Extra Points: Springtime Football Diversion

March 28, 2009 | Football

By: UNC Athletic Communications

March 28, 2009

By Lee Pace

While the Carolina basketball team remains in the throes of March Madness seven hundred miles to the west in Memphis ... while construction workers toil round the clock to build a new fifth floor to Kenan Football Center ... and as weathermen cited a line of potentially menacing thunderstorms to move through the area later in the day ... Butch Davis and the Tar Heels took to the field in Kenan Stadium Saturday for a 90-minute public display billed as the team's "Spring Showcase."

What happens now with the exodus of three premier receivers?

How good is the backup quarterback?

How will the Tar Heels account for two losses along the offensive line and the departure of experience and brains at middle linebacker and strong safety?

And how is the ongoing effort progressing to stockpile depth, to develop quality players long into the roster to render the obligatory injuries of the regular season less costly to the won-loss balance sheet?

"One thing that has made this spring so much different is we've had great competition at so many positions and will come out knowing who our back-ups are in a lot places," Davis noted last week. "The last two years, we've had to wait until August to find out who's going to challenge to back-up the starters."

Several thousand fans gathered to glean answers to these and many more questions as they watched the scrimmage, which was curiously scheduled before the end of the 15-session spring practice season (the Heels have four more practices scheduled this week). Davis admitted that in future years he'd like to reset the start of spring practice until after the University's early March spring break and thus conclude football after Easter and a potential basketball berth in the Final Four.

"The weather cooperated, and we were able to run about 68 scrimmage plays, which is about the same number you'd have in an actual game," Davis said. "Scrimmages in the spring are a great opportunity to learn. You learn more from a scrimmage than five or six actual practices because the training wheels come off. There are no coaches in the huddle, no one whispering in your ear. You get a feel for just how well can they play."

Among the many projects of March have been the following:

* Developing Mike Paulus's skills now that he is solidly the No. 2 quarterback behind two-year starter T.J. Yates. Cam Sexton, who started six games last year in Yates' injury absence, plans to graduate and transfer to Catawba College. Paulus had a good day Saturday, hitting 12 of 15 passes for 51 yards.

"Mike is infinitely better now than he was last year," Davis says. "He's pushed himself the last three months. His mechanics are better. His arm speed is better. He's tightened his throwing motion. He's spent a good bit of time going with the ones this spring. I can say this: Mike is a better player today than he was when he went in against Miami (as the starter last September)."

* Honing tailback Shaun Draughn's abilities away from carrying the football, which he has proven to do quite well, as he goes through his first spring practice at tailback following his shift last August from safety.

"Shaun needs to get better at pass protection, better at route running, better at catching the ball," Davis says. "He was inconsistent in those areas last year. He established himself with good vision as a running back. He sees the hole and hits it. He's gotten a little stronger, a little quicker. All those things will help him become a more complete back."

* Grooming the much ballyhooed recruiting target of the 2007 and 2008 signing seasons, Dwight Jones, into a replacement for Hakeem Nicks at split end. Jones spurned heated interest from every big-time school in the Eastern U.S. two years ago at Burlington Cummings High, and it's easy to understand the fuss. He's tall (6-4), can run and jump and has good hands. Position coach Charlie Williams and strength coach Jeff Connors have worked to improve Jones' running style from a short, choppy gait to a longer, smoother stride.

Jones had three catches Saturday for 61 yards, including a diving reception of a 46-yard throw from Yates at the 1 yard-line.

"I told Dwight last week I wanted to shake his hand," safety Deunta Williams says. "I wanted to shake his hand before he gets discovered and gets famous when the season starts. He's going to be a great one."

The good news for the Tar Heels is that he's not the only quality newcomer. Rashad Mason, Todd Harrelson and true freshman Josh Adams have also shown flashes this spring, and August will mean the arrival of several highly regarded freshmen.

* Re-tooling the offensive line to account for the loss of Garrett Reynolds and Calvin Darity to graduation and Aaron Stahl to shoulder surgery recuperation. The first-team unit this spring had returning starter Kyle Jolly at left tackle, freshman Jonathan Cooper at left guard, returning starter Lowell Dyer at center, part-time starter Alan Pelc at right guard, and junior Mike Ingersoll a newcomer at right tackle. Greg Elleby was moved from defense to offense to help shore up depth, and the mammoth Kevin Bryant has settled at right tackle after trying guard last year.

One of the stars in waiting is Cooper, who brings a 6-3, 295-pound frame to the field as well as enormous strength; he has benched 470 pounds, a total that eclipses the best bench press from Jason Brown, the Carolina center from 2002-04 now in the NFL.

"Some guys have great strength and power in the weight room but can't carry it out to the field," Davis says. "Jonathan certainly can. He has good pad level, is leveraged good, he can pull and run and has excellent balance. He has a great base and anchors himself very well. The core interior line has had some titanic battles against players like Marvin Austin and Cam Thomas and Tydreke Powell, and they've had some success."

* Shifting Quan Sturdivant to middle linebacker following the graduation of Mark Paschal, inserting sophomore Zach Brown into the weakside linebacker position, and identifying a second line of linebackers.

Brown gives Carolina a bookend starter alongside Studivant and Bruce Carter of tall, fast and athletic linebackers. Kevin Reddick, Dion Guy, Ebele Okakpu and Herman Davidson have jockeyed along the second team, and Davis likes what he sees.

"The young guys have shown some good stuff," Davis says. "They have good instincts, speed and the ability to get to plays. Mentally, they are learning fast. And they have really good role models in front of them."

* Teaching new strong safety Da'Norris Searcy to read and react. He has excellent speed and demonstrated his ability to stuff the run in his performance in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, when he was inserted as a fifth defensive back to help spy on QB Jeff White.

"Da'Norris is a good player," says Williams, who missed spring ball with a hand injury. "He fits the run really well. Like everyone in the secondary, he needs to work on his pass coverage. We supported the run really well last year. Now we've got to do a better job shutting down the passing game."

* And finding niches for a number of players who were red-shirted last year or played limited roles.

Case in point is tailback Jamal Womble, who during the spring has shown speed and unusual strength for a player only 5-10. It's difficult for one player to ever bring Womble to the ground. He carried seven times for 50 yards Saturday, and the more quality tailbacks a team possesses, the better.

"Jamal's performance was encouraging," Davis says. "He's got the ability to make some people miss, and he caught the ball out of the backfield. He has good power and breaks a lot of arm tackles. He has really good vision and has good feet. He can put his foot in the ground and jump-cut and not take long to re-accelerate. We've given him a lot of opportunities this spring."