University of North Carolina Athletics
Thursday Practice Notes
August 12, 2004 | Football
Aug. 12, 2004
By Adam Lucas The first wisps of two hurricanes blew through Chapel Hill Thursday afternoon, briefly putting the area under a tornado watch and forcing the Tar Heels indoors for the first part of their practice session. The worst of the weather eventually passed, and the Heels were able to move outside for the final 90 minutes of the session, practicing through a sporadic sprinkling of rain on Navy Field. Thursday was the last day in half-pads, but the lack of full pads didn't dilute any of the enthusiasm. After the offense put on a show in 9-on-7 drills yesterday, the defense came back and turned in an enthusiastic performance in today's 9-on-9 workouts. "They were hitting today with half pads," head coach John Bunting said. "Tomorrow we go full pads and we've got two a days coming...Today it was a full speed workout, with everything except tackling to the ground. It was really well executed by our players." Notes: Practice concluded with a series of eight 60-yard sprints under the watchful eye of strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors, with players broken up by position group and conditioning level. Two sights you might not have seen in years past: both Darian Durant and Jonas Seawright finished at the front of their groups on the stamina-testing final sprint, and Durant and several seniors provided continuous encouragement for anyone who looked like they might be lagging. One of those leadership-providing seniors, though, said he could have kept going. "Those sprints don't affect me," Jacque Lewis said with a grin. "There's no telling how many more I could've done. I could have done them until Coach Connors told us to quit."... The Tar Heels have a stable of athletic wide receivers, but so far none has emerged as the one go-to player Darian Durant can look for to move the chains on third down. "There are a number of guys who could emerge," Bunting said. "I'd like to see one or two guys step it up as we go through camp."...Several Tar Heels sport a variety of intricate tattoos. But two notable players---Chase Page and Ronnie McGill---are ink-free. Page said he was wary of how a tattoo might look when he was 40, and McGill said he tries to avoid needles going into his body whenever possible...Joey Bozich was at his second day of practice and did some light passing...Tomorrow is the first day of full pads, and Saturday will be the first day of two-a-days, with a morning workout and an afternoon session. Special teams coach James Webster already has all the special teams installed, and the Heels have remained healthy enough to meet one of Bunting's goals for the coming practices. "My desire is to have everybody healthy when we get to two a days so we can work in all kinds of situations," he said. "We'll work on red zone, goal line, all those things."...Meet the Heels will go on as planned rain or shine Friday night at 6:30. In case of rain, it will be held under the concourse in the west end zone (Kenan Football Center side). Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
