University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Academic Emphasis Pays Off
August 10, 2006 | Football
Aug. 10, 2006
By Adam Lucas
John Bunting's pledge to change the football culture at North Carolina has been well documented. He's instituted the Old Well Walk, talked football from Murphy to Manteo with anyone willing to let him make an appearance, and restored a sense of family among football lettermen.
That's a part of changing the football culture. What's been less noticed is his dedication to changing the academic culture in the Kenan Football Center.
The Tar Heels were recently honored by the American Football Coaches Association for graduating at least 70 percent of football student-athletes. That's an impressive achievement, but the squad Bunting brought to camp this August may have achieved something even more remarkable.
Carolina has 105 players in training camp preparing for the 2006 season. Every returning player has a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.0.
"I wouldn't have believed that was possible a few years ago," Bunting says. "It's a tremendous testament to everyone involved."
A 2.0 GPA won't earn Dean's List honors among the general population. But for a group of student-athletes--some of whom don't come from solid college preparatory work in high school--balancing an extremely time-demanding sport with an extremely demanding university like Carolina, it's impressive.
When Bunting arrived in 2001, he felt academic changes within the program were needed.
"I wanted to demand to do things right in the classroom when I first got here," Bunting says. "But then it was a matter of making some changes in the academic center. From there, it's been a progression. It hasn't gone straight up. There have been some bumps along the road."
The success stories are numerous. Sometimes they're well-known, as when Doug Justice became the first four-time Academic All-ACC selection in Carolina history last year. Sometimes they're not--quarterback Darian Durant completely turned around his academic focus and made himself into a two-time Academic All-ACC pick.
Players have a significant academic support system in place. Bunting cites the addition of Cynthia Reynolds to the student services staff in 2002 as one of the turning points for his program academically. Octavus Barnes was added shortly after Reynolds, providing a player's perspective to the academic staff.
The academic staff meets with Bunting for at least an hour each week during the season, sitting in on the first hour of the Thursday staff meeting to provide updates. In addition, associate athletic director for student-athlete development Corey Holliday is constantly in touch with academic advisors, and he consults with Bunting on a daily basis on any matters that need attention.
"The most outstanding aspect of this coaching staff is their total commitment to the academic success of the football players," says John Blanchard, the senior associate athletic director for student-athlete services. "I've never been around a staff that is more intense about it. Coach Bunting has a commitment to academics that exceeds anything I've ever seen, or even anything I've ever heard about.
"We hear a lot about his love for the University. His personal involvement on a one-on-one basis with the players is a part of that love. He knows how important a Carolina degree is and he wants to make sure his team is doing what they need to do to honor that."
"It's a matter of doing the little things," Bunting says. "Going to class. Being on time. Meeting with the academic staff. Can those little things be hard? Yes. But we have the resources for players to be successful if they give it the right amount of attention."
And players know Bunting is also giving it plenty of attention. He made the well-publicized move to remove Larry Edwards from spring practice to focus on academics, a move Edwards now calls "a major turning point for me." He altered the game week schedule to make Sunday the team's day off instead of Monday. Players now have all day Sunday to catch up on schoolwork that might have slipped during the football-intensive days of Friday and Saturday.
Even in one of most disheartening moments of camp so far--the announcement of Trimane Goddard's season-ending injury--Bunting was reminded of a story about Goddard's off-field commitment.
"When I came back from Maine this summer, one of the first things I saw was Trimane Goddard being tutored in the recruiting room," the coach says. "He didn't want to just get a passing grade in math. He wanted to get something better, and he got a B. That's the kind of kid he is."
Offensive lineman Ben Lemming has a GPA over 3.0 in Carolina's demanding business school curriculum. He can recount endless stories of toting books on road trips and specifically remembers (with only a slight grimace) making it through a junior English class as a freshman.
"Coach Bunting emphasizes staying on track for graduation in every meeting," Lemming says. "He constantly says it's the most important thing. And he backs it up. We see situations where he takes guys out of practices so they can go to review sessions. That sends a big message to the team."
The message is sometimes sent in ways that are apparent only to those within the confines of the Kenan Football Center...and might even be mysterious to the normal fan.
"From time to time, we have a player who misses a start or two," Bunting says. "That could be because they were late to a class or missed a class. The public doesn't have to know about that. But we know. And we're not going to tolerate that. Once the examples are set, it's a lot easier to follow the rules.
"What I want our academic people to know is pretty simple: I will back them one hundred percent of the way. We will do things the right way."
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.
