University of North Carolina Athletics
Sunday Practice Notes
August 6, 2006 | Football
Aug. 6, 2006
By Adam Lucas
There are a few things required of any Carolina practice attendee.
You have to comment on the heat. You have to say something about the quarterbacks. And you have to either ask or be asked, "So, who looks good?"
Here's the thing: the players are wearing shorts and helmets (Sunday, as part of the NCAA's five-day acclimation period, players graduated to half pads). Unless you have devoted your life's work to analyzing the way a defensive lineman rips through during a drill, the truth is it's hard to tell. Most of us leave practice and go back to regular life. Coaches go back and break down film of every single play during practice. That's why they're coaches and the rest of us, well, aren't.
So what do you look for in a practice with just shorts and helmets? Let's ask the experts.
"You mostly want to see everyone flying around," Ronnie McGill said. "You want to see people picking up the people they're supposed to pick up and see everything using their hands the right way and showing quick feet."...
You want quick feet? Try freshman defensive tackle Aleric Mullins, who got a big hand from his defensive linemates after zipping past his opponent two straight times during a one-on-one drill...In previous camps, there has sometimes been a clear winner in many of the team periods. The defense was ahead of the offense in John Bunting's first season, then the roles reversed until last year, when the defense began to get more victories. Through three days, this year's sides have had a fairly even split. Kareen Taylor picked off a pass during a team blitz period Sunday, drawing a big cheer from the defense. But on the very next play, Cam Sexton feathered a pass perfectly through traffic to Jesse Holley as the offense responded with an equally big roar...
The team's senior-picked motto, "The New Blue," will soon be added to the hallway outside the Carolina locker room. What does the new motto mean? "It means we're the new Carolina," McGill said. "We're not the old Carolina we used to be where people talked about how we didn't work hard. In the new blue, everyone is on the same page. We work out all the time, stay positive, and don't let people think we're a pushover."...There's been a steady buzz about the newest members of the new blue, the true freshmen. Members of that class have been impressive at almost every position group. "They're bigger," Bunting says. "There's no doubt about it. I couldn't wait to see them get on the field and move around. Now I'm even more excited about our prospects two or three years from now. There will be a couple that will push to play a lot this year. We'll watch it each day and around two weeks from now, we'll start making some decisions on who we need to speed up and who we need to slow down."...
Need something to inspire you for your next workout? Here's the words at the top of one wall in the Carolina weight room: "It is within these trenches that we enjoy the pursuit of our utmost potential so that our dreams become real on the field of battle."...Keep the helmets and shoulder pads away from Tommy Thigpen or else he's likely to try and strap them on. Carolina's linebackers coach is one of the most enthusiastic coaches on the practice field, and he's not above delivering a dig or two to the offense during drills. After one interception during a team period Sunday, he looked like an honorary Rude Boy as he got in a few words to the quarterback.
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.
