University of North Carolina Athletics
Storylines: Depth Beyond The Senior Class
August 13, 2010 | Football
Aug. 13, 2010
This is the second in a series from Tar Heel Monthly focusing on ten on-field storylines to watch during football camp.
Much of the excitement that has propelled North Carolina to No. 18 in the preseason USA Today Top 25 and earned potential ACC Championship chatter comes from the fact that Carolina returns 21 of 24 starters (19 on offense and defense, two on special teams). Most of those players have at least two years' starting experience. Fifteen are seniors.
Many of those players got their start on special teams, battle-tested very early in their careers. Injuries and personnel inadequacies sometimes forced the young players into starting lineups before they may have been ready. The results weren't pretty at times: The 2007 Tar Heels posted a 4-8 record with an agonizing six losses within a margin of seven points. But a foundation was being laid. Davis's 2007 signing class and a handful of players who redshirted as freshmen in 2006 became the core of a roster that has persisted throughout Davis's tenure.
Seven seniors sit atop the preseason depth chart on offense; seven on defense. The four players that make up the starting defensive backfield are seniors. Three of the first four tight ends or h-backs are seniors. Two-thirds of the linebacking corps are seniors.
That's not a bad thing. It never hurts to have returning experience. But beyond the senior class, who is ready to step forward in 2010? Who will be there to carry the message beyond the 2010 season?
A knee injury in training camp robbed Matt Merletti of what should have been his junior season in 2009. Next year, he will be in the unique situation of having been a part of that 2007 class and helping bridge the gap beyond the foundation laid by his classmates. Merletti has seen the way the members of his class have mentored their teammates, and believe that the trait will be passed down. "I get to teach guys how to lead others," Merletti said. "The guys here that are freshmen this year, they're going to be sophomores next year. They're going to be taking the freshmen under their wing. They get to see how it's done by the older guys, so I guess that will help."
Erik Highsmith and Jheranie Boyd are sophomores expected to contribute heavily again in 2010 at wide receiver. The team is refreshing the offensive line with players like sophomores Jonathan Cooper, Travis Bond and Brennan Williams. On defense, Tydreke Powell, Robert Quinn and Quinton Coples are juniors projected to start, with Michael McAdoo, also a junior, likely to figure significantly into the rotation. And middle linebacker Kevin Reddick is a sophomore bookended by seniors Bruce Carter and Quan Sturdivant, an ideal pair to learn from and play alongside. So it's not as though the other three classes are lacking for playmakers.
After a knee injury last weekend to Giovani Bernard, Hunter Furr was left as the only scholarship non-senior at running back. Furr played primarily on special teams in 2009 (a role he'll continue in 2010) and had three carries from scrimmage for six yards. He also ran three events with the outdoor track team this spring. Furr said seeing Bernard get hurt and understanding his situation was tough. "Gio was a great player, in just the three practices we saw. He's going to come back and be an even better player."
Furr said he's one of many underclassmen looking to this senior class for guidance. "Shaun (Draughn) will get me before practice and say, `Come on, let's groove some runs.' We'll groove aiming points, we'll work on blocking, picking up blitzes. The seniors are really helping us develop."
One of those seniors is free safety Deunta Williams. Williams redshirted in 2006, and this season marks his fifth training camp. "I think we've got a lot of ballers," he said of his younger teammates. "The class that we just brought in is very diverse in that the ballers are spread out. D-line ballers, O-line ballers, and some in the secondary. We've got some young guys that can really do it," Williams said. And it will help the young players that they didn't have to play right away. "We didn't really have very good examples when we got here. The program wasn't so great at the time. But it's going to be them (the underclassmen) seeing how it's supposed to be, and then them matching that."
Merletti agrees that it's a luxury for young players not to have to play so early. "When you get to ease in, you get to learn from others' mistakes, and that's a huge part of it," he said. "When we got thrown into the fire our freshman year, you kind of have to learn fro your own mistakes, and that's hard to do. In a game situation, that's costing your team or you're helping the team. It helps them by not having to be thrown into the fire, because they get to watch film, they get a couple years' experience, and that makes all the difference in the world, because fresh out of high school you don't really know what you're doing. It's just getting experience, is what it is. It really helps."
Left tackle Carl Gaskins was also lost to a knee injury in 2009. The junior said when the time comes, he will be ready to step forward and lead. "I just look at the seniors. I follow their lead. When they leave, we're going to take over the team. That's how I feel."
Turner Walston is managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly
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