CHAPEL HILL – Opportunity has come Jahlil Taylor’s way early in his second year playing football at North Carolina.

The redshirt freshman defensive tackle from Vienna, GA, is among a group of Tar Heels battling for spots on the front line behind stalwarts Aaron Crawford and Jason Strowbridge. UNC is in outstanding hands with the pair of seniors, both of whom head coach Mack Brown says will play in the NFL.

After them, however, there’s a significant drop off, at least with respect to experience. To say Carolina lacks depth after Crawford and Strowbridge would be an understatement. However, with that has come tremendous opportunity, and so far the word through 11 practices in fall camp is that Taylor is taking advantage.

“It’s going pretty good,” he said. “I’m trying to compete every day, I’m trying to make everybody around me and myself better. So, it’s going pretty good.”

Having the terrific tandem to learn from has helped Taylor during this enormous process. It began last fall when he played just 59 snaps in two games, thus retaining his redshirt. Not getting on the field, though, was tough to deal with at first, like it is for many freshmen.

Yet, Taylor was undergoing an educational process, though he may not have fully recognized it at first. He eventually discovered something very valuable that’s aided his growth ever since.

“Basically, patience and time,” he said. “Time is a good weapon. It helps a lot. You’ve just got to buy in and learn from the older guys. You’ve got to be coachable. And being coachable and time is what I’ve mainly learned. Being coachable will take you a long way.”

Once he slowed down, took a deep breath and embraced his reality, Taylor started absorbing everything around him.

“It was way easier,” he replied. “And the stuff that we started doing, it came natural then. It made it a lot easier. Like, I didn’t even know I was doing some of the stuff I was doing until I go back and look at it on film.”

Many players reach a fork in the road when there’s a coaching change. Some reject it and some go all in. Taylor had already gone through such a resonating transformation he wasn't about to let go, those lessons will stay with him long after he leaves Chapel Hill. So he was all in fron day one even with its obvious challenges.

New defensive coordinator Jay Bateman installed a somewhat unconventional defense that required the players embrace its quirkiness, including the big guys up front. The nuances demanded greater focus and for the players to dig in deeper than they had previously.

“It’s just getting used to everything,” Taylor said. “Putting everything together, getting our chemistry right – not just with the players but the coaches. And I think we’re… putting one and one together and coming together as a whole team to play as a good defense.”

Taylor is quite confident he has a healthy grasp on the scheme, especially as it relates to his responsibilities in a unit that’s about as multiple as it gets.

“Primarily at the nose,” he said, noting where he’s usually playing in practice. “But there are certain plays where I slip out to the three technique but never the five, I’ve got to lose some weight before I do that.”

Humor aside, and that Taylor is cracking jokes is probably a positive sign, the variety of fronts the Tar Heels employ hasn’t really confused him because he’s having fun with it.

“To be honest, I like it because it confuses the offensive line,” he said. “It gives us more versatility. It changes stuff, it changes the way the offensive line looks at us. It’s kind of cool (and) I like it.”

Things may not have been so cool a year ago, but that has changed. He’s comfortable, relaxed and confident. And he’s making the most of a big-time opportunity.