University of North Carolina Athletics
Wednesday Practice Notes
August 13, 2008 | Football
Aug. 13, 2008
By Sergio Tovar
The Carolina coaching staff surprised its players this morning by announcing that they were going bowling instead of having to go through another rigorous practice.
"We had planned back during the summertime that after about our 10th day of training camp we would try to find some way to have some fun and give the players a little bit of a break," coach Butch Davis said. "Last year we took them swimming, and this year we ended up taking the players bowling, and it was absolutely phenomenal"
Greg Little's skills on the football field do not seem to translate to bowling, as the sophomore running back only bowled a team-low 24.
Davis said Cooter Arnold, Mike Dykes, Brooks Foster and Chase Rice had some of the best scores in the team.
"It was a good surprise," Rice said. "We needed a break and it was a lot of fun to go out bowling with the guys."
The only coach who bowled was Everett Withers, who coach Butch Davis complimented on his bowling skills.
"He could quit coaching if they had a senior's professional bowling league," Davis said.
At the evening practice, Davis continues to emphasize the importance of special teams to his team. He said that he will devote at least a third of the practice time to special teams for the next three days.
"We've really got to develop some of the back players and I think that most noticeably that's where most of the freshmen, especially some of the young linebackers - the Zach Browns, the Dion Guys, Ebele Okakpu," Davis said.
"Those guys can make a big addition to this football team, but until they understand the schemes of the punt protection, the kickoff coverage, the lanes responsibilities, they're not ready for prime time yet."
Jay Wooten and Casey Barth are still splitting kickoff and field goal attempts at practice. Sophomore walk-on Grant Schallock seems to have moved into the number-two punter position and worked with the second team today.
Coach Davis said that he has been very pleased by deep snappers Trevor Stuart and Mark House.
"If the snapper doesn't do his job, you could have the world's greatest kicker and it wouldn't make any difference," Davis said, adding that the other day the field goal unit went 8-for-8 during live drills.
