CHAPEL HILL – The way North Carolina Defensive Coordinator Geoff Collins described it, Amare Campbell stood on “on a table” early in the Virginia game a few weeks ago and barked encouragement and motivation to his teammates. And the rest is history.
In a way, it has become Campbell’s defense ever since. Just a sophomore who turned 19 the day of the Tar Heels’ game at Minnesota not yet three months ago, it was building within him.
The losing streak, bad luck, misfortune, health problems, and even death, has seemingly tapped the team of its spirit. And then the Cavaliers moved down the field setting for a field goal, but they marched right at the Tar Heels. So, Campbell simply had to speak up and he did.
“I just felt like we just all had to come together,” Campbell said Tuesday at the Kenan Football Center. “After every play or timeout or whatever, we’d get off the field and everybody was like in their own little pods.
“So, I just felt like as a unit I should speak, just tell everyone, ‘Just keep doing what we’re doing, trust each other, and just play for each other.’ And that was just the main message.”
And the message was well received. The Tar Heels snapped their skid with a 41-14 romp that included ten sacks and limiting the Wahoos to seven yards rushing on 29 attempts. It was a dominant performance that may or may not have been triggered by Campbell, a native of the Commonwealth, but he gets credit for the uncanny timing at the very least.
“These four weeks dealing with adversity, that four-game losing streak, I kind of took on the role of becoming a leader to help our team,” he said, acknowledging the build up toward that moment. “It came naturally in a sense. The reps I have, the trust I have from my teammates, I feel like they respect me enough that I can speak up and be that leader.”
Now to be clear, Campbell did not get up on an actual table. There is no table anywhere near a football sidelines, it was a metaphor used by Collins. But Campbell felt elevated and liked it.
“It felt good, it felt good,” he said. “Knowing that they respect me like they understand (and) they took what I said and they applied it on the field. It felt good, it felt great.”
Carolina won at Florida State, 35-11, the following week limiting the Seminoles to fewer than 300 yards of offense and racking up seven more sacks.
Saturday, they host Wake Forest after a second bye week in a month. The game kicks off at 8 PM and will air on the ACC Network.
In addition to his speech and evolving leadership role, Campbell also discussed multiple other topics. And below is video of his Q&A session and notes from what he had to say:
*Campbell wore the green dot on his helmet for the opener at Minnesota, but then senior Power Echols had it for a while. But the dot has since returned to Campbell, meaning he is the defensive player with the earpiece in his helmet listening to Collins during the game. He has had the green dot since the Pitt game.
*Campbell was asked if any other schools have reached out to him about transferring and he said none have. He is a player UNC absolutely will have to pay well to keep in Chapel Hill.
*Wake’s slow mesh offense is the challenge for the Tar Heels’ defense Saturday, Campbell said. Discipline everywhere on that side of the ball is absolute for the Heels to slow the Deacs.
*In addition, Campbell also discussed hearing from Cedric Gray each week and getting encouragement from him; becoming bowl eligible with another win; and about the candy (his preference is Reese’s, cookie cakes, and teasing Collins when he’s doing push ups.
