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By: Joe Bray

TarHeelBlue: What have you done to prepare yourself for your new role as special teams coordinator?

Coach Webster: "One thing I have realized it that is a lot more involved than I initially thought it would be. There was a lot more to learn than I expected, plus there's a lot more responsibility than I imagined.

"When you're a defensive coordinator, you deal basically with just the defensive players. An offensive coordinator deals with just offensive players. The special teams coordinator deals with the entire football team.

"Since I'm the assistant head coach I've had to interact with most of the team, so I pretty much knew all the players. I haven't had to get to know any new players.

"Every player on the team is involved in some way with the special teams. You're dealing with a lot of different personalities and people, so I think the number one thing is motivation. You have to motivate them to want to do well.

"My number one goal in the spring was motivation, changing their attitude about being on special teams. At that time I didn't know as much as I needed to know about the specifics of being a special teams coach, but I knew there had to be a change of attitude."

TarHeelBlue: Did you change your schemes during the spring?

Coach Webster: "We had not established schemes to a certain degree by the end of spring. We tested some things and looked at doing different things, some old, some new."

TarHeelBlue: What have you done to help yourself learn the more technical aspects of special teams coordinator?

Coach Webster: "One thing that really helped was Coach Bunting having connections with the NFL. We flew Chuck Priefer, the special teams coordinator for the Detroit Lions, in here. He spent a couple of days with us going over every phase of special teams play.

"We spoke by phone with the special teams coordinators for the Carolina Panthers and the New York Jets. We flew more than half of our staff down to New Orleans to meet and work with Al Everest, the special teams coach for the Saints. When we got there he had just received an award for being the special teams coach of the year. The Saints had the number one special teams in the NFL last year.

"Coach Everest was invaluable to us. He opened his arms, his door, his tapes, everything to us. I got to sit in all his meetings, then when they were over, we'd watch tape and talk about philosophy, about what he was doing and why he was doing it.

"I've also talked at length with each of our coaches who were lead coaches on special teams last year. Coach Fleming was in charge of special teams, I had kickoff coverage, Coach Brewer had kickoff return, Fleming had punt returns and Coach Powell had punt coverage. We talked about their beliefs and philosophies.

"I'll be the lead coach on all special teams this year except for punt coverage. Andre' will be in charge of that. I'll be the lead coach of all the other phases.

"I will have all the other coaches involved helping me coach. Those other guys aren't getting out of it, but the buck stops with me.

"I've watched a great deal of NFL tape, done a lot of reading and a lot of meeting with pro coaches. I've also gone back and watched tape of every one of our special teams' plays from last year. I've also paid a great deal of attention to what our opponents were doing on special teams and tried to figure out why they were doing it."

TarHeelBlue: What percent of a practice will be devoted to special teams when we start two-a-days?

Coach Webster: "In all my years of coaching I've never coached on a team that spends as much time on special teams as we do. I've been on other staffs that I didn't think spent enough time on special teams, but that's not a problem here.

"Special teams is a third of the game, along with offense and defense. Now do we spent a third of our practice time on special teams? I don't know exactly, but it sure is close. We have plenty of time to get it done."

TarHeelBlue: Even though every one on the squad is a part of special teams play in some way, could you discuss some of the more visible players?

Coach Webster: "Dan Orner kicked well in the spring with the exception of a couple of days. Dan has the potential to be a really good kicker, he was good last season. He's working hard to get better. I've stressed to all of them that you can't rest on your laurels, you've got to get better.

"Obviously, your kickers are the most important part of your kicking game. I feel real good about where Dan's at now."

TarHeelBlue: How about kickoffs? Are you going to rely on Topher Roberts?

Coach Webster: "Right now Topher's the guy. He showed the strongest leg in the spring. Plus, he's been there before. That means a lot. With the exception of a couple of games, he did a great job for us last year. It's great having those two guys back. Both guys have been in pressure situations and delivered well.

"Orner wants to challenge Topher for kickoffs, and I'm going to give him a chance. As always, everything is wide open."

TarHeelBlue: What about the punting?

Coach Webster: "That's the area that was the most open during the spring. We had four guys going at it. Topher, David Wooldridge, John Lafferty and Paul Roberts. Going into the spring game I thought David Wooldridge had a little bit of a lead over the others, but I told them that spring practice was like the regular school year, but the spring game was like final exams.

"I think that in the final exam Lafferty did better. Wooldridge is a freshman who had never punted in a game, so this was his first time punting in a situation where it really mattered. Lafferty's been there before and went out there and really stroked it. He did a heck of a job in the spring game.

"I'm not sure that we're any closer in knowing who's going to be the punter than we were at the start of the spring. Dave's got some maturing to do, but once again he hasn't been there yet."

TarHeelBlue: How much of punting and kicking off is directional?

Coach Webster: "It's a huge part of it if that's part of your scheme, if that's what you do. Last year it was. We kicked off to the left side, we directional punted. You're asking a lot of your kickers when you're asking them to do that. It's not easy, particularly for your punter. You're asking him to catch the ball, get it off in time and kick it over here.

"We're evaluating whether we want to ask them to keep doing that. That may change. If we take away that responsibility it may make them better punters and kickers. We may just say 'Kick the darn thing. Get it out of here.'"

TarHeelBlue: How much confidence do you have in your deep snappers?

Coach Webster: "I feel real good about Greg Warren. He got hurt during the spring, but he's fully recovered. Greg did a good job last year.

"The only positive about Greg getting hurt was that Warren Green, who wasn't snapping very well, had to take over all the snapping duties and by the end of the spring was snapping very well. He's very capable, so I'm feeling very good about our snappers."

TarHeelBlue: Do you know who your kickoff returners will be?

Coach Webster: "Our depth chart will probably change. There's a little different criteria for return guys. I'm hoping that Chad Scott and Michael Waddell will step up. I'm not saying that I'm not pleased with guys who were back there last year, I'm just saying that we'll change schemes a little bit and that may open up some opportunities for some other guys.

"Everything's open."

TarHeelBlue: How about punt return? Will Jarwarski Pollock be your primary punt returner?

Coach Webster: "That's still up in the air. Jarwarski didn't return any punts live in the spring. Waddell did. Michael Gilmore did a really good job. He also got the heck knocked out of him a couple of times on illegal hits, but he managed to hang on to the ball.

"Gilmore really improved, and I still think Waddell has the potential to be one of the best punt returners in the country.

"Jarwarski could end up being the guy because he can make people miss. I feel very good about the pool of guys from which I can choose. The primary punt returner is certainly not set in stone. The competition is still there."

TarHeelBlue: How good is Michael Waddell at catching the ball?

Coach Webster: "He's probably the best one back there at catching the ball. If you asked me right now who I have the most confidence in out there catching the ball, it would be Michael. That's where he has a little bit of an edge, plus he's an older guy with experience.

It's his senior year, he should be good at it."

Coach Webster: Part II: Tuesday, July 8

Coach Lawing: Part I
Coach Lawing: Part II