University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Opportunity Knocks for Warren
March 29, 2006 | Football
March 29, 2006
By Adam Lucas
Sometimes opportunities have to be earned. Sometimes they happen just by chance. And sometimes--as in the case of tailback Justin Warren--they come knocking unannounced on John Bunting's office door.
"Opportunity" is a buzzword around Carolina football. The head coach loves to speak about the various opportunities available to his players, about how players can earn playing time through the opportunity of special teams. David Thornton, now a multimillionaire with the Tennessee Titans, was the first Tar Heel under Bunting to be cited as taking advantage of an opportunity when he worked his way up the depth chart in 2001.
Sometimes, though, opportunities just happen. Just like they did in the summer of 2003 when Justin Warren and his father, Roland, went poking around the corners of Kenan Stadium. They'd been in contact with administrative assistant Nick Schiralli and expressed an interest in joining the Tar Heels as a walk-on. Warren decided to take some extra initiative by visiting the campus, which is how he found himself tugging on locked doors all over the Kenan Football Center one summer Saturday. He and his father poked here, prodded there, and found the building deserted. Until they finally found an unlocked door...and almost ran head-first into John Bunting himself.
"My dad and I were just walking through the stadium and we ended up meeting Coach Bunting," Warren says. "We were knocking on all the doors and most of them were locked. We finally found an open door and we almost ended up walking right into his office. That seemed like a good sign."
A good sign for Warren and for the Tar Heels. The 6-foot-1, 188-pound tailback had slipped under most recruiting radars. He'd played at Abington High School outside Philadelphia as a junior but moved to Seneca Valley High in Maryland as a senior. The move caused some schools to lose track of him.
Roland had played running back at Princeton and wanted his son to find a similar blend of solid academics and athletics. Warren, who sat out Wednesday's practice due to a concussion suffered last Friday, also considered Maryland before deciding on Carolina, where he joined the team as a walk-on in January of 2004.
He'd periodically shown flashes of potential in intrasquad scrimmages and certain practices, as coaches were intrigued by his no-nonsense running style and ability to plow through holes. He earned game snaps in several key games last season, including 6 carries for 27 yards against NC State and 4 attempts for 43 yards against Duke.
And with the Tar Heels' spring practice basically used as an evaluation period for several players trying new positions or roles, Warren earned perhaps the biggest compliment of all: he's moved from walk-on to known quantity. He's unlikely to unseat Ronnie McGill as the starting tailback, but he provides a reliable backup option as someone who knows how to grind out yards.
"Justin Warren is a very dependable guy," Bunting says. "He's a smooth player and a good runner. And I know what he can do."
"It's a pretty great feeling to hear that," Warren says. "I've worked really hard. I don't ever want to sit back and feel comfortable. I don't want to stop working hard. It's a great feeling and a great compliment, but I don't want to take it for granted."
Spoken like someone who knows the value of finding the right opportunity.
Notes: The staff tried Kennedy Tinsley at linebacker on Wednesday...Kentwan Balmer is getting some work at defensive tackle...Larry Edwards will sit out the remainder of the spring to focus on his academics in a joint decision made by Edwards, linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen, and Bunting. ...
Warren was enthused about the new offense being installed by new coordinator Frank Cignetti. "I like the fact that we're throwing to the backs more with screens and stuff like that," he said. "With the run package, we can change our runs based on the way the defense lines up and catch them off guard. We're doing that more and you can feel when you're running that the holes are opening up."...
The new offense also makes things more interesting for the defense. "There are new formations and new plays," tackle Shelton Bynum said. "We can't predict what they're going to do because we haven't seen it before. It's like going against another team every day in practice."...Bynum mentioned redshirt freshman Cam Thomas as one of the most impressive players of the spring. Judge for yourself at the spring game on April 8, which will include plenty of activities for the kids and a postgame autograph session.
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.
