Feb. 4, 2010
By Lee Pace
It's dark and nasty along the line of scrimmage, deep in the gulch between where the pretty boys with the coiffed hair and pearly smiles throw and catch the football and sign autographs. No women or children allowed where it's muddy and hot as Hades and where football games are ultimately won or lost. Check the annuals of Tar Heel football and you'll find every glory era earmarked with a host of All-Americans along the line of skirmish.
The Tar Heels of late have been excellent at defensive end and tackle but have suffered a rash of maladies on the offensive side--graduation, attrition and injuries left the Tar Heels trying to score with two hands and one foot tied behind their collective back early in the 2009 season. Now the defense gets a test with the loss of seniors Cam Thomas, E.J. Wilson, Aleric Mullins and Tavares Brown and the lingering effect of the loss last summer of Darrius Massenburg to a "medical disqualification." And don't discount that last subtraction from the Heels' depth reservoir; assistant coach Ken Browning, who recruited Massenburg out of Roanoke Rapids four years ago, insists Massenburg was destined for NFL stardom had not wrist and knee injuries waylaid his career.
Thus it's heartening to see that the signing class announced Wednesday by Butch Davis is top-heavy among linemen. The Tar Heels landed four blockers and five players likely to earn their keep along the defensive front. They got a defensive end from Roanoke Rapids intensely coveted by Virginia Tech. They got another who vacated his Tennessee commitment following coach Lane Kiffin's flight to Los Angeles. They landed one blocker from the shadow of Notre Dame and the Big Ten and another from the coast of North Carolina who was courted by Tennessee and Southern Cal, among many.
And when it was all said and done and the ink dry on the scholarship papers, Davis and his staff could exhale. That's what offensive line coach Sam Pittman did back in October when T.J. Leifheit concluded his official visit to Chapel Hill by committing to the Tar Heels.
"It was a battle for him. It went on a long time," Pittman says. "It seemed like it took forever. We'd known T.J. a long time and offered him a year ago. But if you're going to win a battle, it's like coach Davis says--win on a guy you'd do a back-flip for.'"
The Tar Heel staff did a lot of gymnastic moves during the homestretch of the recruiting season. They certainly finished strong, landing nine players over the final 10 days. Carolina signed seven of the The Charlotte Observer's Top 25 prospects in North Carolina, with N.C. State trailing with four. The good news is that several perennial thorns in the recruiting sides of Carolina and its in-state brethren had limited success within the borders of North Carolina. Clemson, Virginia Tech and Virginia signed only one North Carolinian each. South Carolina signed three, though one was a kicker and the Tar Heels weren't recruiting a kicker this year. Tennessee for the second year running was shut out of North Carolina.
The bad news, though, is a host of schools from across the land played the role of sniper and knocked off individual players for various reasons--Notre Dame (2), California, Oregon, Alabama, Arkansas and Ohio State snared players from the Observer's Top 25, and Cal in an odd scenario landed a total of four recruits from Greensboro.
Carolina's class was ranked No. 21 nationally by The Sporting News, with the publication noting the late boosts of RB Giovanni Bernard and DE Brandon Willis as the tipping points into the Top 25. The class was pegged No. 25 by ESPN's Insider, No. 30 by Rivals and No. 31 by Scout.
"The first couple of years, we had to recruit based on needs, on voids in the roster," Davis said. "This class is represented at every position with the exception of quarterback, and that's by design. We have filled significant needs. We have addressed current needs and laid the foundation for years to come. Offensive and defensive linemen were somewhat a priority. We have placed a real emphasis on growing a football team that can dominate the line of scrimmage. And speed is the overriding thing at the skill positions. We want guys who are home run hitters, who can change the complexion of the game with one big play."
Davis elaborated on the quarterback position, nothing that at Miami in the 1990s it worked well to bring in an outstanding prospect every other year, thus giving him a window of a year behind the previous guy and hopefully a solid two-year opportunity to play. Plus there are some outstanding junior quarterbacks in the region already being courted by the Tar Heels and other perennial powerhouses.
Five players are already enrolled in spring semester, and Davis said he expects all 21 signees to report in August as there are no "over-signing" or academic issues to be worked through. These signings of incoming freshmen follow another noteworthy recruiting job from early December--that of junior standouts Greg Little, Marvin Austin, Quan Sturdivant, Bruce Carter, Denuta Williams and Kendric Burney opting to return for their senior seasons.
"I think those guys coming back was a piece of the puzzle of our signing class," Davis said. "Kids thought how cool it would be to play with Quan and Bruce, with Marvin and Kendric and Deunta. They saw the opportunity to play with guys of that caliber and learn from them. The juniors and seniors on this team have done a phenomenal job mentoring the young kids. If you talk to the five freshmen, they'll tell you how they have gotten warm and welcoming feelings from the older guys."
So common now is the practice of high school seniors forgoing their second semester to enter college in January that media representatives covering Davis's Wednesday press conference were also provided access to the January enrollees--Leifheit, James Hurst, Brandon Willis, D.J. Bunn and Sean Fitzpatrick.
