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Conley Wiser, Better, More Vocal After Loaded First Season

CHAPEL HILL – Ja’Qurious Conley may have been thrown to the wolves a bit early last season, but that experience paid off down the road, and he should really reap the reward now going into his sophomore campaign.

Myles Wolfolk, who had two degrees from North Carolina and was in graduate school, flunked out in September ending his UNC career. So, the Tar Heels’ coaching staff moved Trey Morrison from nickel to safety opening a void they asked Conley to fill.

Conley met the news with a swell of emotion, but a week later in a win at Boston College, he met big-time college football with a dose of reality. Perhaps he wasn’t quite ready for a major role.

No harm, though, as few true freshmen are. He was also dinged up some, too. Conley played 23 snaps in a season-opening win over Syracuse and then 27 at BC, but his playing time dropped for a few weeks before getting another shot in a blowout at Duke, and also a week later in the third quarter of a comeback win over Wake Forest.

It was then when Conley’s game took off. The youth movement defensive coordinator Jay Bateman went with included putting Conley in at nickel, and he didn’t budge the rest of the way, capping the season playing 48 snaps and registering four tackles versus Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl. It put a bow on his season and a two-month period in which he morphed into the role of a starter and playmaker.

“Playing in the Orange Bowl taught me a lot about myself,” Conley said. “But not only myself but the trust that I have from Coach (Jay) Bateman and Mack Brown being a freshman and playing that role, being able to go out there and have to (defend) top athletes.”

Conley himself is a top athlete. Bateman says he is a safety, but he is playing nickel for the Tar Heels because he is that, too. Well, also because the Heels are stacked in the back of their defense and Conley is the most natural fit for nickel among the others.

Ja'Qurious Conley's increased playing time late last incluided 30 snaps versus Notre Dame.
Ja'Qurious Conley's increased playing time late last incluided 30 snaps versus Notre Dame. (USA Today)

But Conley sees himself more as a defensive player du jour, capable of serving in any role on a given day.

“I think I showed that I can tackle, I think I showed that I’m physical,” he said. “But the thing I want to improve is being able to go out there and guard anybody. I want Coach Bateman to believe he can put me at corner and I can go out there and do something.”

Conley played 292 defensive snaps last season for the Tar Heels, 219 of which came over the final six contests, including him playing just 22 snaps in a rout of Wester Carolina in December. UNC’s reserves got the bulk of the playing time that day.

He graded out at 65.5, according to PFF, finishing the season with 35 tackles, two of which went for a loss of yardage, including the first sack of his career. Conley was credited with a PBU and a QB hurry, as well.

Looking back, there was value in the whole of the season for Conley, not just when he was slotted into a starting role.

“Last year obviously was tough,” he said. “At the beginning, I got hurt and stuff, then came back and I was able to regain that trust with everybody.”

His mission now?

“Being more of a vocal guy,” Conley said. “Just being able to learn the defense and then being able to show everybody that I'm Ja’Qurious Conley and I'm here to play.”

And he is a wiser, slightly more grizzled version of “JQ” the football player, continuing a process guided by his determination to continue taking giant steps forward. The process is not lost on Conley.

“Just to continue to keep that trust from everybody,” he said. “(Jeremiah) Gemmel, Trey Morrison and then more importantly for coach (Jay) Bateman to be able to go out there and just play.”


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