University of North Carolina Athletics
Old Faces In New Places
August 5, 2008 | Football
Aug. 5, 2008
By Turner Walston
The Tar Heels' second training camp with Butch Davis is underway, and the experimentation continues. This staff wants the best player for each position - no matter where that player might have played in the past. With an emphasis on finding speed at every position, Davis has moved players around the depth chart, attempting to plug the right athletes into the right holes.
As a freshman in 2007, Charles Brown roamed between cornerback and nickel back. Too impressive not to see the field, he finished second in ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year voting...to teammate Deunta Williams at strong safety, himself a transplant from wide receiver in last year's fall camp. Richie Rich started last season at tailback, but moved to cornerback and saw his first action on defense against Wake Forest.
But Davis is not done attempting to find the right formula. Johnny White led the Tar Heels with 399 rushing yards in 2007, but joined Rich this spring, moving from the backfield to the secondary.
"It was an adventure," White said of making the switch. "I've never played corner before, but I played linebacker in high school. You've got to be so athletic, and it's very hard to play. I was just really trying to adjust to it."
Shaun Draughn has performed the opposite maneuver from White: the sophomore, listed at safety on the roster, is taking reps with the tailbacks in training camp.
Returning to offense is Cooter Arnold. The senior will line up at wide receiver in 2008 after two seasons at safety and on special teams. Arnold started at tailback as a true freshman in 2005.
Sophomore Vince Jacobs, formerly a tight end and special teams performer, will try to see the field as a defensive end in 2008. He sees the move as a tremendous opportunity.
"I'm excited," Jacobs said. "It kind of feels like a transfer. It's a new birth. The coaches have a new excitement about me, and it's like I changed teams."
At 6'7 and 235 pounds, Jacobs isn't the typical height for a defensive end. But he plans to use his size and speed to his advantage. "We're going to bring a lot of speed to the outside that's going to surprise a lot of tackles," he said. "My leverage, being able to get up under some of those tackles is big, too."
Another tight end moved is Ryan Taylor. A special teams standout, Taylor enters the 2008 training camp at linebacker. "In the spring, we had a real need for linebacker due to some injuries," Taylor said. "I just wanted to help the team out. The coaches thought because of my special teams play and maybe my more aggressive nature that I might be able to fit the bill to be a maybe a backup or a reserve linebacker."
One advantage to moving players is that they can bring the experience of a previous position with them. Players moving from one side of the ball to another can impart knowledge of formations and tendencies to their new position mates.
"I've already noticed it," said Jacobs. "The way our tight ends set, and their alignments, I was telling E.J. (Wilson) the other day that when they have a wide gap, they're going to try to inside-release me." Jacobs is confident he can recognize the same things in opponents.
"Being on offense, you've got to be a student of the game, and study the whole offense," White said. "It's not just `learn your position.' That sort of carries over to help you on defense. You can recognize stuff."
Taylor said moving to linebacker has already increased his football IQ. "Now, I think I understand defense better, and playing offense for the first two years of my career here has somewhat helped my progression at linebacker." But the position can't be learned just by watching film. "You really need reps just to get down what the reads are, the fits are, the different idiosyncrasies of it," he said.
All of the switching players say that having a full training camp at their new positions can only help their development. "It's definitely a good thing," Jacobs said. "They told me about it beforehand so that I could dedicate my summer conditioning to get ready for this challenge." Already a fast player, Jacobs worked on his strength this summer.
"It's a big advantage," White says of having 29 practices to learn the cornerback position. "You've got that much more time to improve your skills and get comfortable at the position." And White says he and his teammates will be ready by the time McNeese State rolls into town on August 30. "Oh yeah. I'm ready to strap `em up and get out there."
Players Mentioned
