Extra Points: Perfection

August 7, 2016 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace

By: UNC Athletic Communications

By Lee Pace

The sun came out Saturday morning, the temperature nudged into the 90s, the heat index topped out over 100. It was just after noon when practice number two of the Tar Heels' August camp ended and the offense spread out the width of the field to run three across-and-back conditioning sprints, and then senior receiver Mack Hollins was called in front of the group to put the cherry on top: Two perfect jumping jacks.

And by “perfection” the drill is to be done in unison—50-some players moving together, slapping their thigh pads at the bottom together, cadence count in a one-two-three-one, one-two-three-two fashion.

Hollins didn't like the first iteration. “Do it again,” he yelled. Carping and griping ensued.

He didn't like the second one. “Do it again,” he yelled. More moaning and groaning.

“The toughest thing a leader has to do,” Coach Larry Fedora would say later, “is to hold your peers accountable.”

Finally Hollins was satisfied with the synchronization of his teammates' efforts and called off the dogs, but not before gathering the group around him for a quick tongue-lashing.

“It shouldn't take three times to get it perfect!” he yelled.

“I don't care if you've just run two marathons, you should be able to focus enough to do two jumping jacks,” Hollins said later. “I get aggravated when guys don't care enough to pay attention and focus. If you want to be great, if you want to be a champion, you can't let up. Leading and getting criticism is part of the game. I know it will make our team better.”

And so it goes as the Tar Heels begin preparations for their Sept. 3 opener versus Georgia in Atlanta and hope to build on a significant step forward in 2015.

They are basking in the warm-and-fuzzy glow of having reeled off a school record 11 straight wins and snaring an ACC Coastal Division title in 2015.

But they are stung by ending their year with eight-point and 11-point losses to Clemson and Baylor, respectively, the latter defeat having felt much more severe given that the Bears ran through the defense for 756 yards.

“It's been maybe 221 days since our last game,” Fedora says. “That's a long time to have a bad taste in your mouth. We have some of the pieces of the puzzle put together, so it should be an exciting year, a fun year. The guys are biting at the bit to get at it.”

Fedora and his coaching staff will focus much of August on those puzzle pieces that remain fuzzy. Three of the most prominent are these:

How are the numbers along the defensive front, a position where Carolina had up to five players sidelined in spring practice for various reasons?

Much better, thankfully. Junior Tyler Powell has played for four years with a hip injury that he didn't disclose during high school and hoped he could work through his first two years in Chapel Hill; it's been repaired surgically and he's now pain-free and noticeably more mobile. Aaron Crawford and Jason Strowbridge were injured as freshmen and are now green-lighted. Jeremiah Clarke is back on the team after sitting out the spring.

Add the imposing presence of freshmen Marlon Dunlap (6-4, 310) on the inside and the gazelle-like twitch of Tomon Fox on the outside, and coach Tray Scott is starting to build an inventory of players who can rush the passer and plug the run. The unit will be anchored in the middle by tackles Nazair Jones and sophomore Jalen Dalton and the steady Mikey Bart at strong-side end.

“I can't wait to play with this D-line,” says linebacker Andre Smith. “Jalen's come a million miles. He's a monster. He's 300 pounds but doesn't look it because he's so tall. He's getting off the ball and is very aggressive. People are going to take notice of those guys this year.”

“You should have seen Tomon in our first pass-rush drill coming off the edge,” Jones adds. “He's a natural pass rusher, he's what we really need off the edge.”

Who'll replace Landon Turner at right guard on offense?

Carolina returns three seniors and one junior along the offensive line but has a massive hole to fill where Turner started for four years before moving on to the NFL. The answer coming out of spring ball was going to be senior John Ferranto, a former starter at left tackle who'd become a utility player in 2015. But Ferranto suffered a freakish pectoral injury in July, ending his 2016 campaign.

“Losing John was absolutely a blow for all of our guys,” left guard Caleb Peterson says. “It's heartbreaking. He's a very well-respected guy, a good dude and someone who's done everything asked of him. I hate it for him and the team.

“But we have a 'next-man-up' mentality. We've been good over the years working through injuries.”

Line coach Chris Kapilovic will experiment with several options through the early stretch of fall camp. On the first day, Brad Henson ran with the first team at right guard. The next day, Henson played back-up center and freshman Tommy Hatton moved over to first-team guard. Meanwhile, junior R.J. Prince, a back-up right tackle, has moved to guard and has been the second-team right guard. Once the team gets into pads early this week and has its first scrimmage Wednesday morning, Kapilovic will let those three players' performances sort themselves out.

The kicking game is solid with Nick Weiler handling place-kicks and kickoffs and Ryan Switzer the primo punt return guy. But how about a punter?

Fortunately, the Tar Heels scored so many points last year they only punted 45 times (only five FBS teams punted less). Unfortunately, those kicks were split among three players as neither Corbin Daly, Joey Mangili nor Hunter Lent could consistently kick for distance, direction and hang time; their 38.2 collective average would not have rated among the top 100 kickers in the nation.

Assistant coach Larry Porter had a good experience at Memphis several years earlier with an Australian punter named Tom Hornsey, who won the 2013 Ray Guy Award. Fedora looked around the rest of college football and the NFL and saw other Aussies such as Brad Wing at LSU and Jordan Berry with the Pittsburgh Steelers finding niches. That led him to Pro Kick Australia, a coaching concern in Melbourne that teaches Australians how to punt and serves as a conduit to funnel Aussies to the States.

And thus the Tar Heels got the name of 27-year-old Tom Sheldon, who was recruited, vetted and signed all over the phone and internet. He flew to RDU two weeks ago and is now being assimilated into American college football.

“I was just hoping I hadn't gotten 'catfished,'” Fedora said. “It's been interesting. He calls me 'mate.' The skill set is definitely there with Tom. But he's still got a lot to learn about American football and the nuances of the game.”

Sheldon elicited a chorus of oohs and aahs over his leg strength the first day of team punting drills, but what was equally impressive was Mangili following him with a series of rockets not seen in these parts in, well, forever. Amazing what some good competition will do.

“They're both amazing punters,” Weiler says. “Joey has worked his tail off and you saw that improvement Friday. Tom's very impressive. It's going to be an awesome competition—good, healthy competition. They're pushing each other, helping each other out. Ultimately, it'll be better for the team.”

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace has covered the Tar Heels for 27 years now with his “Extra Points” feature. Look for his stories throughout the season on GoHeels.com.