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CHAPEL HILL – An ACC head football coach once said that B-rated defensive players can be just as effective as A-rated ones if they are better prepared, more alert and discerning in pre-snap, and thus break properly on the ball just about every play.

It’s an area within the Jimmys and Joes that aren’t often gauged by recruiting services, and sometimes not even fully recognized by coaches until the players arrive on campus and have been through a period of practices.

Now, they need Jimmys and Joes talent to a healthy degree, but the B-guy can help coaches win games. Texas Christian last season is a perfect example.

So, the path in North Carolina defensive coordinator Gene Chizik getting his defense to move from one of the worst statistical units in the nation to something far more representative of his past defenses, much needed shoring up. And that began mentally.

“There’s a lot better communication all the way around from the back from the back to the front,” Chizik recently said after practice, when asked what was most noticeable from his unit so far in fall camp.

“And that’s really, really important. I think that with removing the gray from a lot of things that may be less clear as they need to be able to play faster and play more violent, those things are happening.”

Removing the gray?

“If there was any gray, if there was anything that they didn’t necessarily understand, our job as coaches is to remove the gray,” he said. “And I think we’ve done a good job of removing any gray.”

In other words, there is less uncertainty now in pre-snap on defense. The Tar Heels believe by more clearly understanding Chizik’s defensive philosophy and scheme than a year ago, they will have a higher level of preparation for whatever opponents throw at them. And, therefore, recognize more regularly in pre-snap and break on the ball quicker and in the right manner.

So often last fall, the Tar Heels appeared to misread what an opponent was going to do, and it led to gash-fests at times. That’s how Appalachian State scored 40 points in the fourth quarter of a game UNC still managed to win 63-61.

But still, that only happens when a defense is discombobulated in pre-snap. That is why the Heels allowed 14 or more points in 11 different quarters a season ago. But they think those days are behind them.

“Mentally, we’re in a lot better space than last season,” senior jack Kaimon Rucker said. “I think we understand the weapons that we have on this team. And now we just have to figure out how to optimize the many weapons that we have.”

Part of the gray issue was with within Chizik himself.

After last coaching in 2016, when he ran Larry Fedora’s defense at UNC, Chizik spent five years in TV as an analyst. Brown brought him back into coaching in January of 2022. Chizik, who was Brown’s defensive coordinator when they won a national title in 2005, returned to help the Hall of Famer win again, he has said many times.

So, as Chizik jumped into a fray that changed quite a bit since he'd last called a play, he had to feel his way through the process adjusting a bit here and there. The majority of whatever metamorphosis he endured, given offenses in 2023, took place in the offseason, and has been implented over the last six months or so. Chizk has marched forward full steam ahead, and so has his defense.

“I think any time you get something new, I think it’s pretty hard to get it right away,” senior safety Gio Biggers said. “Sometimes, the coaches can drill everything into your head, they can give you every single formation a team can run, (but) at the end of the day, you’ve got to go out there and play.”

Carolina has plenty of Jimmys and Joes, certainly more than most team. And now it believes with the gray removed, it’s ready to take a giant leap forward.