University of North Carolina Athletics
A Q&A With Coach Brad Lawing: Part II
July 3, 2003 | Football
By: Joe Bray
TarHeelBlue: What do you perceive to be your greatest strength as a coach?
Coach Lawing: "I believe that I'm a good teacher, and that I can get along with kids and get them to respond. The main thing to me is that I can get kids to do things that they don't think they can do.
"I also think I'm pretty good at the recruiting end of things, such as organization and identifying talent."
TarHeelBlue: Who do you consider your team leaders along the defensive line?
Coach Lawing: "I'm really not sure right now. We're still young in a lot of areas. We've got our work cut out for ourselves."
TarHeelBlue: A more measurable question would be who are your fastest guys?
Coach Lawing: "Tommy Davis runs well, probably better than any of the other guys. Speed wise, he's more of what we need."
TarHeelBlue: How about strength?
Coach Lawing: "We've got some guys who are strong. We're stronger than we are fast. We're stronger than we are quick bodied. That's fine, but we need to find quick-bodied people who are strong.
"These guys have worked hard. We're going to put a good line out there.
"Chase Page has great strength, Donti Coats is strong, Jonas Seawright is strong. Jocques Dumas, Madison Hedgecock and Tommy Davis are guys with really good strength.
"The thing is, though, you have to be able to get there to make the play. Our motor's got to be running hot, we've got to play with a great motor all the time. We're not talented enough to take a play off and not go full speed. Our guys have got to be full speed every second of every play to give us a chance to win.
"If we do that we can be a good defense. If we don't, we'll just be average. None of us came here to be average. I know I didn't come here to be average."
TarHeelBlue: What are the physical differences between tackles and ends?
Coach Lawing: "First of all, the answer partly depends on down and distance. On first down and second down and six or less yards to go and third and short, your tackles need to be guys who are more wide-bodied and have good balance. Strength is a big deal in that situation. Your ends also have to be guys who have big size in those downs and distances. The ends also need to have better change of direction skills than the tackles, along with more initial quickness. I call that 'hat speed', I like to see the helmet really moving coming off the ball.
"When you get to second and long or third and long and two-minute situations, I'd like to put four of them out there who kind of look alike, guys who can run. I like to substitute in that kind of situation and put guys on the field who can rush the quarterback and make plays. In our recruiting we're looking for a guy who can get us off the field with speed and quickness, a guy that we can highlight in our pass rush."
TarHeelBlue: Is there any single technique or move that is the most difficult for kids coming in out of high school to learn?
Coach Lawing: "The ability to rush the quarterback, just as on offense it's the ability to protect the quarterback. In high schools most kids don't get enough work on the passing game.
"There isn't a lot of attention paid to it because they don't see a lot of passing. In college, you do. All of the things involved with the passing game are among the most difficult things a kid has to learn.
"Learning to leverage blocks is another thing that's hard to learn. A lot of times guys just do their own thing. We have an integrity on defense that we have to maintain. It may mean hitting a guy in front of you, or leveraging a block here, leveraging a block there, keeping your shoulders square. These things can be tough to learn if you haven't been well schooled in them.
"Most kids who come out of North Carolina are well prepared. The high school coaches in North Carolina are fabulous, they do a great job of teaching fundamentals. That's another reason to recruit kids from inside the state. There's enough talent in this state, and they get very good coaching.
"We start here in recruiting. Then there's other states that are connected to us, and we keep going, but we start here. There's a reason this is the University 'of' North Carolina."
TarHeelBlue: How have you found the chemistry of the staff here?
Coach Lawing: "We've got a great staff here. We've got three of us on defense and we all get along. There's five great guys on offense and Coach Webster handles special teams.
"A staff is like a family, you're not always going to see things the same way, but we're all working towards a common goal, which is to win, so when we step out on that field on Saturday, we're all on the same page.
"This staff is all about making this program successful. There's a lot of things I can learn and am learning from this staff."
TarHeelBlue: How do our facilities compare to places you've worked before?
Coach Lawing: "The football facility is the best one I've ever been in. The stadium is gorgeous, we've got everything we need here to be successful. We don't want for anything.
"Now it's just a matter of getting the right players and putting them in position to win."
TarHeelBlue: How have you found the support staff here, such as Academic Support?
Coach Lawing: "The academic support people, the administration, everybody has been very supportive in helping both the players and the coaches succeed.
