University of North Carolina Athletics
Linebackers Looking Better
March 23, 2004 | Football
March 23, 2004
Chapel Hill, N.C.-----John Bunting is getting greedy with his linebackers. This time last year, the Tar Heel head coach would have been happy to have just one playmaking linebacker in camp. After the arrival of a heralded freshman class, he now has two, but wants even more.
Tampa product Larry Edwards started the final eight games of the season at outside linebacker and had at least 10 tackles in six of those starts. He was ACC Rookie of the Week after a 15-tackle performance against Arizona State. His freshman classmate, Fred Sparkman, made a rapid move up the middle linebacker depth chart and finished the season with 19 tackles.
"I feel good about Edwards and I feel good about Sparkman," John Bunting said after a week of spring practice. "Beyond that I don't know who figures in at that position. Everybody is getting a chance."
They're getting their chance under new linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator John Gutekunst. A no-nonsense coach who spent six years as a head coach at the University of Minnesota, Gutekunst brings 35 years of experience to Chapel Hill.
What he doesn't want to bring are any preconceived ideas about the makeup of his defense.
"Position-wise, everything is wide open unless last year's defensive results are acceptable, which they certainly aren't with me," he says. "If you're conference champion and playing great defense then some kids have earned the right to play, but that isn't the case here. I hate to watch too much tape with other staff members before I start a job. Everybody has an opinion and at that point I don't want to hear those opinions. Obviously there is a reason I'm here, so something wasn't going right. I don't want to go into it with anything preconceived."
That's good news for the rest of Carolina's linebackers, who begin the spring with a clean slate after struggling last season for a defense that gave up over 500 yards per game. Doug Justice and Jeff Longhany have the most experience of the returnees, and sophomore Victor Worsley has moved outside to take advantage of his rush and coverage skills. Sophomore Joe Kedra played mostly on special teams last season.
With five sophomores listed on the spring two-deep, Gutekunst plans to break in his charges slowly.
"If you try to fix everything, you're probably going to fix nothing," he says. "Morale comes from fundamentals. Until young players have solid fundamentals, they don't get better, and when they don't get better, they lose confidence, and when they lose confidence, they don't play freely."
Playing freely has already been an area of emphasis during the first five practices of the spring.
"Last year we had a complicated defense and a lot of things to learn in a week," Edwards says. "Things are more simplified now. Coach is putting us in a situation where we can make plays and fly to the ball."
Edwards and Sparkman, it seems, have already adapted to that style. Beyond that duo, however, the depth chart is wide open.
"We're scrambling to see who will be the third, fourth, and fifth linebackers," Bunting says. "It's a heat. There's nobody standing out right now. I don't feel like we're physical, nimble, or athletic enough at that position right now."
Gutekunst's task is to develop that depth over the next two and a half weeks, a task that might be easier if he had a stable of experienced seniors or vociferous leaders. But he's not particularly concerned about the lack of upperclassmen among his charges.
"We're the leaders here," he says. "We're the ones getting paid. We have to get them to follow us and leadership will follow from that. I don't think you can come in here and say, 'Well, which one of these 20 year olds is going to be the leader while I cash my paycheck?'"
