University of North Carolina Athletics
EXTRA POINTS: Springboard
April 19, 2004 | Football
April 6, 2004
Download Extra Points in .pdf Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
By Lee Pace, Extra Points
March was exiting like a lion with the chill and wind and soggy field late the afternoon of the 31st. The gray skies hung over Kenan Stadium not unlike so much doom and gloom that had burdened the world of Tar Heel football for 24 games or an eternity, whichever seems to have come first. In this setting it was comforting to find that the lambs of the ACC just might be ready to grow up, to sprout some fangs and horns and facial hair.
Jason Brown talking trash to the defense after a big play ... Khalif Mitchell running down the ball from the opposite side of the field ... Madison Hedgecock trucking a defender who'd dared to let his weight drift to his heels ... Ronnie McGill building on his freshman success with a burst through the hole and a pile-driving shoulder to ward off an aspiring tackler ... Chase Page filling a gap and shutting off a runner's lane ... Isiah Thomas digging low on the goal-line ... Lionell Green finding an airborne football not once but twice and taking it from the offense.
"Standing there watching, I felt like I was on a big-time football field," said John Gutekunst, the Tar Heels' new linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator. "That was the first time this spring I'd felt that way."
"It just sounded different," offensive line coach Hal Hunter added.
The Tar Heels are set to conclude on April 7th their 2004 spring football session, and the laundry list for head coach John Bunting, his staff and players has been a long one: Tackle better in the secondary; generate some pass rush; find linebackers who can run; replace steady blockers Jeb Terry and Jupiter Wilson; intercept a pass now and again; identify a competent back-up quarterback; expand the play-action passing game with Darian Durant.
ut most important of all is what Bunting hoped he saw developing in intense scrimmages like this one in late March: Mental and physical toughness.
"That's what this whole thing is about," Bunting says. "We have to develop more mental toughness on defense. People get tired of hearing me talk about it. But it's what this game is all about. You can have all of the physical talent in the world. You can be in the right place on the field. But if you're not mentally tough, you're not going to play well.
"Consistency is a part of that. Are you strong enough mentally to do things right -- over and over and over again? I'm seeing signs of that now."
The Tar Heels hopefully are at a launching pad back to respectability after two miserable seasons. There are plenty of weapons on offense, and the offensive line is no longer a liability -- it's a bona fide strength. A quality punter returns in David Wooldridge, and a high-school place-kicker with excellent skills and reputation is en route. The defense has a clean slate with new co-coordinators and position coaches at linebacker and secondary. Freshmen who played in 2003 like Thomas, Larry Edwards and Fred Sparkman are a year older. Already Mitchell, a prized defensive end, is showing signs of superstardom.
It took Mack Brown two years in the late 1980s to stabilize a moribund program borne of sloppy recruiting. He fired coaches and re-assigned others. He told some players they'd not have a future at this level of college football. He had to answer piercing questions from Rams Clubbers and the press. Through it all, he stuck to his plan and by 1990 (following the 2-20 carnage of 1988-89) put together a 6-4-1 season that provided the springboard to a heady run through 1997, when he left for Texas. (And pity poor Mack if the internet had been around in 1989).
unting understands that template. He's lived one himself, though he did have the good fortune of a year's worth of outstanding defense in 2001 thanks to holdovers like Julius Peppers, Ryan Sims, David Thornton and Quincy Monk from the previous regime. With those and other Tar Heels moving on to cash NFL paychecks, the Tar Heels turned into a sieve on defense. Bunting's faced the same cadre of doubts as Brown. After a year or so of properly mastering the recruiting learning curve, Bunting and staff have begun restocking the defensive talent pool. It's time for it to show up on Saturdays, and it will.
rown and Bunting in their tenures as Tar Heel coaches brought marked contrasts in personality, appearance, skills, style, strengths and backgrounds, but in one regard both have been bulls-eye similar: In the early days of building programs at Carolina, in the darkest hours of lopsided deficits and swirling negativity, neither ever uttered the word IF. It was never a question of "IF we can win." It's a matter of "WHEN we win."
"It's coming," Bunting says. "There's never been a doubt about that."
I can remember clearly from 14 years ago the resolve of veteran players like Dennis Tripp, Eric Gash and Dwight Hollier -- guys who had endured the misery, lived to tell about it and use it as fuel to turn the program around. Today players like Chase Page and Jason Brown find motivation jettisoned by the same memory palette.
"Words cannot describe how tired I am of losing," says Page, the senior defensive tackle. "It's too hard. Football is too hard if you're not winning. It's miserable. But you've just got to keep grinding."
rown has started at center for two seasons and is bone weary as well with losing.
"It's the most frustrating thing in the world," he says. "You lay it on the line, you go through all the dying and all sacrificing, all the hard work every single day. Then the games come and you don't have anything to show for it. Our goal this year is to put everything together. And I promise you, we are going to put it together."
Defense, of course, is priority No. 1 following a 2002 season of yielding 452 yards a game and an interminable 2003 with 505 yards. Secondary coach Jim Fleming was fired after the season and coordinator Dave Huxtable demoted; Huxtable subsequently left for Central Florida. Replacing them as co-coordinators are Gutekunst, who will also coach linebackers, and Marvin Sanders, who'll coach the defensive backs.
