I just refuse to believe our defensive talent is anywhere close to bottom 10 in the nation, and I don't think it's too much to ask for a jump to ~50's nationally. Excited to see the progress of the youngins in our front 7. Still say the OL is the biggest question mark on this team
Basically, but most of the time when the OL sucks there's a reason ie lack of experience/talent, which isn't really the case this year. The pieces are there for an above average OL, but I'm not sold on Kapilovic's ability to coach up a strong unit, particularly with run blocking. It's the biggest wildcard on the team, and with the surrounding offensive talent, the OL's potential impact is probably magnified a bit this year.
The line improved for the most part at the end of last year, I have little doubt that our offense will be top 3 in the ACC barring injuries. For the defense, we obviously need improved play throughout, but the secondary is where I think we sucked the most. Need better play from our corners (and better playcalling.)
Diva times one million For what it's worth I'm really drunk right now so perhaps I'm being a bit harsh. I'll revisit this once I wake up in the AM
Quinshad Davis @Q_14_D ....back to 100% so you all will be seeing more of these this coming season #MyBall #TBT https://instagram.com/p/5fFORQIV-0/ 12:38 PM - 23 Jul 2015 ...so much fucked everybody is
Kyree Campbell's announcing Monday and IC's feeling pretty good about it Also checked the mail this morning and saw Roy's offered me so that's pretty cool
Spoiler Offensive Notes by Greg Barnes Good energy at Navy Fields this morning. Twisted Sister’s “I Wanna Rock” was the first song of training camp before the playlist shifted to more recent popular music. The sound system went quiet as soon as the first special teams drill (getting off blocks on kickoff coverage) under Chizik’s direction. Three lines formed and a pair of coaches/GAs worked with each group on technique, which focused on building a base and exploding up and through the oncoming blocker. The offense as a whole looked entirely different and much more confident than we saw from spring ball. There’s good reason for that as Marquise Williams, Quinshad Davis, Ryan Switzer and Mack Hollins were back running with the first team. Hollins made his presence known on an early screen drill period by yelling at the top of his lungs after working off a block and flying down the sideline. As new IC intern Brett Thompson points out, T.J. Logan and Romar Morris participated in WR drills for a period before returning to their RB group. Logan practiced a bit at AB last fall and he worked in at AB today with the ones when Morris entered at RB. Pairing Logan at AB with Hood at RB seems like a pretty standard move given the talent at RB, but putting Logan and Morris together is interesting as both can catch passes out of the backfield. Defenses almost have to expect the run while accounting for a potential 5 WR look. Two young guys that have noticeably benefitted from offseason workouts: OT William Sweet and RB Ty’Son Williams. Both have added bulk and look like upperclassmen. Williams and Hood are listed with the exact same measurements, but sans pads, the rookie looked the bigger of the two to my untrained eyes. Another freshman, Tommy Hatton, backed up Lucas Crowley at center. Good size already, but the difference in how he looked physically compared with Sweet was noticeable. Easy to see the benefit of eight extra months in the weight room. Nathan Elliott received some extra attention from Keith Heckendorf during the first set of screen drills. The bubble screen period is typically high volume at blistering speed with each quarterback making one throw before sprinting down the field to work back the opposite way. Elliott took four reps his first time up as Heck instructed him on proper footwork and technique. A GA helped out by serving as a RB at the snap to the left or right of Elliott. When the ball was snapped, the GA stepped up, forcing Elliott to take a step back, pivot to his left (or right) and step into a throw. Elliott’s first throw was a bit soft, but by his fourth rep, he had ramped up the velocity. Nice to see another lefty in the QB group. We didn’t get to see much of the kickers, but Nick Weiler and Joey Mangili (holder) worked with the ones and Freeman Jones and Corbin Daly (holder) worked with the twos. Only saw two players fielding punts from the jugs machine before practice: Switzer and Thomas Jackson. WR transfer Jordan Cunningham participated in drills. Khris Francis looked to be in good health as he worked through some drills. Currently wearing a sizable brace on his right knee. OG Jared Cohen was not at practice due to personal reasons. Defense by Buck Sanders Depth Chart Notes As already noted Malik Simmons was back at practice, and the guess here is that his suspension has been lifted – we will get more definite news today, but the fact that he was at practice can only be viewed as good news. He had secured a starting spot during spring practice, but today he worked with the second team defense, with Des Lawrence working with the first team. Simmons did come with the first team on nickel defenses, working in the slot. Though he did not get a lot of snaps in the small slice of team drills we were able to see, Mike Hughes did rotate in and play with the first team defense at times. For those who expect him to play and get playing time this year, that’s a good sign at the first practice. It came somewhat of a surprise that Jeremiah Clarke, perhaps building on the snaps he