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CHAPEL HILL – Changes are coming to North Carolina’s defense.
UNC Coach Mack Brown didn’t just move out Jay Bateman in favor of Gene Chizik and his far more accomplished resume, Brown also opted for a more basic defensive approach.
Gone is Bateman’s hybrid-laced approach that leaned on heavy pre-snap communication and too often led to discombobulation on that side of the ball for the Tar Heels. Bateman’s style worked well at Army, but at UNC, and regularly facing Power 5 offenses, it simply didn’t fit.
Despite having ten starters back on defense last season, UNC ended up No. 97 in the nation allowing 418 yards per game, No. 97 in run defense after being Nos. 50 and 51 the previous two years, and No. 102 in pass efficiency defense. Furthermore, Carolina was No. 105 in scoring defense allowing 32.1 points per game.
In 2019, UNC was 44th allowing 23.7 points, and in 2020 the Heels were No. 65 allowing 29.4 points per contest. UNC’s stats across the board got worse in each of Bateman’s three seasons.
This matters with respect to Chizik and Charlton Warren taking over Carolina’s defense is because of a departure from something appeared chaotic at times to something simpler.
UNC will now employ a four-man front with a true rush end lining up often, if not always, with a hand on the ground. The Heels are also incorporating a new “Jack” outside linebacker position, which won’t bear much resemblance to the hybrid role that appeared to hamstring the defense some over the last three seasons.
“We've got to eliminate explosives (plays),” Brown said during a press conference this past Tuesday in advance of spring football practice that commences March 1. “We were too inconsistent. We'd play great or awful. And those are things that we're addressing. We've got to force more turnovers, we got to get off the field on third and fourth downs because people have stayed out there.
“A stat right before the half. I think the opposing team scored nine of 13 games this year in the last five minutes of the half, which is such a critical part of the game. We can't allow that to continue to happen.”
Carolina gave up 32 drives of 75 or more yards last season, 31 of which ended with opponents scoring touchdowns. Big plays were part of that, but also a basic inability at getting off the field.
“We've got a whole new defense that we're putting in,” Brown said. “And defensively, we're gonna have to look at personnel first, who fits the skill set where and Coach Chizik. And Coach Warren will have a whole lot to do with that. They're watching the offseason very closely. They've gone back and watched plays from last year.”
Part of the mission is to use the players that can best help them. Brown used sophomore RaRa Dillworth as an example.
A supremely gifted athlete and football player, Dillworth, who is listed at 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds, played linebacker and on special teams last season. He didn’t see much game action on defense, primarily in mop-up duty, but perhaps it is best to use him in multiple roles, each time taking advantage of his find-the-ball mentality and skillset.
“They'll take a player like RaRa Dilworth and say, well, he’s too good not to be playing, where does he fit,” Brown said, also later noting that effort will made regarding everyone on defense. “Where's his best skill set?"
It is about putting players in spots where they fit the most and allowing them to win their individual battles. Read, react, and make plays.
The staff is getting on the same page, Brown said, and that is a big part of this moving forward. Simplicity means less of a chance conflicting messages are sent from the staff to the players. Thus, communication should be more succinct, and less confusion leads to fewer mental issues as well as mistakes made at the snap.
Communication is key, as everyone who paid attention to the Tar Heels saw last fall. Getting everyone aligned in the new defense in the spring is part of the mandate over the next five weeks.
“You're trying to figure out who you are, and trying to learn how to play to that standard,” Brown said about the spring. “So, you can be there in the fall.”
That quest begins next week.
