GoHeels Exclusive: Details

By Joe Wedra

CHAPEL HILL --- As he's sat in the Tar Heel wrestling room this week, plenty has run through Coleman Scott's mind.

UNC wrestling's head coach hasn't been just a head coach this week. Planning for the ACC Championships and NCAAs for his team isn't a light job. It carries a bit more responsibility than your average cycle throughout the year.

"Everything you guys need, put it on us this week," he said to his team huddle before Monday's practice. "When your family asks for the itinerary, direct them to me. When they want to know how to get tickets, tell them to call me."

This time of the year, it's all about school and wrestling. No outside distractions, nothing that doesn't carry with it a priority. Everything else, for everyone in the room, can probably wait until March 25 when the team is home from Pittsburgh.

"It's stressful, but at the same time it's what we live for," Scott said. "I can't tell you how excited I get for these next few weeks. We wrestle for March. So if that means I'm going to have to take on a bit of extra work and deal with the extra stuff so my guys can be ready, I'm going to do that."

This isn't Scott's first rodeo. Far from it.

The fifth-year UNC head coach hasn't just seen it from the perspective of "Coach Scott". A four-time All-American and a 2008 NCAA champion, he's been through his fair share of championship prep.

And while last year's team featured a pair of All-Americans (Troy Heilmann, fourth at 149 pounds; Chip Ness, seventh at 184 pounds), the group heading to Blacksburg this weekend for the 2019 ACC Wrestling Championship has the potential to post even better results in a few weekends in Pittsburgh.

Not only does UNC have Ness returning for another run through the tournament, Carolina features the likes of Austin O'Connor and Cory Daniel, both of whom have been projected nationally to fight for All-American spots. Throw in veterans like A.C. Headlee and Gary Wayne Harding who have competed with the top talents in the nation and you end with a realistic possibility for the Tar Heels to end with a handful of All-Americans this season.

All of that adds up to a lot of preparation and tight focus, especially the week before the conference tournament.

"Nothing is a given. We go into this weekend knowing we're going to have to fight for everything every single match," Scott said. "That's why we're locked in this week. We want to look ahead to nationals, but we know that the challenge of ACCs is the task at hand. We can't focus on jumping ahead to anything else. We want a conference title. That's my goal right now."

This time of the year, it's all about the details.

In the team's weekly staff meeting, there wasn't a stone left unturned.

Heilmann, now the team's director of operations and high performance, was filling out lunch orders for the team's weekend trip to Blacksburg. Coach Tony Ramos was chatting with members of the training staff about travel plans to Pittsburgh. And through all the pre-tournament planning and conversation, team academic counselor Emily Adney was giving reports on the student-athletes' responsibilities in the classroom.

The hour meeting was just a small glimpse into the world that Scott and Co. have entered for this portion of the season.

On the mat, there's individual work and plenty of drilling. Practice looks a bit different this time of the year, but the hours certainly aren't any less. The work becomes more specialized and tailored to the team's 10 starters for ACCs. With that comes more work for Scott, Ramos and the rest of the coaching staff.

But through the long hours, late nights and hotel reservations, you won't hear a single complaint.

"This is why we do it," Scott said. "All the preseason workouts, all the lifts, all the meetings. It comes down to all of us performing our best right now. It's just wrestling."

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Cory Daniel

Gary Wayne Harding

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Chip Ness

Austin O'Connor

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