received this spring, ran with the first team defense today ahead of Nazair Jones – it could also be that he is a little further ahead in this defense than Jones. Regardless of the starter, the Tar Heels can use them both. It was interesting that walk-on Cole Holcomb played every snap with the second team at SAM linebacker. We hear that the staff thinks Holcomb is the type of walk-on that can transition to a player who can contribute significantly in a position role. Aaron Crawford is not listed on the depth chart from today, but did work in with the second team defense on several occasions. Other Observations Today when observing practice one example stood out to me in terms of the detail that Charlton Warren provides his group. They were just stretching out their hamstrings, and he took the time to talk about the way to stand up out of that stretch. “You never want to be flat-footed, always stay on the balls of your feet.” In the portion of individual drills we were able to see, there is a continuing effort to work on creating turnovers. One drill focused on blocking kicks – with their hands on the ground, the defensive backs were being taught how to escape a block off the edge and take a bee line to the ball, which they were told to tap, not knock out of the hands of the team manager holding the ball. On the linebacker side, the team ran “Tomahawk” drill. One player would simulate a ball carrier, and players would attempt to overtake him and “chop” the ball out of his grip. Coach John Papuchis (who incidentally speaks in a voice loud enough to never have to repeat himself), let his players know how important that drill was: “Do it right. If you don’t get it right, we’ve got a whole lot of other periods to get it right.” In another drill it appeared that Mack Hollins was working with the defensive backs – no, we don’t think a position change is contemplated, the drill involved beating a jam at the line of scrimmage – Hollins may be tapped as a “gunner” on special teams – that the best guess here. This practice was just with helmets, no pads. As a result, there is nothing to talk about in terms of actual hitting, as there was none. There are two days of no pads, two days of shoulder pads, then on the fifth day they go to full pads. Overall I thought practice went more smoothly on the defensive side of the ball than in the early practices during the spring. The players flowed from one drill to another without a lot of “standing around” time in between, and the coaches went through their explanations of the various drills once, then the drill would begin. Depth Chart Offense LT Bentley Spain LT William Sweet LG Caleb Peterson LG Will Dancy C Lucas Crowley C Tommy Hatton RG Landon Turner RG Brad Henson RT Jon Heck RT John Ferranto TE Kendrick Singleton TE Brandon Fritts SE Quinshad Davis SE Bug Howard AB Ryan Switzer AB Austin Proehl FL Mack Hollins FL Damien Washington QB Marquise Williams QB Mitch Trubisky RB Elijah Hood/TJ Logan/Romar Morris RB Ty’Son Williams Defense CB M.J. Stewart Brian Walker CB Des Lawrence Malik Simmons RDE Junior Gnonkonde Mikey Bart RUSH Tackle Jeremiah Clarke Nazair Jones NOSE Tackle Justin Thomason Tyler Powell RDE Jessie Rogers Dajuan Drennon WILL LB Joe Jackson Cayson Collins MIKE LB Jeff Schoettmer Dan Mastrometto Andre Smith SAM LB Shakeel Rashad Cole Holcomb STRONG S J.K. Britt Dominquie Green FREE S Sam Smiley Donnie Miles
not much you can take away from this, but I definitely like hearing about more two back sets this year
Was just thinking this morning that I was tired of the negative thread title about women's bball. Now it's time to switch it to a snazzy negative title about football. I nominate Fuck Fedora Forever and Ever Amen.
nah man late summer is the only time we can be optimistic about unc football so we need to cherish it
yeah I'm gonna need at least like 2 quarters of face slapping realization before coming down off this preseason high
You mean for fantasy? With everyone back I doubt there's anyone who makes too big of an impact, maybe RB Ty'Son Williams, but the RB corp's pretty deep too.
the main thing I remember about the Torbush years is how shocking it was to be so bad when we looked so good yeah I was a pretty sophisticated fan back then
oh, i'm not worried. you'll come around... argyle stripes on the helmet and pants will do that to a fella.
South Carolina is favored by 3 and it baffles me, I think we should beat them easily. They are losing a ton of players and have no set QB.
He's 2nd team at the moment. There was a lot of hype last year about him outperforming our starter in practice, which led to him getting every 3rd drive early on, but the qb shuffling had awful results. Did make the game winning touchdown against UVA after Marquise's helmet got knocked off though. It'll be his team next year imo.
Hope he does well. He's a kid who probably would have gotten a long hard look if Tressel was still the coach but he doesn't really fit what Urban wants to do.
State won't have a chance by then. I think the D will be very much improved towards the end of the season. If Marquis is healthy I don't see the Heels losing
That'd suck. I want UNC in the title game during a Clemson rebuild so I could be happy for my other school
Lee Pace @LeePaceTweet 2h2 hours ago Impressed early with frosh Aaron Crawford, nose tackle working his way up to second team for @TarHeelfootball. Lee Pace @LeePaceTweet 2h2 hours ago ... “He’s exactly what you’re looking for inside,” says @CoachFedora. “He’s 310 pounds, compact, strong, already benching over 420.” goood goooooood