University of North Carolina Athletics
Football Holds Professor Day At Practice
October 10, 2013 | Football
Chapel Hill, N.C. - Despite cool temperatures and a hint of rain, more than 40 University of North Carolina professors attended Carolina football's "Invite A Professor To Practice" day Wednesday afternoon at the Navy practice fields. The professors were guests of UNC's football student-athletes who were instructed to invite one teacher from their fall classes.
"We've been doing it every semester," said head coach Larry Fedora. "The professors actually get to what these guys do out of their classroom, and really get an experience. For some of them it's the first football practice they've ever been to in their life, and I think it's neat for some of them to see."
The guests, which also included UNC system President Tom Ross, watched practice from 4-6 p.m., then took a tour of the Loudermilk Center before joining the student-athletes for dinner in the football center.
"(At dinner) is really where I think it's the best part of it," said Fedora. "They find out about each other. The kid finds out that the professor is a normal person and I think the professor also finds out the kid is a normal person. It's really been a great thing for us."
Fedora, who also had a similar program at Southern Miss, addressed the group of professors after practice.
"It was really letting them ask questions about practice because most of them have never seen a practice before in their life," he said. "They had a lot of questions....why we're moving where we're moving, who's on this field, who's on that field, why we play music.
"And then it was just why we're doing this, in the first place: to bridge the gap between academics and athletics. That's on every campus everywhere in the country, so we're trying to get both sides more involved."
Fedora and the Tar Heels have this Saturday off as they continue preparations for next week's game vs. Miami on Zero Dark Thursday (Oct. 17).
