University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: UNC Athletic Communications
GoHeels Exclusive: Forgetting About The Past
September 12, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
Three minutes into North Carolina's season-opening win over South Carolina, the Tar Heels' defensive game plan drastically changed.
With Patrice Rene unavailable for the first half, the coaching staff had decided Trey Morrison would travel with Bryan Edwards, regarded by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 2 senior wide receiver in the 2020 NFL Draft. But on just the seventh play, Morrison sustained an upper-body injury that ultimately sidelined him for the rest of the game.
Suddenly, UNC had to adjust. In Morrison and Rene's absence, though, Greg Ross stepped up.
The coaches put Ross on Edwards for the rest of the half, and the redshirt junior corner more than held his own. In fact, he played so well that when Jay Bateman asked Dre Bly at halftime if Rene or Ross should cover Edwards in the second half, Bly suggested sticking with Ross. They did. And largely due to Ross' efforts, Edwards finished with just one catch for seven yards.
"A lot of our coverages against South Carolina were tilted toward where that kid (Edwards) was a little bit," Bateman said. "So, (Ross) had a lot more to process because now you've got to be able to play the field corner, the boundary corner, handle all the nickel adjustments – depending on what we were doing. So, he did a really good job. And I thought he made some big plays.
"They threw the slant on us on the last drive and he made a really nice tackle. It was a really good throw and catch. And then two plays later they tried to go up top on him and I thought he defended it really, really well. I don't know if a year ago he would've handled that as well."
The key to doing so now: forgetting about the past.
After playing just 22 snaps through his first two years, Ross was thrust into a starting role due to injuries last season. His struggles were well-documented. The criticism he received was a bit too much. But no one was harder on him than himself.
All that served as motivation as Ross looked to improve throughout the offseason. And through two games, he clearly has. He also appears more comfortable.
"I think he had to come into himself a little bit being out there (last season)," Myles Wolfolk said. "He'd been out to the games, but he hadn't been in the games as much. He kind of had a little nagging injury, too. So just being out there and getting over that injury stuff, I feel like last year was his year to settle down. This year is his year to show the world."
Like many of his teammates, Ross viewed the arrival of Mack Brown and his new coaching staff as a fresh start. But before focusing on the future, Ross took a step back.
While at home in Temple Hills, Md., for Christmas break, he said he analyzed some of Carolina's games as he watched the bowl season unfold. He took note of how he looked and also how the team looked. What he saw made him even more determined to get better and change the program's trajectory.
"It's not like the plays last year I was totally out of position," said Ross of what he noticed on film. "It's just small, small technical issues – looking back for the ball, getting out of your break a step faster, being more patient at the line of scrimmage, not giving them a free release. They were just very small things that were very correctable."
So, he spent the offseason tirelessly trying to fix them.
"Last year, I felt like he was a little inconsistent when it came to his technique and also learning the playbook," Jeremiah Gemmel said. "But seeing him develop from last year to this year is a huge, huge jump. In the spring and in fall camp, he was in the film room every single day. And then some days we'd go out to the indoor and he'd be out there working on his technique by himself, and I'd never seen that from him before."
Among the challenges Ross has faced during his career has been learning from four different cornerback coaches in as many years. That has also meant learning different techniques every year. But he's tried to take something from each coach and incorporate it into his game.
What Ross said Bly has helped him with the most has been his press man coverage skills, which he believes weren't very good last season.
"Working with Dre, one of the best press man coaches in the nation, has helped me tremendously with getting hands on the receiver at the line and disrupting timing," he said. "That's the biggest thing for me, just being physical at the line and trusting that with my speed I can make a play."
As a defensive back, Ross knows he'll occasionally get beat. That comes with playing the position. Because of that, it's important to always concentrate on the next play.
Last season, Ross said it was difficult at times for him to embrace that mindset. But whenever a receiver makes a play against him now, he tells himself they won't catch the next pass, a sign of his growing maturity and also his improved confidence.
"I feel like that was the biggest thing was just believing in myself and just believing that I'm supposed to be here," Ross said. "I feel like that has helped me grow a lot throughout the spring and then just going into the first game, and it's carrying over each week."
Through two games, Ross has earned a 62.9 defensive grade, highlighted by an 83.1 mark in tackling, in 107 total snaps, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). That's a far cry from the 45.8 grade he earned last season, the lowest of any Tar Heel defender who played more than 10 snaps.
So far, Ross has allowed four catches in six targets, according to PFF. But among the 72 Power 5 cornerbacks who have played at least 60 coverage snaps this season, he is tied for eighth in coverage snaps per target (10.0). That metric is used to showcase potentially how sticky a cornerback's coverage was.
"I'm so proud of him because he's improved so much," Bly said. "I would say he's probably been our most improved player, definitely in the back end, since the spring just based on what he did last year and the year before. I feel very comfortable with Greg being out there every snap and playing every play."
UNC might need him to do just that going forward.
When Rene, Ross' roommate since their freshman year, went down with an injury during last Saturday's win over Miami, Ross said he didn't think it was too serious. By the time he caught up with Rene in the locker room after the game, though, they both feared it might be.
The next morning, Rene revealed that he'll be out for the season due to an ACL injury (right knee). At first, Ross said he struggled grasping that. But Rene was quick to motivate him with Ross now expected to return to the starting lineup.
"He told me, 'Yeah, bro, it's your time. You know to step up,'" Ross said. "'Just trust yourself and do what you've got to do. Remember what we went over throughout the spring. Remember how hard we've worked since we got here. You just go out there and do you.'"
Ross is ready to show what that means.
