University of North Carolina Athletics
Guy Brings Special Blend Of Heart And Talent To Tar Heels
October 4, 2004 | Football
Oct. 4, 2004
by Lee Pace
Two hours of football practice practice were over last Tuesday, and one player still hadn't had enough. Kyndraus Guy led Terry Hunter to the side of the Tar Heels' practice field where an apparatus used by the defensive line is erected.
The "shiver board" is a tool coach Brad Lawing uses to teach hip explosion and proper hand action. Guy demonstrated an aggressive move to the freshman and then watched as Hunter, who'd made his collegiate debut just three days earlier, worked on his technique. Guy coached Hunter on keeping his hands tight, getting off the ball quickly, attacking, getting inside the offensive player's framework, staying low.
"That's Kyndraus for you," says Lawing. "He's obsessed with getting better and helping his teammates get better. He's taken Terry under his wing."
For Guy, his overtime tutoring is simply an extension of his 19 years on the planet being tireless, focused, demanding and generous. An autumn of schoolwork, football practice and making extra money dishing up burgers at McDonalds was routine for two years in high school.
"He's always been like a big brother to everyone," says his mother, Kitty Patterson. "He was just a little boy when he took it upon himself to take care of me and his little sister."
Guy's words are direct, carefully chosen and economical. "Gotta get better," he says of life in college football. "I hate losing. It's all about Ws and rings on your finger. Nothing else matters."
Guy was an offensive lineman at South View High School in Hope Mills in the spring of 2002 when Hal Hunter, who had just joined John Bunting's staff as the new offensive line coach, began mining the Fayetteville area for recruiting prospects. He noticed on tape Guy's remarkable fire off the ball and then followed up in the fall by watching him play in person. His eyebrows popped as he saw the kind of athleticism that allowed Guy to perform a series of backflips from the goal line to the 50-yardline during a South View pep rally.
"I told our coaches there was a guy down at South View playing offense who would be a great defensive lineman," Hunter remembers. "They thought I was an idiot. They said, `Who doesn't put their best athletes on defense?'"
Actually, that's precisely part of the system used by South View coach Randy Ledford and his staff. They prefer playing their quickest players on offense and have enough good athletes to platoon on both sides of the ball. That worked to their chagrin when Guy was flagged for illegal procedure from his tackle position.
"We averaged one penalty a game that was really not a penalty," Ledford says. "If you studied the tape in slow motion the next day, you'd see that Kyndraus was not early. But he was moving with the ball and it fooled the officials."
Hunter made Guy a priority during the 2002-03 recruiting season.
"It was amazing how much quickness and burst he had off the ball," Hunter says. "He played tough and played hard. I was really impressed."
Guy chose Carolina over Clemson, Maryland and others and was insistent before signing his scholarship papers that he be allowed to redshirt as a freshman. He suspected that he would not be ready as a true freshman to battle players three years and 50 pounds heavier -- sage wisdom for a 17-year-old. He learned that for sure the first week of training camp in August, 2003.
"Willie McNeill put me in the air, flung me like a little rag doll," Guy says. "I knew I had to get stronger and faster. The game is totally different from high school. You can't play the defensive line if you're inexperienced and are not knowledgeable about the game."
A smile pops from the dark mop of facial hair that is a result of Guy hating to shave---"Too much sting from your chin strap," he says.
"But I'll get Willie back," Guy says with a chuckle. "I'll make sure he remembers me."
Guy made life challenging last fall for the offensive line from his role on the scout team. "I hated going against Kyndraus," offensive tackle Brian Chacos says. "He has a great motor, he's strong, he stays low. He will be a total player. He gave me a workout every day and made me a better player."
Adds fellow defensive lineman Melik Brown: "He's got one speed -- full speed."
Guy is one of the reasons there is a bright future in store for this defense. He needs to put on 15 more pounds to hold up at defensive tackle -- where he's now playing after opening the season at end -- and sharpen his technique.
"Kyndraus has got a great work ethic, a quick first step and is a powerful young man," Bunting says. "He really wants to be good. All of that gives him a chance to be a special player."
That would be only fitting given the die cast for him at birth by his mother. She cobbled syllables from the names of her mother, father and sister to bestow "Kyndraus" on her first-born.
"You're a unique child," Kitty Patterson told her son. "So you need a unique name."
Send your questions about Tar Heel football to Lee Pace at lpace@nc.rr.com . Please include your first and last names and hometown. His Q&A column will appear each Friday during the season.