They'll have more talent to work with in 2004. Much of it will be more mature talent. The scheme has been simplified. And the DBs have been coached relentlessly on their tackling skills.
"Instead of trying to do so many things, we have a couple of plays that we want to get really good at," says Page. "We're back to playing football now."
"The scheme is way more simple," says Sparkman. "Last year we might have one call and three or four different assignments for every formation. This year we have one or two assignments for every play. It's very simple compared to last year. It gives everyone a chance to play fast, to not have to think as much."
Last year the Tar Heels substituted relentlessly by down and distance, shuttling in personnel groups to attempt to match what limited speed they possessed with what they thought might be coming from the offense. Frequently they barely got one unit onto the field in time for the next snap and more than once had to burn a timeout to complete the substitution.
"That madness we did last year I don't think will ever happen again," Bunting says. "We were trying very hard to get the fastest team out there. Now with the direction we're going, we will have 90 percent of the people we need out there all the time. We will make maybe one or two substitutions, but not seven people for seven people."
The Tar Heels' Blue-White Game on April 3 attested to some of the improvements made on defense.
Sophomore Kareen Taylor, who played on special teams as a true freshman last fall, made two interceptions and covered well with two more break-ups. He had four unassisted tackles. Gerald Sensabaugh, a transfer from East Tennessee State who ran with the first-team this spring at both strong and free safety, had five unassisted stops. Cornerback Quinton Person, who ran with the first-team at one cornerback with the injury to Cedric Holt, had three unassisted tackles and two assisted stops.
 |
|
"I am really excited about the way we tackled in the secondary," Bunting said after the game. "That's as good as we've tackled in the secondary at least since 2001, maybe even better. I'm excited about that."
"We're going to continue to emphasize attacking the football and getting more interceptions," says Sanders, who comes to Chapel Hill from Nebraska. "And we're going to continue to emphasize tackling. We're the last line of defense. We have to become better tacklers. I really believe you get what you stress. We've stressed the importance of tackling. I really believe we will get better."
Taylor is a member of the 2003 signing class whom Bunting lauded from the beginning as a kid mature beyond his years, a smart and savvy player and one who loved collisions. During one practice, Bunting watched from the sideline as Taylor broke on a pass to a running back out of the backfield, positioned himself, charged from his hips and laid the receiver quickly on the ground.
"When's the last time we've seen that?" he wondered.
Sanders played Taylor at four positions this spring, including nickel back. His final destination come September remains open, much depending on what happens around him. Sensabaugh will certainly be a starter. D.J. Walker has come on, particularly with his tackling skills, but the coaching and conditioning staff would like to see him add a few pounds of muscle to a thin frame. Mahlon Carey, a starter in 2003, fell back to second team. But make no mistake, Taylor will be on the field in a key role.
"Kareen is very athletic and very intelligent," Sanders says. "He's played four different positions this spring and not missed a beat. His technique has slipped a little because of moving around so much, but he's been in the right spot and he's going hard. He's going to help us a lot."
And then there's Mitchell, a 6-6, 300-pounder who entered as a freshman in January after spending last fall at Hargrave Military Academy. He has Ellis/Holliday/Jones glory ahead of him, barring injury, and the Tar Heels certainly could use more of the ilk of those mid-1990s standout defensive linemen. He's an odds-on favorite to take the field against William & Mary on Sept. 4 as the starting left end.
"You can't get enough of those guys," says Kenny Browning, who recruited Mitchell out of Virginia Beach. "You can line up four guys across the front, and he could play every position. He's big and strong enough to play inside, he's fast enough to play outside."
"You draw up the perfect defensive end, he's what you draw," says defensive line coach Brad Lawing. "He is really gifted. But what's special about Khalif is that, beyond his physical ability, he gives tremendous effort. He's hungry to learn. You don't always see that right when kids come in."
unting, Lawing and Browning had to sweat for four months in 2003 when Mitchell entered Hargrave and the recruiting interest ratcheted up. Mitchell played only two years of high school football and some recruiters missed him. But they had found him at Hargrave and were drooling at such a freakish blend of size and speed.
"I'm glad to finally get here," Mitchell says. "I want to help turn this defense around. That's why I'm here. I know we haven't played real good defense the last two years. But we've got good players on this team and we'll get it turned around."
Carolina also had to re-recruit Terry Hunter, another defensive end who went to Hargrave for one semester after graduating from East Wake High last spring. Hunter joined Mitchell in entering school in January, but he missed spring practice because of personal concerns. He is expected to suit up in August. Another highly regarded newcomer, Kyndraus Guy, was red-shirted last fall and saw limited contact this spring because of shoulder surgery.
"We're starting to look like what a defensive line should look like," Lawing says. "We're becoming more athletic upfront. We've improved our team quickness a ton. I like our ability to rush the quarterback. Adding a guy like Khalif makes a world of difference. I've seen Terry in shorts and he's got real good speed for his size. We're headed in the right direction."
Legions of long-suffering Tar Heel fans can find solace in these springtime developments. With Miami and Virginia Tech scheduled to visit Kenan Stadium in 2004, John Bunting's crucial statement season looms far more difficult than Mack Brown's of 1990. But the idea is the same: Turn the positives occurring behind the scenes in the program into concrete public evidence.
