University of North Carolina Athletics
CAROLINA: Switz Finds His Fit
November 12, 2013 | Football
NOTE: This article originally appeared in the Nov. 12 issue of CAROLINA: The Magazine.
by Lauren Brownlow
They call him Switz.
The only people who actually call him Ryan, he says, are his mother and his girlfriend.
Ryan Switzer is also listed at 5-10, but the only people who would actually call him 5-10 are those who have never stood next to him (he's considerably shorter).
But it wouldn't matter if Switzer were 5-3. He's fast.
His height didn't matter when he was the two-time winner of the West Virginia state player of the year award as a prep star, or when he helped lead George Washington High School to the 2011 AAA state basketball championship. Or when he was a part of a state championship track team, winning the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.
Did I mention Switzer is fast?
He came to Carolina as a high school running back, but it took Larry Fedora a while to figure out where he would be used. Switzer has just two carries for minus-five yards this year. It was at least a few weeks into training camp in the fall before the staff decided Switzer would be a wide receiver.
There's plenty of depth at that position, obviously. And it was a completely different skill set than the one he was used to. That didn't deter him, but it was an adjustment. "The mental part is definitely a lot. It increases at every level that you play from high school to college to pros," Switzer said. "It's a big jump from high school, especially the playbook and the film study. Without that mental part and without the studying that you do outside of the game and outside of the practice field, you really don't do as well. That plays a big factor in it.
"I've just been given a lot of God-given talent. I wanted to come in here and work hard, and that's kind of my M.O. is to not get outworked."
So he attacked that with the same ferocity and determination he has attacked every other obstacle put in his way. And he saw an opening at a place where he felt he could contribute immediately-punt return.
Switzer returned punts in high school, as a lot of players with his speed tend to do at that level. Fans tend to think that coaches can just insert a fast player in at punt returner on the college level, and that should be that. It's not that simple, though. "It takes a certain type of guy to be able to return a punt. Me personally, I think it's one of the hardest things to do in football, but I've been doing it since I've been playing football so I'm pretty comfortable with it," Switzer said. "It's not any easier at the college level. There's a lot of different schemes and stuff that go into it. But I don't mind going back there and trying to make something happen."
He had a frustrating start to the season, though. As UNC got off to a 1-5 start, Switzer had 15 catches for 109 yards, one carry for minus-eight yards and eight punt returns for 74 yards. But at Virginia Tech, he fumbled two of his punt returns and lost one of those fumbles. And he had an 82-yard touchdown reception at Georgia Tech that would have changed that game significantly called back because of a penalty.
"You go back to your habits, and my habits in high school were to try to score every time I touched the ball," Switzer said. "I'm learning that's not the case right now, so I'm having to pick and choose when and where, and when's the time to try and make something happen and when's not, when to get out of bounds. It's a learning process."
As the younger players have started to become a bigger and bigger part of this team during UNC's three-game winning streak, Switzer is emerging as a difference-maker, too. In the last two games, Switzer has a touchdown pass on a trick play at NC State and a punt return for a touchdown against Virginia.
The drought of not scoring a touchdown was driving him crazy early this season, understandable considering he had 32 touchdowns as a senior in high school a year ago.
Three straight wins for UNC, and three straight games where Switzer has scored a touchdown. Coincidence?
His first collegiate touchdown came against Boston College-the first game of this three-game winning streak-when he caught a 13-yard pass from Bryn Renner. Against NC State, his trick play touchdown pass to Quinshad Davis arguably changed the complexion of that game. The Wolfpack was ahead 16-14 in the second quarter and Switzer-who said he was throwing his first pass probably "since midget league"-found Davis on a pass that was thrown just well enough.
But the way he was used in that game-attempting one pass, returning two punts, catching one ball and getting one carry-shows just how versatile his skills are, and just how much the coaching staff trusts him to use him all over the field.
Then against Virginia, he finally got to make a play of his own. Switzer bobbled the ball when he first caught the Virginia punt at the Carolina 15-yard line, but he picked it up right away and took off, making a few Cavaliers miss on his way to an 85-yard punt return for a touchdown.
He couldn't even enjoy it, because he kept looking back for a flag. There was a flag on the play, and he assumed his touchdown would be erased. It wasn't, but it took away some of the fun from that moment. "As soon as I started celebrating, I was up against the wall...but when I turned back and started walking down the sidelines, I saw Coach Fedora wasn't very happy and the screen said there was a flag," Switzer said. "I kind of started to get hesitant, but thankfully it was after the play."
He'll be making plenty more plays that will count throughout his UNC career, though. The real question is, what will it be next?
