University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Thigpen and the Inside Backers
May 30, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Between Cole Holcomb, Dominique Ross and Jonathan Smith, North Carolina boasted plenty of experience at linebacker last season.
But with Holcomb's departure to the NFL and Smith unable to participate in team activities this spring, Tommy Thigpen looked around the inside linebacker room at the start of spring practice and noticed a distinct difference.
"To me, it was like you've got a lot of guys who are playing first-time positions …" said Thigpen, who coached UNC's safeties last season. "(We) had a lot of guys with a whole lot of athleticism, but just not much playing experience."
In some ways, that might've proved beneficial as the Tar Heels installed Jay Bateman's multi-front defense this spring. Any scheme would've been considered new by most of the players in Thigpen's room. And throughout spring practice, they acclimated to it.
"Last season, you had one call, two calls, on first and second downs," Thigpen said. "Here, we may have five or six different fronts and five or six different calls. You've got to start dropping things in buckets and just compartmentalize it. Situationally, you just have to get into the D-coordinator's head and figure out why did they call this and why we're doing this.
"Once they understood that, they're like, 'OK, that's it. I get it now.' So once they had that 'oh, I got it' moment, you just saw the guys start to improve and actually understand how to regurgitate it back to you and talk in the terms Jay Bateman uses."
Carolina's most experienced linebacker is Ross, who played 508 snaps last season according to Pro Football Focus. The rising senior figures to be one of two starting inside linebackers this fall, but he's also expected to be a rush end.
"He has a pass-rushing trait that's different," Thigpen said. "He has a natural ability to rush the passer, and that's hard to find. … He's promising, very promising, and he's got ability and he's been here for four years. You can never underestimate the number of reps that have been in a game and playing experience. You can't ever underestimate that because he's been under the spotlight and in the big games. So it's not overwhelming for him.
"With putting a new defense in, he had trials and errors in the beginning, but over time, the duration of practice, he just got better and better and better."
When asking each defensive player who they trust and respect on their side of the ball, Thigpen said Ross was among the most common answers. But Jeremiah Gemmel's name was perhaps brought up the most.
Gemmel, a rising redshirt sophomore, redshirted in 2017. He then played in just four games last season partially due to injury. Watching him as he coached the safeties, Thigpen said he thought Gemmel showed little emotion and he questioned his care factor. Now serving as Gemmel's position coach, Thigpen said Gemmel's care factor and football IQ remind him of Holcomb.
"I didn't know what a treat he was to have in the classroom," Thigpen said. "The young man speaks football on a really high level, and the fact that he can see everything on the football field really gives you an asset. Ask the guys who they trust, it's going to be him over and over again, from D-Ross to Jon Smith to even our guys on the front.
"They really trust him because they know exactly where he's going to be. There's a comfort level knowing he's going to fit plays right. He surprised me, I can honestly say that. When I'm in the classroom with him, he just asks me questions, is not afraid to say, 'Coach, that doesn't make sense. Can you explain it again?' The way he sees the game is like a third- or fourth-year starter."
Chazz Surratt is the only other inside linebacker who is entering at least their third season at UNC. But he might be the least experienced at his position.
Before the Tar Heels changed coaches in late November, Surratt chose to move from quarterback – where he played 10 games (seven starts) – to linebacker. The redshirt junior saw an opportunity at the position, which he last played in high school. And he embraced the change.
After suffering a season-ending wrist injury against Miami in late September, Surratt was in a cast for most of spring practice. But Thigpen said "he never complained and never made any excuses" as he adjusted to linebacker.
"He sees it like a quarterback sees the game," Thigpen said. "He can diagnose plays pretty fast. Right now, we've got him running up the back side of the 5 technique and the back side of the 3 technique, not knowing exactly where he fits. But when he does know where he's going, he gets there in a hurry.
"The fact that he talks football on a high level to you tells you he's going to come in and do all the small things in the offseason to make himself into a competitive football player. I like where Chazz is at. I like what he stands for. He's a player whose care factor is a plus 10, and he's going to do everything he can to make UNC football a better team."
Rising redshirt freshman Matthew Flint and early enrollee Khadry Jackson were the other inside linebackers who went through spring practice.
Flint played in two games last season, and with the implementation of the new defensive scheme, he and Jackson entered the spring on similar footing. Thigpen said he was encouraged by how eager they were to learn.
"They're big and they're strong, abnormally strong, both of them," Thigpen said. "Any time you have guys who just love football, you're going to have a chance. I can tell you both of those young men have a passion. They live and breathe football.
"When they have that hunger and passion to get better, they'll get better. … These two guys constantly want to talk football to you. They constantly want to call you on the phone and ask you about complex situations. To me, that's always a good sign when you've got those young guys who are thinking ahead and want to make sense of football."
Thigpen isn't sure if Eugene Asante, the No. 17 outside linebacker in the Class of 2019 according to 247Sports.com, thinks the same way. He'll start to find out after Asante reports.
"With the way he runs and his viciousness on the football field, if he brings that to us right in the beginning, you've got to find a role for that kid to be on the football field," Thigpen said. "There's got to be something he can do to help us win some football games. … If Eugene is anything like Khadry, those two will set the mold for how we recruit linebackers in the future."
