Extra Points: Running Start

By Lee Pace

Mack Brown turned on the Zoom call that day in mid-December 2022 and said hello to Randy Clements, who was patched in from Denton, Texas. Also on the call were Chip Lindsey, the day before named the new offensive coordinator for Brown's Tar Heels, along with the holdover members of the offensive staff. The agenda: Explore Clements' interest in becoming the new offensive line coach for the Tar Heels.

Looking out at Brown from his computer screen was a man wearing a T-shirt and a ball cap that read, "Run the damn ball."

Brown said, "That's what we want, we're off to a good start."

That mantra from Clements' tenure at North Texas was a suitable launch pad for the discussion, where the terms "old school" and "north and south" popped up. Clements did, in fact, take the job and in the 17 months since has helped Brown and Lindsey tweak the Tar Heels' offensive mindset of being uber-reliant on the prolific arm talent of Sam Howell and Drake Maye and be more productive in the running game.

The efforts through year one bore some fruit. The Tar Heels rushed for 2,149 yards in 2022, right at 33 percent of their total yards, and bumped that to 2,505 a year ago, just over 39 percent of their offense.

They picked up 124 first downs on the ground in 2022 and 138 last year, and running backs had 308 attempts in 2022 and 349 last season. And Carolina introduced a legitimate superstar at running back in 2023, with Omarion Hampton piling up 1,504 yards while the most a running back could generate the year before was Elijah Green's 558.

One of the prime storylines of spring practice 2024 has been the continued evolution of that mindset and of the offensive line. The Tar Heels lost four players to graduation and one to the transfer portal, so the unit has a completely different look. With the maturation of several players already in the program, the addition of three players from the portal in January and two more to come this summer, the new version has considerable promise—and being in year two of the Clements era helps.

"These guys had three coaches in five years, so that hurts your recruiting, and it hurts player development," Brown says. "I'm really encouraged. We could have a really good, tough offensive line and could be deeper than we've been."

"They're a breath of fresh air," Lindsey says. "This group is working hard and has a lot of promise."

The leader is Willie Lampkin, now in his second year as a Tar Heel after transferring from Coastal Carolina. He's set at right guard and makes up for his lack of height (he stands 5-feet-11) with excellent technique, toughness, passion and precise handwork cultivated through years on the wrestling mat.

"Willie's been told he's too little his whole life, 'You can't do this or you can't do that,'" Clements says. "He doesn't have a problem playing with an edge. That chip on his shoulder is just fuel to him. He is going to outwork everybody and out tough everybody. He's a great athlete, he's just not very tall. He's a junkyard dog, he's going to clamp on and not let go."

In marked contrast to Lampkin beside him at right tackle is the towering presence of Trevyon Green, a sophomore from Prince George, Va., who stands 6-8 and weighs 350 pounds. Green came to Carolina's summer football camp in 2019 and weighed 400 pounds, and the Tar Heel coaches said they'd recruit him if he lost weight. During the Covid shutdown in 2020, Green ran three miles a day and learned how to adjust his eating habits and had cut to 345 pounds by December 2021, when he signed with the Tar Heels. He's healthy now after some injury setbacks in his first two years.

"Trey really cares, he cares about the program, he cares about the team, he's got a huge heart and wants to do whatever it takes to win," Clements says. "He's an easy kid to coach. This is his opportunity. We are counting on him."

Adds Brown, "He has improved so much. He's so massive when he gets on you, you can't get off. He's ready to become what we thought he was when he signed."

The center position has been manned by Austin Blaske, a transfer from Georgia. Veterans Jonathan Adorno and Malik McGowan are competing at left guard. And the left tackle is set to be a bookend to Green on the opposite side—Howard Sampson, a 6-8, 325-pound transfer from North Texas. He had been recruited and coached by Clements before Clements came to Chapel Hill.

"Howard's got a bright future in front of him," Clements says. "He was recruited during Covid, and I think he sort fell through the cracks. I liked what I saw then and really like him now. He's very physical and has all the tools you want. He's just got to work on the details and refine his technique."

In addition, two more linemen are set to join the squad this summer. Jakiah Leftwich is a 6-6, 310-pound tackle from Georgia Tech with two years of eligibility, and Zach Greenberg is a 6-4, 290-pounder who played three years at Division III Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa.

"We're in better shape in the O-line than we've been in a while, particularly since losing four starters," Brown says. "It looks like a disaster, but it's not."

Kevin Donnalley started for two years at guard for the Tar Heels in the early 1990s and went on to play a dozen years in the NFL. He's now on Brown's staff in an off-field player development role as the director of the Koman Game Plan for Success. Suffice it to say he'll gravitate to the offensive line during practice and is encouraged with what he's seen.

"I can see the guys winning offensive line reps more against the D-line, holding their own," he says. "Year two of Coach Clements being here will pay dividends. These guys had a different coach for three years running. You build a rapport with a guy and he's out the door. Trust is so important at that position—trusting your coach and trusting the guy beside you. I'm seeing more of that now."

Donnalley thinks back to his NFL career and remembers two notable games while playing for the Oilers, in 1991 when the team was in Houston and 1997 when it had moved to Nashville. Both games were against Dallas. In his rookie year in 1991, the Oilers controlled the clock for 48:34 minutes in one game. In 1997, the offense ate up 25 plays and 13:21 of clock in one scoring drive. Both are NFL records for most time of possession in a game and most time taken in a single possession.

"It was Eddie George left, Eddie George right," he says. "When we walked off the field, the defense gave us an ovation. They rested the entire quarter."

No one is suggesting the Tar Heels revert to the Bill Dooley era of the 1970s and its "three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust" mentality. It's too much fun watching Howell and Maye sling the ball 50 yards downfield. But there is certainly a happy medium, ergo Brown's initiative to veer away from an attack that at times "was too pretty" at the expense of just punching someone in the nose.

"The O-line is a different breed," Donnalley says. "We're trying to win with our mind, our footwork and our technique. The D-line always has the edge on a passing down. They're stronger, quicker and faster. The running game is the great equalizer."

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (Carolina '79) has been writing about Tar Heel football under the "Extra Points" banner since 1990 and reporting from the sidelines on radio broadcasts since 2004. Write him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him @LeePaceTweet.

Players Mentioned

Jonathan Adorno

Austin Blaske

Elijah Green

Trevyon Green

Omarion Hampton

Willie Lampkin

Drake Maye

Malik McGowan

Howard Sampson

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