University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Seniors Earn Input
August 15, 2006 | Football
Aug. 15, 2006
By Adam Lucas
A group of Tar Heels got together last week to ponder the best way to use the video board in Kenan Stadium this season.
Ordinarily, that wouldn't be particularly noteworthy. The Carolina video board crew--which includes Ken Cleary, Jones Angell, and Justin Burnett, plus marketing honchos Rick Steinbacher and Michael Beale--is constantly pondering ways to maximize every aspect of the gameday experience. Football games used to be simple: you made sure the footballs were inflated, rolled them out, and waited for the fans to arrive. Now they're full-scale events, with Tar Heel Town and tailgating and traffic coordinators.
What was unusual about the meeting, though, was the group that requested it: Carolina's group of 2006 football seniors.
The senior class met with head coach John Bunting before training camp began in an annual meal in Kenan Stadium's Pope Box. It's a far-ranging evening, covering everything from uniforms to expectations to mottos. A good group of seniors dominates a college football team, setting examples on and off the field.
This year's group, though, wasn't content with the usual brand of influence.
"This is a great group of seniors," says Brian Chacos, the most senior of the seniors. "We relate well to Coach Bunting, and he is looking to us to provide a lot of leadership and ideas to help the program--even things as little as ideas about the practice field. It's cool that he's allowing us to do that."
Cool--and perhaps a sign of adjustment from the head coach. Remember, this is the man who personally selected the music for pre-practice stretching during his first camp as Carolina head coach. The tunes leaned heavily towards Bunting-era rock, not 21st-century rap.
Now, he's consulting with players to find out what music they want to hear in pregame warm-ups. That song with the driving beat your neighbor complains about as it thunders over the Kenan speakers on Sept. 2? It's on the playlist because the players requested it.
"It feels great to be involved," Chacos says. "As minor as it is to have involvement in things like the video board, it makes us feel more important and more involved. When Coach got here, it was more his way or the highway. He's let players get more involved and provide more leadership."
"When he first got here, it was more of a dictatorship," Larry Edwards says. "Now he asks for our input...He's a players' coach. Once you have a coach like that on your side, it makes you want to play even harder for him."
Don't misunderstand, though. Carolina football hasn't become a democracy and Bunting hasn't gone new age and creampuff. In most cases, players make suggestions, not decisions. Some Tar Heels suggested having individual theme music for each player on the video board to accompany big plays. The head coach nixed that idea, instead suggesting something more team-oriented rather than something that singles out the individuals.
Most importantly, though, he was open to the suggestion. The coach has learned that even the most insignificant player requests--even if he doesn't agree with them--can carry significant weight in the locker room. He pointedly told his squad that the best way to inspire a raucous crowd on game day was quality football on the field, not a specific song or sound effect. But he also has shown a willingness to consider their contributions.
"I'm giving this group more input into things we do," Bunting says. "How we dress, how we travel, what things I can do to help them. Right now, I'm exploring getting the defense into white pants (in practice). They are lightweight. It's something I have very little sympathy for but the players brought it to my attention and I will look at it."
The white pants worn at practice are the more recent, more lightweight version. The blues are older and heavier.
As a player, Bunting never had the opportunity to choose his pants color (at Carolina practices, the offense wears navy jerseys and white pants while the defense wears white jerseys and blue pants). But if it makes a difference in 2006, he'll consider it.
There could be even more meetings to come. Ronnie McGill, who is lobbying for a train whistle to play any time the Tar Heels break a big run, thinks it might be productive for the seniors to meet with the band and Carolina Fever.
"I'd like to get more things in sync and have more energy out there," he said. "I'd suggest more things that would get the rest of the fans involved. Fever and the band work well together, but sometimes other people aren't sure what is going on. It would be good to get everyone else involved."
What McGill might not know is that he's stumbled on the eternal question pondered by every sports marketing staff in the country. Students and the band will almost always be loud. Coordinating them with the rest of the stadium is the challenge.
A challenge Bunting doesn't mind if the seniors ponder during their training camp down time. It's a minor detail, but an appreciated detail.
"It shows us he wants us to be successful as much as we do," Edwards says. "Asking for our input and ideas and what we think about things makes us want to do more for him."
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.
