Extra Points: First Course

By Lee Pace

Larry Fedora remembers Jordyn Adams as a fourth grader in Hattiesburg, Miss., attending Southern Mississippi's summer football camp and competing head-to-head with high school players. "You could tell he was a guy at that point," Fedora remembers. "I've been recruiting him for a long, long time."

At the time, Jordyn's father, Deke, was the defensive line coach for Fedora's Golden Eagles squad, and the Adams family moved with Fedora to Chapel Hill in 2012. Deke then after one year took a job at South Carolina and left when Steve Spurrier retired, catching on at East Carolina for one season. At each step along the way, Jordyn's star as a highly productive athlete rose into the stratosphere.

Adams made the varsity and played receiver as a freshman at Blythewood High in Columbia. He moved to quarterback for one season because the incumbent starter was hurt and threw for some 2,500 yards and rushed for 800 more. He hit .494 with a .649 slugging percentage his junior year of high school baseball. And in August 2016, he threw down a savage tomahawk dunk in a church league shoot-around that was captured on video. The clip made ESPN's Top 10 one night and as of Wednesday had been viewed 195,451 times on Adams' Instagram account.

So the Tar Heel coaching staff had a decision when Fedora needed a defensive line coach after the 2016 season and reached out to Deke. He took the post and started work in January 2017, less than a year from the date Jordyn could sign a Letter of Intent for the 2018 college football season. How, exactly, would they go about recruiting the son of an incumbent member of the staff?

"At the end of the day, I wanted what was best for my son," Deke says. "One of the things when I first got here, we talked about me being his dad and not being involved in the recruiting process. I think that was the right thing to do. Coach Fedora and Coach Fox (baseball coach Mike Fox) got on the same page about him playing both sports. The Carolina environment and the education took over. I think if I had been the recruiter, it might not have ended up the way it did. It was the best thing for everyone."

After hearing Urban Meyer's pitch to Ohio State and Dabo Swinney's to Clemson—among dozens more—Jordyn opted for Chapel Hill. He signed his LOI on Wednesday and is one of 14 new Tar Heels to join the fold in the first-ever December National Signing Day.

"In the end, Jordyn picked Carolina for the same reasons anyone would—the atmosphere, the world-class education," Deke says. "This is a special place. It's not for everyone. It takes special people to be here."

Fedora and the Tar Heel coaching staff hope they have 14 special players to mark the nucleus of the 2018 signing class, though Fedora stresses there are more players to sign and more work to do.

"So far we've done a nice job addressing our needs," Fedora said Wednesday. "We have two quarterbacks coming in for the spring semester. We've signed three defensive linemen. We have two wide receivers we think are the best in the state. We have two running backs who won state championships. We have three defensive backs who have signed. But we have more work to do."

The essence of this class could be found on the field in Kenan Stadium one Saturday night in June when the annual "Fedora's Freak Show" was conducted under the lights and amidst its usual high energy of music and players' hoots and hollers. Adams and another in-state receiving prospect, Charlotte's Dyami Brown, went head-to-head with Javon Terry, a defensive back from Wake Forest. All of them were high on Carolina's list of priorities, and all eventually opted for the Tar Heels.

"Javon came to the Freak Show and literally put a show on," says Tar Heels defensive backs coach Terry Joseph. "His testing numbers were through the roof, but one-on-one the competition with him going against Jordyn and Dyami was off the charts. At the skill positions, that's what you want. Their passion, their hunger to win every snap was obvious. One side won one snap, the other side the next one. Whoever wins the next is probably the play that determines the game. These guys want to be in that position and we'll be a better team for it."

Terry was one of two players to sign from the Wake Forest High juggernaut that has produced defensive lineman Xach Gill (a 2017 Tar Heel signee) and won back-to-back state 4AA titles. Tailback Devon Lawrence eclipsed the thousand-yard mark three years running and was the MVP in the state championship victory over Mallard Creek.

"Javon was the best defensive player on that team, Devon the best offensive player," says Joseph, whose in-state geographical recruiting area includes Wake Forest. "If you get the best two players off the state championship team in your home state, that's a big deal."

The Tar Heel running game during a 3-9 season in 2017 was built around a sophomore, Jordon Brown, and a freshman, Michael Carter. It was incumbent to recruit at least two more tailbacks. Joining Lawrence in the signing class is Javonte Williams, who also won a state title at Wallace-Rose Hill and scored on a 73-yard run in the title game held in Kenan Stadium. Both runners are 5-11, with Lawrence at 190 pounds and Williams at 210 providing some girth the coaches were looking for.

"Devon has great vision, great change of direction, great instincts," Joseph says. "You don't think he a burner, but he never gets caught. He averaged eight yards a pop and churns out the first downs. He's a chain mover. He's a smooth guy. You look up at the end of the game and he has 150, 160 yards."

"There's something to be said for kids who are used to winning," adds running back coach DeAndre Smith. "They understand how to work, how to be coached hard, what the demands are."

Carolina added two quarterbacks, Jace Ruder of Kansas and Cade Fortin of Suwanee, Georgia, two the preferred number after not planning to sign one last year and then being caught in a bind when Mitch Trubisky left early for the NFL. Three new Tar Heels will play defensive line, with two of them standing 6-4 or taller and the coaches expecting both Lancine Turay and Chris Collins to evolve into stalwart edge pass rushers.

"We need to get longer at defensive end," says defensive coordinator John Papuchis. "These two guys fit the bill. Lance has not scratched the surface yet. He's been more of a basketball player. His upside is huge. And Chris is a super dynamic athlete. Get him in the weight room and put some size on him, and he can be a special player."

That's certainly the goal for all 14 of these new Tar Heels. Now hold the phone as Fedora and his coaches work toward Feb. 7 and the traditional National Signing Day.

Lee Pace just completed his 28th year covering Tar Heel football through "Extra Points" and 14th as the sideline reporter for the Tar Heel Sports Network. His book, "Football in a Forest," is available in bookstores across North Carolina and online at www.johnnytshirt.com. Email him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @LeePaceTweet.

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