Chizik's Points Of Recruiting: Prospect Fits & The 'Village'
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CHAPEL HILL – Recruiting is the lifeblood of any college football program, and it is certainly an area at which North Carolina has exceled since Mack Brown returned three years ago.
His truly first full class in 2020 was ranked No. 12, his second was at No. 16, and the current class of 2022 is ranked No. 9 in the nation, with its per-player ranking sitting at No. 5.
The quality of the class had nothing to do with Gene Chizik’s decision to join forces with Brown and replace Jay Bateman in heading up the Tar Heels’ defense, but it is certainly a very nice extra upon taking the job.
“I was excited about the recruiting class, and obviously Coach Brown and the staff on all sides of the ball have done a remarkable job in recruiting,” Chizik said Thursday during his introductory press conference. “But that didn’t drive my decision.”
Chizik is still getting settled, but as he met the current Heels, it quickly became clear the talent pool is different now than it was during his first stint in Chapel Hill, when he ran Larry Fedora’s defense in 2015 and 2016, seasons in which UNC combined to win 19 games, including an ACC championship game spot in his first campaign.
“It’s really amazing, though, leaving here for five years and coming back and meeting some of these players, and looking at the bodies, and looking at just kind of how the recruiting classes unfolded,” Chizik said. “That’s definitely a perk on the job for sure because they have done a great job with that so I’m looking forward to that.”
Bateman was an important part of those bringing in those classes, and Chizik’s role under Fedora wasn’t exactly as a grinder on the recruiting trail. He reiterated Thursday he will have a bigger part in the process this time around.
Chizik has plenty to personally sell. Not only did he win a national championship as an assistant under Brown at Texas in 2005, he won one as the head coach at Auburn in 2010. He’s the guy that gave Cam Newton a chance to explode onto the national football scene, and that worked out pretty well.
Naturally, Chizik was asked about his role in recruiting at UNC, and while he didn’t get into certain specifics, his response was long and thoughtful.
“My role in recruiting – the way I will approach recruiting – is like I’ve done every time,” Chizik said. “The bottom line is when you are evaluating players there are two things that are the most important, right?
“Number one is fit. It’s a fit, right? If he doesn’t fit, (I’m) not talking about skill set-wise. Is he a fit academically? Is he a fit for the culture what we are trying to build? Is he a fit for what we are looking for defensively in terms of mindset? That competitive spirit and nature, that’s huge.
“So, number one is fit and number two is does he have the skill set at the position we are recruiting him for to be elite? We want this defense to be elite. We want this defense to be one of the best in the country; we want it to be the best in the country. That will always be our goal. And we want to be elite, so if the young man fits that we are all in.”
As for Chizik and his recruiting territory? He didn’t go there. Instead, he says the staff will recruit “as a village.” Meaning, they will all get to know kids. There won’t be much of that “my guy” stuff.
The more relationships kids build with the staff, the stronger the recruiting pitch and the more realistic view of the experience they will get. It’s a team, Chizik says, and the recruiting process will involve everyone.
“We will make sure everybody in that room is responsible for recruiting every defensive player,” he said. “Because when we have a guy come to the University of North Carolina as a recruit, I don’t want him to just have a relationship with Charlton Warren or just a relationship with Tim Cross or just a relationship with Tommy Thigpen. I want him to have a relationship with every single guy on our defense because relationships are everything. So, we will recruit as a village.”
Charlton Warren is also new to the staff for the second time. He was at UNC with Chizik under Fedora and has developed a reputation as a sensational recruiter. The defensive coordinator at Indiana this past season, Warren also spent time at Tennessee and Georgia since leaving Carolina following the 2016 season.
He knows the terrain Brown wants to mine quite well, though he wasn’t giving out any specifics either as to what areas he will spend most of his time.
“I will be in the region where there are players,” Warren said, also on Thursday at his introductory press conference that followed Chizik’s. “So, we have not gotten that specific but for sure wherever there is a secondary player in the country. Under any rock, in an igloo in Alaska.
“Wherever that guy is, I’m going to go help find him and recruit him. And wherever this group needs me. We have our footprint and they will put me some place in the footprint and we will get after it.”
UNC’s recruiting train isn’t likely to take a hit with Chizik and Warren on board in place of Bateman and Jovan Dewitt, who was also let go by Brown.
The recruiting culture at Carolina is fully entrenched, and based on the approach by Chizik and Warren, it appears they will fit in just nicely.
*Deana King contributed to this piece