University of North Carolina Athletics
Countdown to Kickoff: Education of Khalif
August 30, 2005 | Football
Aug. 30, 2005
By Adam Lucas
Leave it to the always talkative Chase Page to reveal one of the heretofore best-kept secrets about the key play in the closing seconds of last year's victory over NC State.
For the last 10 months, Khalif Mitchell has basked in the glow of making the game-saving stop and forcing a fumble from the Wolfpack's T.A. McLendon on the doorstep of the goal line. It was one of the most memorable moments in the history of the series between the two old rivals.
And it was, well, just a bit lucky.
"Khalif was totally in the wrong gap on that play," Page says with a big smile. "That's not where he was supposed to be."
A quick bit of explanation: "gaps" refer to the spaces between the opponent's offensive linemen. The `A' gap is between the center and guard, the `B' gap is between the guard and tackle, and the `C' gap is outside the tackle.
Here's the problem: now you have to approach a 6-foot-6, 297-pound man and ask him if the biggest play of his career was an accident. He listens intently to the question. He pauses, knocks his cleats against the Kenan Stadium wall to remove some of the grass embedded in his shoes.
And he smiles and unleashes a big laugh.
It is one of the first days of Kenny Browning's return to defensive tackles coach for Carolina. He is telling Khalif Mitchell how to play the position.
"Play low and use your hands," the coach says.
"That's it?" Mitchell asks.
"That's it."
Mitchell goes through a handful of practices, Browning's words ringing inside his helmet. He plays low. He uses his hands.
A few days later, Browning approaches him again.
"Read the feet," he says. "Put all those things together and you will be a great defensive tackle."
Mitchell goes through another handful of practices. He realizes something important.
"I put what he had told me together," the sophomore says, "and it works. It's so relaxing when you put stuff together and you realize that you are becoming a better player."
It might be relaxing to the Virginia Beach native, but it's not especially calming for the offensive linemen who have to face him in practice. Mitchell has been one of the most impressive players in camp, and took advantage of injuries along the defensive line last week to get some key repetitions with the first-team defense. His number is slowly peeling off his white practice jersey, but during training camp it hasn't been hard to identify him--just look for the behemoth in the offensive backfield.
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Countdown to Kickoff: 11 Days
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It's been the type of play expected of him ever since he enrolled at Carolina in January of 2004. He is a Browning special, as the UNC assistant discovered him when very few other programs were aware of him. Mitchell just began playing football in the 11th grade, so the learning curve was steep. He spent a semester at Hargrave Military Academy, another stop in a whirlwind football education.
He began his Tar Heel career as an end but was shuffled to tackle during the 2004 season. The adjustment was not seamless.
"Sometimes Khalif tries to make a play on every play," Browning says. "That can get you in trouble. If you're a defensive tackle, you're not supposed to make a play if they have two guys blocking you. You're just supposed to hold the point of attack. Wait until one of those two double-team guys goes to the linebacker and then make a play."
It is a little eerie to talk to Browning and then talk to Mitchell. Browning is supposed to be the wise sage of defensive tackles. But you don't expect to see such unsolicited examples of his impact with almost two full weeks remaining before the season opener.
Browning: "It's not what you tell them as much as what you help them learn how to do. They know when they are getting better. That's the greatest motivating factor that exists for a player. At that point, they trust you. Then they buy into what we're trying to do and at that point it is a snowball effect."
Mitchell: "Now I realize that if I execute this, this, and this, then I will be in the position to make a play. I won't just be trying to make a play. I'll be making a play. I might not make the tackle, but if I handle a doubleteam then our linebackers will make a play."
Mitchell is not the perfect defensive tackle, of course. He is not yet in the same league with Ryan Sims or Vonnie Holliday, other Browning protégés who have gone on to big NFL paydays. He is not yet even in the same league with Riddick Parker or Anthony Perkins, two other Browning pupils who have stopped by Chapel Hill to encourage him.
He is unlikely to be a starter this year, not with Page and Kyndraus Guy ahead of him, but could provide another valuable body on a defensive line where quality depth has been absent recently. To get there, Mitchell must continue to show maturity in his off-field decisions and master more of the mental part of the game.
Oh, and about that mental part of the game, nuances like filling the right gaps. That brings us back to last year's NC State game, the one where his teammate has just revealed that Mitchell wandered into making the contest's--and perhaps the season's--biggest play.
Mitchell laughs. Then he turns serious.
"I'm just going to say it like this," he says. "On that play I had one objective: make sure we win and I get the ballcarrier. That's it. It doesn't matter if I was all the way across the field, I had to make the play.
"I made the play. That's all I have to say."
And he winks.
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.
