University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Next Man Up
February 16, 2015 | Football, Featured Writers
By Lee Pace, GoHeels.com
Larry Fedora's oldest daughter Sydney was a junior in high school in Hattiesburg, Miss., when Fedora accepted the Tar Heel coaching job in December 2011. He and wife Christi made the decision that it would be unfair to move her for one year of high school, so the Fedora family stayed in Hattiesburg for a year and a half before moving to Chapel Hill (Sydney is now at the University of Texas).
“I feel bad for my staff,” Fedora said jokingly in the spring of 2012. “I've got no one to go home to. I make 'em stay around all night to keep me company.”
Gene Chizik was faced with a similar quandary in looking at job opportunities the last two years after his last post at Auburn following the 2012 season. Twin daughters Landry and Kennedy are juniors in high school in Auburn, and son Cally is in the eighth grade. That the Fedoras made their situation work helped Chizik and his family reach a comfort level that the Tar Heel defensive coordinator job was the right one to launch Gene back into coaching.
“That's why location was so important on any thoughts of taking a coaching job,” says Chizik, who as Auburn's head coach was likely the only one in the country to drive his kids to school daily. “I've had good opportunities in other places, but I knew I couldn't move my girls. Geographically, it wouldn't work. I talked in depth with Larry about it. He said it's not easy, but it's doable. I've never been away from my family. They have always been No. 1. But they're at the age now, they get it. We're working through the logistics of how it will work.
“But we'll make it work. This is not a Gene Chizik decision. This is a Gene Chizik family decision.”
Chizik spent two years in the broadcasting business, working for ESPN and SiriusXM Radio. He says if he never got the right coaching job, “then fine, I've had a great career.” He said it would take the right institution, right boss(es), right geography and the potential to win a championship to get back into the fray. And he admits missing the strategy and the competition, the intensity of game day.
“Whenever I had an opportunity, I had to ask, 'Why this one?' Moving forward, every decision I make has to be a quality of life decision,'” Chizik says. “All the research I did, all the things I learned about North Carolina fit me personally. I'm excited to be at a place where academics are huge. I wanted to be at a place that holds that in high regard.”
Chizik has been on the job since mid-January, spending several days in Chapel Hill reviewing tape of the 2014 defense and of prospects that might or might not have signed with the Tar Heels and that will be key targets for 2016. The rest of the time he was on the road recruiting. Now he and holdover staff member Keith Gilmore and newcomer John Papuchis have begun planning spring practice. He has had one defensive team meeting so far.
“All the players are going to know we're going to start from scratch, no preconceived ideas on who can play,” Chizik says. “I told the guys if you've not played, you ought to have a lot of encouragement right now because we're not looking back. Those who have played, you need to know you have to win your job back. You're not going to inherit positions. I will look at every single guy individually, what is his body type and skill set best suited to do and then try to find a spot for him on the team. Will it work out for everybody? No. Will it work out for some? Yes.
“I told them to be encouraged. We're going to have some fun with this. But don't be confused with fun and production. We're only going to be about production. It's that simple. I want our guys to have fun. They play the game because it's fun. They had fun as little kids. But fun is winning. There is no fun in losing. That's our goal every day, become a part of something that improves and gives us a better chance to win.”
One of Chizik's former bosses, Texas head coach Mack Brown, said a month ago that one element of the Chizik dossier he liked was that Chizik's schemes were in essence quite simple but that he worked in enough slight-of-hand and had sufficient moving pieces to keep the offense off-balance. Chizik says that's by design and the goal is to not over-think and get into paralysis-by-analysis mode.
“One of the things you have to be careful of is not doing too many things,” Chizik says. “This day and age with offenses the way they are, the term 'less is more' is very relevant. You have to be able to not trick yourself. Offenses in college have really moved away from the NFL model and have gone to a lot of different deceptions, moving parts, particularly now that quarterbacks are in the mix as your tailback, so to speak. The main thing is don't trick yourself, make sure you're doing enough to have some variance in there but not doing so much you trick your own guys. We have to figure out what that balance is.”
Chizik says good defense always starts with the tackles and ends up front and that the only stat that matters is points allowed. More important than scheme is the opponent turning on the film on Sunday and going “gulp” at the intensity level and effort and the heart and soul you show. He plans to coach from the press box but acknowledges that working the sideline and “looking into a player's eyes and observing his body language” when things are not going well has its benefits. He credits Brown with giving the Carolina and Chapel Hill experience a glowing recommendation. And of Fedora's references to all the trash-talking Carolina is getting from rival recruiters, he says matter of factly: “That's a battle we'll fight. It's not the first fight I've been involved in.”
Looks and sounds like “game on” in this new chapter in Tar Heel football.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (leepace7@gmail.com) is in his 25th year writing “Extra Points” and 11th reporting from the sidelines for the Tar Heel Sports Network. His unique look at Tar Heel football will appear regularly throughout the fall. Follow him on Twitter @LeePaceTweet.