"We have a very good relationship with the people in academics. They have a tough job, they have to help guys compete in an academic setting. They take a very personal interest in our players.
"I couldn't be happier with those folks."
TarHeelBlue: Do you maintain an open door policy with your players?
Coach Lawing: "I've always done that. If it's important to them, it's important to me. I think you have to be like that.
"Here's something a lot of people don't realize. Coaches are goal oriented. Most kids aren't goal oriented. Most kids are relationship oriented. Kids play hard, they do the right things because of relationships more so than goals.
"It's not 'I'm doing this because I want to be all-conference.' They do it because 'Hey, I'm a part of this team, coach trusts me, I respect him.'
"You don't have to be buddy-buddy with your players, but they have to respect and trust you. Kids play because of relationships with their teammates and their coaches.
"When we step on the practice field I can't be Coach Nice, but when you step off the practice field, yes, you can be Coach Nice.
"I get on them when they don't do well, but I praise them when they do well. You have to do that. If all they hear are negatives, then all they're thinking about is what they're not supposed to do instead of what they're supposed to do."
TarHeelBlue: People have to stay 'current' in their profession. How do football coaches do this?
Coach Lawing: "The first way is to stay in touch with the guys you believe in. I've got guys in the NFL and in college who I trust. We share knowledge from time to time. We visit other staffs and find out ways they are doing things.
"The second way is to spend a lot of time studying film. I learned a long time ago that if you want to learn how to stop a team's offense, look at what they're doing on defense, since they have to go against that offense every day.
"You stay current with hard work, studying film, talking to people, sharing ideas. If you're lazy in this profession you want last long, because you'll get exposed.
"It's all about hard work."
TarHeelBlue: When you coaches step out on the practice field you have to set an example. You have to be motivated and fired up. Does that automatically happen, or are there days you have to work at making that happen?
Coach Lawing: "Stepping on the field is the highlight of my day. Getting out on the field to coach is what I live for. All the other stuff allows you to get out on the field and do what you love to do.
"Sure, there might be days when you have to give yourself a little pep talk, maybe take a cold shower to get your engine revved up, but that doesn't happen often. There's nothing I enjoy more than getting outside and coaching my guys.
"I love coaching, it's all I ever wanted to do. I feel very lucky, because most people aren't fortunate enough to have their occupation be what they most love in life."
TarHeelBlue: Has the Chapel Hill community met your expectations?
Coach Lawing: "Chapel Hill is a beautiful area. It's everything I thought it would be. I used to visit the area a lot when Coach Brown was here as I had some very good friends who were on that staff.
"The people here are great, the town is beautiful. It reminds me a lot of Hickory, N.C., the town where I grew up. Probably not as hilly, but there's a reason the town's named Chapel Hill.
"I'm building a house here, so I've got a lot of confidence in being here and getting this thing done and staying here."
TarHeelBlue: How do you get away from football? What do you do to get your mind off your job?
Coach Lawing: "I don't have a lot of hobbies. We've got vacation starting next week, but I'm not going. I've got to stay here and work, because I've got things I've got to get done.
"I guess my job is probably my biggest hobby.
"I do enjoy going to the beach. I go whenever I can, I love to smell that salt water, I love to hear those waves pounding. I don't have to do anything but just be there."
TarHeelBlue: Any regrets so far?
Coach Lawing: "No, I've loved every job I've ever had. Michigan State was great. We won two of only seven bowl wins they've ever had there. At South Carolina we won the first bowl game in the history of the school and assembled a great group of players.
"We won two conference championships at Appalachian St., they had never won one. That was pretty neat.
"I'm very excited about being here. I had a couple of other job opportunities earlier this year, one of which I thought I would take until this job came available.
"I really didn't know Coach Bunting, but I'd heard a lot about him from friends in both college and the NFL. You have to take a Super Bowl ring seriously. He and this university are the reason I took this job.
"I'm looking forward to this season and many seasons after that. We're not there yet, we're not, we've got a lot of work to do here. But, it's going to get done.
"We've got the resources to get it done. People want to snap their fingers and 'Boom,' overnight it happens. That's not going to happen.
"We've got to build a good foundation of talent and just keep working with them day in and day out, developing them as players and student-athletes.
"We're going to get it done."
Coach Webster: Part I:Monday, July 7
Coach Webster: Part II:Tuesday, July 8
