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University of North Carolina Athletics
RAMblings - Week One At Camp - Rams Club
RAMblings 8.13.09 - Week One At Camp
by Lee Pace
The Tar Heels are one week into their August summer camp regimen. The early returns include an aggressive and speedy defense, a handful of eye-catching freshmen making their debut, the usual personnel merry-go-round of August and a team that appears in outstanding physical condition.
I can never remember a team doing a full pads practice session in the middle of an August day when daily temperature highs neared 100 degrees, but the Tar Heels did exactly that on Tuesday. On days when the team practices twice, they have worked out at 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., but on days of one practice session, they have gone at 1:30 to replicate conditions for early afternoon games in September. Coach Butch Davis moved Monday's scheduled 1:30 workout up four hours to 9:30 a.m. in deference to a similar fiery forecast, but on the occasion of the squad's first outfitting in pads the next day, he left the session at 1:30.
The players were given all the water and Gatorade throughout the practice they could handle and twice broke as a team for rest under a large tent cooled by fans and portable cooling units. There were no outward signs of strain from the heat and the emotion and overall friskiness was at an impressive level into the final periods around 3:15 p.m.
"Our conditioning is showing up, we had a great off-season," Davis said. "Guys were able to push through these practices. Training camp is never very easy. It's always hot, there's always a lot of competition. Our kids have handled it very well."
"I felt good about our team coming out of the second session of summer school," strength and conditioning coach Jeff Connors said. "I knew the work capacity for this team is very high. The tempo both in the weight room and on the field this summer was excellent. You're always worried about the break when kids go home for a few days, but they handled it well and came back in great shape. You've been able to see that in the first week of camp."
The Tar Heels suffered two injuries of note through Thursday's practices, that being a sprained knee by senior H-Back and special teams captain Ryan Taylor, who is expected to miss about a month of practice, and a torn ACL to reserve offensive lineman Carl Gaskins, a mishap that moves him to the sideline for the rest of the year.
One potential Tar Heel showed up briefly for camp and two veterans said they were leaving the program. Donavan Tate, the football-baseball standout from Georgia, reported and spent four days in camp before leaving to focus on signing a professional baseball contract with the San Diego Padres. Kevin Bryant, the behemoth offensive lineman who has battled weight issues and a wrist injury in two years at Carolina, has decided not to return. Jay Wooten will transfer to South Carolina and become a walk-on kicker, Wooten apparently not content with the shared kicking duties from 2008 with Casey Barth and the plan to continue that arrangement into '09.
Bryant was being counted on to provide depth at guard after one red-shirt season and brief appearances last year. The loss of Bryant and Gaskins and the early departure of senior Aaron Stahl-combined with the graduation of Garrett Reynolds and Calvin Darity-leaves the offensive line thinner in personnel terms than anyone would like. Two true freshmen, Travis Bond and Brennan Williams, have played with the second team at right guard and tackle, respectively. Also along the second line have been two walk-ons and a transfer from the defensive line, Greg Elleby.
"The freshmen are getting challenges sooner than they normally would," Davis said. "They're competing in live reps against guys like Aleric Mullins and Tydreke Powell and having to grow up in a hurry."
"Those young guys have got a lot of ability," center Lowell Dyer adds. "But they have a lot to learn. In high school, you can just lock on and take a guy for a ride. But here you have to learn to work your hands and hips a lot more than high school. They've been like sponges, trying to absorb everything from the coaches, and they've made a lot of progress."
Other freshmen who have drawn notice from the coaches and assorted onlookers have included receiver Jheranie Boyd, who wears No. 87 like Brandon Tate before him and is actually faster than Tate; A.J. Blue, who has taken reps at both quarterback and tailback and is impressive at either spot with his quick feet and instincts; cornerbacks Terry Shankle and Mywan Jackson, who at 5-11 bring a little more height to a position that has been undersized of late; and defensive end Donte Paige-Moss, who stands 6-4 and could see some early special teams play.
This team will run better than any of Davis's two previous teams at Carolina, and the roster is beginning to take on the speediness crafted by Mack Brown during his successful stint in the 1990s. Two linebackers run under 4.5 in the 40 and a third, Zach Brown, was timed this summer at 4.26.
"Zach is 230 pounds and running that fast," quarterback T.J. Yates says. "That's scary."
Given the evolution taking place on the offensive line, it's no wonder the defensive front has been dominant in the early going. Davis and defensive coordinator Everett Withers need the forward wall to be high-motor all year and find a way to get to the quarterback more than the 22 times it notched sacks last year (next to last in the ACC).
"The defensive line has clearly set the tempo for all of our practices," Davis said "They're really pushing themselves, they're more mature and able to push themselves more in the heat of the battle."