University of North Carolina Athletics
Countdown to Camp: Do The Right Thing
June 23, 2005 | Football
June 23, 2005
Welcome to the second installment of TarHeelBlue.com's "Countdown to Camp" series. Every Thursday between now and the opening of training camp (which opens August 11), we'll have a fresh story on the football Tar Heels. If there's an aspect of the team or player you want to see highlighted, just drop us an email.
Previous Countdown to Camp stories:
By Adam Lucas
It can't be a normal North Carolina football practice without a few trademark sounds. The Monday Night Football music blaring before a Monday evening practice. The ear-splitting ear horn signaling the end of a practice period. And John Bunting's voice booming across the practice field, "LAR-ry ED-wards!"
"Oh, man," Edwards says with a grin. "I have heard that a lot."
That he says it without the slightest hint of a grimace should tell you something about Edwards's state of mind. He hasn't always been as sanguine about corrections from the coaching staff--in 2004, he arrived 10 pounds overweight for training camp, suffered a groin injury caused at least in part by the extra weight, and managed just 38 tackles for the season, only one of them for loss.
Not quite the breakout year many had expected from the talented linebacker who earned ACC Rookie of the Week honors in his third start in 2003 and racked up 89 tackles as a freshman while piling up six double-digit tackling efforts in his eight starts.
But his teammates and coaches knew something the casual fan didn't: those tackles weren't always the result of clear-headed play.
"A lot of times during his freshman year he was doing his own thing," middle linebacker Doug Justice says. "He might make a great play on one play and then be off doing the wrong thing on the next play and it would be six points. He's focusing more on learning the game now. He knows he's not alone in this thing, that he's part of a unit."
That was the growth Bunting was trying to create during a difficult 2004 campaign for the Tampa product. Even as Edwards struggled to climb the depth chart, even as he watched the Tar Heel defense improve dramatically over the four final regular season games--a period during which Edwards contributed just one tackle--he heard Bunting's voice ringing across the practice field.
At first, he might have allowed himself to roll his eyes. Might have wondered, "Why me?" But eventually, he got the message.
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Countdown to Camp: 49 Days
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"That was one of the key tools in me growing up," Edwards says. "I heard that every day at practice and I looked at myself and said, `What am I doing wrong?' And I came to realize Coach Bunting was only doing that to help me. And the combination of he and Coach (Tommy) Thigpen is going to help me be the best player I can be."
Thigpen's influence has been powerful. Edwards has committed to spending an extra 30-60 minutes in each film or weightlifting session, a stark contrast to the days when he was eager to get out of either commitment as quickly as possible. He's also changed his off-the-field habits, an improvement his coaches take as evidence he's bought into the theory of off-the-field habits carrying over onto the field.
The new Larry Edwards will debut on August 11 when training camp opens, his first opportunity to prove to his coaches he's made significant strides. He's listed second on the preseason depth chart at strong side outside linebacker behind Jeff Longhany, a player who--despite possessing less physical gifts than Edwards--made six tackles for loss last year, good for second on the team.
If Edwards can earn a starting spot in what should be one of the best position battles of training camp, he would join Doug Justice and Tommy Richardson in giving the Tar Heels an all-Florida linebacking corps.
And he'd give his coaches another reason to call his name during practice.
"I think he's going to keep yelling my name this year," Edwards says. "But this season I'm going to make sure the only reason he has for saying it is because I'm doing good things."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
