UNC football practice kicks off

Wide smiles, hearty laughs and soaring chest bumps could be seen across Henry Stadium on Monday afternoon.

It marked the first day of spring football for North Carolina, and the players were thrilled just to be back in uniform — even if it was only in helmets and gym shorts.

“It has definitely been a long time coming,” wide receiver Greg Little said. “Guys are eager to get back out there.”

Coach Butch Davis said that there may not be any pads for the first two practices, but there is heavy emphasis on flying to the football, speed, effort and intensity.

“It’s the one time that you can really truly focus on all the little bitty things and fun things about coaching, with no objective about game plans coming up,” Davis said. “It’s a great time for your football team to improve.”

Davis said fundamentals will be stressed by the coaching staff during the next few weeks.

With the basics as a main goal for the 15 days of practice, Davis believes it will foster competitiveness.

“The other thing that I really enjoy about spring practice is the competition aspect,” Davis said. “It’s taken a couple of years to build a program with enough quality athletes that there’s legitimately some pressure put on players to be starters or second team players or role players.”

A common theme in most early practices is how coaches plan to fill holes left by graduated players, which Davis will not face with a roster boasting 22 seniors.

Their experience helps Davis, who said he no longer has to make comparisons to his years in Dallas or Miami, but can point to games from two seasons ago for his players to grasp concepts.

“It’s the first time that we’ve got a senior-laden football team,” Davis said. “There’s a significant amount of those guys who are major, major players on this team.

“They are going to take this 15 days of practice extremely serious. Because they aren’t the finished product and there’s a lot of things they need to do to get better.”

UNC is 172 days away from the season opener against LSU at the Georgia Dome. Davis said he is doing little to prepare for the Tigers.

They will have some designated periods during each practice over the next two weeks that will reflect certain schemes, like Georgia Tech’s triple option, that UNC will face in the 2010 season.

“I think the players know that there’s not going be a way that we can ease into the season,” Davis said.

The unofficial start to the season comes April 10 when UNC has its Spring Game, which will be broadcast on ESPN. The game is included as one of the team’s 15 official practices this spring.

Not only will it serve as the Tar Heels’ scrimmage, but also as a recruiting tool in another attempt by the coaching staff to get more blue-chippers in the program.

“That’s why I’ve lobbied so hard after late afternoon games, night games, Thursday night games,” Davis said. “Because the more times you get the opportunity to get into the homes of 16-, 17-, 18-year-old kids, all it’s going to do is help you grow your program.”



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.