Three minutes into North Carolina's season-opening win over South Carolina, the Tar Heels' defensive game plan drastically changed.
With Patrice Rene unavailable for the first half, the coaching staff had decided Trey Morrison would travel with Bryan Edwards, regarded by ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. as the No. 2 senior wide receiver in the 2020 NFL Draft. But on just the seventh play, Morrison sustained an upper-body injury that ultimately sidelined him for the rest of the game.
Suddenly, UNC had to adjust. In Morrison and Rene's absence, though, Greg Ross stepped up.
The coaches put Ross on Edwards for the rest of the half, and the redshirt junior corner more than held his own. In fact, he played so well that when Jay Bateman asked Dre Bly at halftime if Rene or Ross should cover Edwards in the second half, Bly suggested sticking with Ross. They did. And largely due to Ross' efforts, Edwards finished with just one catch for seven yards.
"A lot of our coverages against South Carolina were tilted toward where that kid (Edwards) was a little bit," Bateman said. "So, (Ross) had a lot more to process because now you've got to be able to play the field corner, the boundary corner, handle all the nickel adjustments – depending on what we were doing. So, he did a really good job. And I thought he made some big plays.
"They threw the slant on us on the last drive and he made a really nice tackle. It was a really good throw and catch. And then two plays later they tried to go up top on him and I thought he defended it really, really well. I don't know if a year ago he would've handled that as well."
The key to doing so now: forgetting about the past.
After playing just 22 snaps through his first two years, Ross was thrust into a starting role due to injuries last season. His struggles were well-documented. The criticism he received was a bit too much. But no one was harder on him than himself.
All that served as motivation as Ross looked to improve throughout the offseason. And through two games, he clearly has. He also appears more comfortable.
"I think he had to come into himself a little bit being out there (last season)," Myles Wolfolk said. "He'd been out to the games, but he hadn't been in the games as much. He kind of had a little nagging injury, too. So just being out there and getting over that injury stuff, I feel like last year was his year to settle down. This year is his year to show the world."
Like many of his teammates, Ross viewed the arrival of Mack Brown and his new coaching staff as a fresh start. But before focusing on the future, Ross took a step back.
While at home in Temple Hills, Md., for Christmas break, he said he analyzed some of Carolina's games as he watched the bowl season unfold. He took note of how he looked and also how the team looked. What he saw made him even more determined to get better and change the program's trajectory.
"It's not like the plays last year I was totally out of position," said Ross of what he noticed on film. "It's just small, small technical issues – looking back for the ball, getting out of your break a step faster, being more patient at the line of scrimmage, not giving them a free release. They were just very small things that were very correctable."
So, he spent the offseason tirelessly trying to fix them.
"Last year, I felt like he was a little inconsistent when it came to his technique and also learning the playbook," Jeremiah Gemmel said. "But seeing him develop from last year to this year is a huge, huge jump. In the spring and in fall camp, he was in the film room every single day. And then some days we'd go out to the indoor and he'd be out there working on his technique by himself, and I'd never seen that from him before."
Among the challenges Ross has faced during his career has been learning from four different cornerback coaches in as many years. That has also meant learning different techniques every year. But he's tried to take something from each coach and incorporate it into his game.
What Ross said Bly has helped him with the most has been his press man coverage skills, which he believes weren't very good last season.
"Working with Dre, one of the best press man coaches in the nation, has helped me tremendously with getting hands on the receiver at the line and disrupting timing," he said. "That's the biggest thing for me, just being physical at the line and trusting that with my speed I can make a play."
As a defensive back, Ross knows he'll occasionally get beat. That comes with playing the position. Because of that, it's important to always concentrate on the next play.
Last season, Ross said it was difficult at times for him to embrace that mindset. But whenever a receiver makes a play against him now, he tells himself they won't catch the next pass, a sign of his growing maturity and also his improved confidence.
"I feel like that was the biggest thing was just believing in myself and just believing that I'm supposed to be here," Ross said. "I feel like that has helped me grow a lot throughout the spring and then just going into the first game, and it's carrying over each week."
Through two games, Ross has earned a 62.9 defensive grade, highlighted by an 83.1 mark in tackling, in 107 total snaps, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF). That's a far cry from the 45.8 grade he earned last season, the lowest of any Tar Heel defender who played more than 10 snaps.
So far, Ross has allowed four catches in six targets, according to PFF. But among the 72 Power 5 cornerbacks who have played at least 60 coverage snaps this season, he is tied for eighth in coverage snaps per target (10.0). That metric is used to showcase potentially how sticky a cornerback's coverage was.
"I'm so proud of him because he's improved so much," Bly said. "I would say he's probably been our most improved player, definitely in the back end, since the spring just based on what he did last year and the year before. I feel very comfortable with Greg being out there every snap and playing every play."
UNC might need him to do just that going forward.
When Rene, Ross' roommate since their freshman year, went down with an injury during last Saturday's win over Miami, Ross said he didn't think it was too serious. By the time he caught up with Rene in the locker room after the game, though, they both feared it might be.
The next morning, Rene revealed that he'll be out for the season due to an ACL injury (right knee). At first, Ross said he struggled grasping that. But Rene was quick to motivate him with Ross now expected to return to the starting lineup.
"He told me, 'Yeah, bro, it's your time. You know to step up,'" Ross said. "'Just trust yourself and do what you've got to do. Remember what we went over throughout the spring. Remember how hard we've worked since we got here. You just go out there and do you.'"
Ross is ready to show what that means.
Players Mentioned
Linebacker
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Defensive Back
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Defensive Back
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Defensive Back
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