Anderson In Better Shape, Finishing Blocks & Soaring

CHAPEL HILL – Brian Anderson may be a bit on the modest side when trying to explain his ascent to making a push for the starting center spot for North Carolina’s football team, but his teammates aren’t shying from heaping praise on the sophomore from Alabama.

Ask the leader of UNC’s offensive line what Anderson did to currently land among the Tar Heels’ starters, and Charlie Heck immediately reels off the reasons as he sees them.

“This spring, he did a great job finishing people,” Heck said. “To be on the o-line, you’ve got to be physical, and he was one of those guys standing out on tape just finishing every block, giving it all he’s got. And I think that spoke a lot for him as a player.”

Ask running back Michael Carter what his vantage point has revealed from Anderson, and you get a long response, but also a personal one that offers some insight.

“He’s leading, and that’s probably the biggest deal,” Carter said. “The quarterback gets a lot of hype, running backs get a lot of hype, receivers get a lot of hype, tackles get a lot of hype – now, tackles are usually the highest paid players in the league – but the center starts everything. It’s ridiculous how they don’t get enough love. I think Brian’s doing a great job being vocal, being aggressive.”

Carter then added one more thing.

“You know, he’s from Montgomery (AL), he gets aggressive down there,” the Navarre, FL, native said, smiling. “He’s played football in the real South.”

Playing in the hottest of the hot beds is often worn as a badge of honor. There’s an inherent pride and respect that’s quite obvious, but in hearing Carter’s words, it’s clear Anderson has added to it during his time in Chapel Hill. He’s one of the guys now, and then some.

Still, Anderson isn’t going to pound on his chest any time soon, if he ever does. But he comfortably offers a solid explanation for climbing the depth chart this past spring and how that trajectory has continued in fall camp.

“What prompted that is a collection of things,” he said. “In the spring, we saw a little bit of me working it (center) and a little also with (guard) Nick Polino doing that. Like Nick’s previously said, you can’t have enough guys that can snap the ball. Having that adjustability moving him back to guard is huge and having me at center shows the coaches have earned some confidence in me and it kind of adds a little depth to the offensive line.”

A senior, Polino had been a guard his entire UNC career until the spring when he worked a lot of at center. In part, with Jay-Jay McCargo injured there was a need to get Polino reps because the staff wasn’t sure what it had in Anderson. McCargo has since retired from football but woth Anderson stepping up, the transition to what was a potentially alarming situation has been rather smooth.

Anderson (6-foot-2, 302 pounds) seemingly cementing his hold on the job has allowed Polino to grind at guard, a position he could play at the next level, thus strengthening UNC’s overall offensive line. That wouldn’t be possible if not for a great summer and start to fall camp for the Montgomery native.

“I think (I’ve) just gotten a lot stronger, gotten a lot leaner, more in shape,” said Anderson, who played 27 snaps in two games last fall. “Coaches really like seeing finishing blocks and that’s something I kind of consistently show on the field and they notice in the film room.”

Like everyone else returning on offense for the Tar Heels, Anderson has had to learn the new air raid offense, which is faster, quicker and more demanding than what the Heels previously employed. And that was all of those things, too.

The differences are there, but center is always such an involved position, it’s going to be hectic to a degree regardless of the scheme. For Anderson, the similarities with the spread offense run under Larry Fedora actually helped him transition to Phil Longo’s offense.

“Center, in general, I feel like is always a pretty heavy position in terms of communication,” Anderson said. “You’ve always got to be held accountable by everyone else.

“In terms of changing, it’s really not all that different. I’d say the biggest change for me is being a whole lot more familiar with the offense. I was able to pick it up quicker by knowing previous offenses made it a whole lot easier to adjust.”

And with that it becomes more an issue of consistently finishing blocks, and that’s an area Anderson has improved as much as any, even if he’s not saying so himself.

Interview was conducted 8-6-2019.