"I love it, it's everything I thought it would be," said Leifheit, noting that the presence of fellow Hoggard High alumni Casey Barth and Jonathan Cooper was among his deciding factors. "They told me how awesome it was at Carolina, how they absolutely loved it, how they wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It felt like family here."
One year ago, Pittman talked of the four O-line signees of the day--Travis Bond, Brennan Williams, David Collins and Johnnie Farms. The first three arrived in Chapel Hill on schedule in August, but Farms went to Hargrave Military Academy and he and the Tar Heels eventually parted ways. Pittman talked of "hitting the jackpot" with that quartet, and even though their number has been cut by one, a year later he affirms that opinion. Both Bond and Williams played extensively toward the latter part of the 2009 season, and Pittman expects Collins to have a productive spring after working on his strength over the last six months.
"Travis and Brennan have really good feet," Pittman says. "They play well with their hands. They're strong. And they have the mental make-up. These guys want to be good. They want to take on the best guys we have on defense. They don't want to just be on the team. They want to be the best players on the team. And if you have the physical ability to do that and you put it with the mental make-up, that's a pretty good match."
He's similarly high on this year's crop of blockers--two who enrolled in January, Hurst and Leifheit, and two more who'll follow this summer, Russell Bodine and Nick Appel. Hurst (6-7, 305, Plainfield, Ind.) was the No. 2 ranked offensive lineman by Rivals and had offers from every top school in the nation. He and his mother visited Chapel Hill in the spring of 2009 on a southeastern college scouting mission, were immediately smitten and Hurst committed to Davis and Pittman in April. Leifheit (6-7, 320, Wilmington) was tabbed No. 10 nationally by ESPN's Tom Lemming and picked Carolina over Tennessee and USC.
"Both of them have that same work ethic and attitude that Travis and Brennan have," Pittman says. "They want to be the best. There's lip service and then there's work ethic. Some guys have the first one but don't want to do the work. But since they've been here, they've worked their tails off."
The talent haul at defensive line was highlighted by Brandon Willis of Duncan, S.C., immediately opting for Carolina the day after Kiffin left Knoxville for USC. Willis was packed and headed to Tennessee the next day to enroll for the spring semester when he heard on ESPN that his head coach was leaving. Soon after he was called by his position coach and asked if he would consider signing with the Trojans. A couple of phone calls later from John Blake and Davis, and Willis and his dad were instead driving up I-85 to Chapel Hill.
"I heard the news and was shocked," Willis says. "I couldn't understand how quickly they were leaving. But it was a business decision and one those coaches made for their careers and families. I don't blame them for that. But after the shock wore off, I had to make a decision on the best place for me. That was North Carolina."
The defensive line also includes Ethan Farmer of Tabor City, who woke up at 6:30 a.m. on signing day and decided on the Tar Heels over Clemson, and two tall, athletic players who Davis says have plenty of room to fill out--Tim Jackson (6-3, 235, St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Kareem Martin ( 6-6, 245, Roanoke Rapids).
"Two things I like about Tim and Kareem are that both are tall and exceptionally athletic," Davis said. "I like the idea of getting guys like Quinton Coples and Robert Quinn, who are in the 6-4 to 6-6 range, really good athletes, good on their feet, great initial quickness, who are in the 235-250 range and you can build them up the way you want them. The game today is so fast with all the athletic quarterbacks like Tyrod Taylor and Russell Wilson that your defensive ends had better be able to run. Another thing we liked is both Tim and Kareem are extraordinarily smart. In fact, we have 10 to 12 kids with 3.0 GPAs in high school."
Carolina also signed three quality linebackers--P.J. Clyburn (6-2, 215, Statesville), Ty Linton (6-2, 215, Charlotte) and Darius Lipford (6-3, 215, Lenior). The latter was one of the class's most hotly contested battles, with the Tar Heels warding off Duke early and Clemson in the homestretch. Lipford, the son of former Western Carolina running back Darrell Lipford, was visited in his home last week by Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney and assistants Dan Brooks and Andre Powell, with Brooks having the edge of having played college football with Darrell in Cullowhee in the mid-1970s.
"I told Darius I don't care who comes to see him, but I get the last visit," said Tar Heel assistant Allen Mogridge, whose recruiting territory includes sections of the northwest corner of North Carolina. "He said fine, come on Saturday."
So Mogridge visited Clyburn Friday afternoon in Statesville, then drove that evening through heavy snow to Lenior, where he booked rooms for him and linebackers coach Art Kaufman. They rose to find 10 inches of snow on the ground Saturday morning and ate breakfast at Bojangles, the only restaurant they could find that was open. They found the Lipford home and had a good visit that lasted nearly three hours. They left with Lipford insuring them that his commitment to Carolina was solid. Fortunately, both Mogridge and Kaufman had four-wheel drive vehicles that could navigate Hwy. 321 back down to the interstate.
"What should have been a two and a half hour trip home was more than four hours," Mogridge said. "But that's okay. It was worth the trip."
Lee Pace writes "Extra Points" throughout the football season and at selected off-season junctures on Tarheelblue.com
