play.
"That's all determined by their attitude and their conditioning when they get here, because most freshmen are not in shape to play college football. It takes them a while to get their cardio-vascular system to where it needs to be, especially the big guys. The speed of the game is quicker, but the pace of the game is also quicker.
"A freshman who isn't in shape is just trying to survive preseason. If they're in shape, then they can have a productive preseason. You have to be in shape to play, and in my experience most freshmen don't do what they need to do in the summer to prepare. Then, after they've been here a year, they know what they have to do.
"There are exceptions to that, and I hope we have some exceptions in this class because we have really stressed the importance of being in shape to them because we need some of them to be ready to play for us."
TarHeelBlue: You're in charge of recruiting. How have you been received out on the recruiting trails?
Coach Lawing: "It's been very good. First off, we went to every school in the state of North Carolina. We did that this spring, and it went very well. There's a lot of good players in the state of North Carolina this year, like there usually is. In fact, we would have missed one player we like very much if we hadn't visited every school.
"We're where we need to be in recruiting as far as the information that we've got, but I hope that amount of information has doubled or tripled by the end of the summer so that we make good decisions. We're in the process of offering guys based on their performance in camp, plus what we already knew about them.
"We'll probably sign a full class next year. We have some positions where we'll only sign one player, and when you do that it makes you be even pickier. It makes you a little slower to offer guys. When you're going to sign two or three at a position, you can offer guys at a quicker pace than if you're only going to sign one at that position.
"There will be players around the state that some people will wonder why we didn't offer them, but we're looking for the right fit here. I can't emphasize enough how much character means to us. We're not looking for guys that we have to rehabilitate, we're looking for high-character kids. For every player that we recruit, we try to envision if that player can be a captain on our team some day. I know that every kid can't be like that, but that's our standard."
TarHeelBlue: Besides character, what are you looking for in prospects?
Coach Lawing: "Number one, when you watch tape you look to see if a kid is an instinctive player. Defensively, can he make plays, does he make plays? Does he hustle?
"I'll give you an example. At Michigan State we had T.J. Duckett at linebacker to start off. That's what he wanted to be, but he didn't have good reaction skills. He struggled, but we knew he was a great athlete so we moved him to offense and the rest is history. He just couldn't react defensively.
"Physically, you look for change of direction skills, does he have initial quickness? You look at his balance and what kind of striking ability he has with his hips and his hands. You look at his pursuit range.
"Then, when you see him in person you analyze his growth potential. You look at how big his feet and hands are, that will tell you a lot. Is he a broad-shouldered guy, does he have big hips? You look at his muscle mass in his bicep and hamstring areas. Those are all things that can predict strength and weight gains later on.
"Another thing I always do is find out if the kid is shaving yet. If he's not, his best days are ahead of him. When he finally matures, you'll see tremendous weight and strength gains in that kid.
"You look at all of those things to predict whether or not a kid can fit our program."
TarHeelBlue: How have you found our fan base so far?
Coach Lawing: "The fans here are great. Since I got here in January, all the people I've met have been very positive."
TarHeelBlue: How important are non-alums to the success of a college program?
Coach Lawing: "I grew up a Tar Heel fan, following them in football and basketball, but I ended up going to Lenoir-Rhyne. It turned out that Lenoir-Rhyne was the best place for me to go to further my football career.
"Every school has people who follow their program who didn't go to school there, and they are very important, whether it's through financial support or just helping to pack the stadium, which is something we have to do. That's impressive to recruits, and it takes more than just the alums to do that.
"The players and the coaches appreciate the support from all of our fans."
TarHeelBlue: Which coaches have had the most influence on your career?
Coach Lawing: "I've been very fortunate in that I've worked for some good people. I've had the pleasure of being in some programs that have had some good success.
"I took the Michigan State job because Nick Saban was there. I wanted to know what he knew. He has had a lot of influence on how I look at things, even though I wasn't with him that long.
"We're all a combination of everybody we've been around, and I've been around some good people, but Nick is a guy who excels at both player and game management. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Nick Saban."
TarHeelBlue: How does promoting UNC compare to promoting other universities where you've coached?
Coach Lawing: "First of all, we're one of the top three public schools in the country by most publications, and that is a big sell right there. We're considered an academic school, and that is huge.
"When we go out of state to recruit you really realize that. Sometimes we take it for granted in this state, but when we leave here and mention North Carolina it's like 'Wow, you guys have got a great school.' The academic end of things is a big tool for us in recruiting, because we can sit down in the living room of any kid we recruit and talk about academics and really mean it. We have the substance to back it up, and with a lot of schools that is not the case. They try to manufacture that reputation, but we already have it here.
"There are other things that help us out. The triangle area is a great one in which to live and go to school. There is a lot of opportunity here for the kids after graduation.
"As for the football end of things, we've got an up-and-coming program. We've got an alum as the head coach, a guy with college and NFL experience as a player and a coach. His energy and enthusiasm are very contagious.
"If you look at our school, the surroundings and the coaching staff, there are a lot of reasons to come to North Carolina.
"We're going to get this thing done, it's just not going to happen overnight. It's one step at a time, and that's the way we have to approach it, but we're going to get this thing done."
Part II: Thursday, July 3
