CHAPEL HILL – Whenever North Carolina’s defensive players walk into a meeting, they see something familiar written on the big board. It’s there every time, and it’s going to remain there.
“Effort & Physicality.”
That is the mantra. It’s a requirement.
“You can’t get on the field if you don’t have effort and physicality,” junior linebacker Power Echols said. “You can’t play for this defense if you don’t have effort and physicality. It’s ingrained in us so much we don’t have to talk about it. It’s written there. It’s a non-negotiable. Up there is a reminder.”
Echols later added, “It’s not a goal, it’s the expectation.”
Ultimately, performance is all that matters, and Carolina’s defense didn’t operate to just about anyone’s standard for most of last season. The Tar Heels finished the campaign ranked No. 115 in total defense, allowing 436.5 yards per game, were No. 101 giving up 30.8 points per outing, and No. 127 in first downs allowed.
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They had a similar slogan a year ago, yet the numbers were still not near par. But that doesn’t mean the slogan and mandate won’t work this time around. The Heels are far more comfortable in coordinator Gene Chizik’s scheme, and they did improve over the last four games of the season.
Consider: Through the first ten games of the season, UNC averaged allowing opponents 32.3 points, 460.9 yards, and 24.7 first downs. Over its last four contests, the Heels averaged allowing 27.0 points, 375.5 yards, and 18.6 first downs.
UNC lost those games, mainly because the offense took a huge dip and simply wasn’t all that productive.
Chizik said the Heels kept plugging away and they morphed some into the standard he tried implementing from day one, it just took some time. That is why the carryover through the offseason and getting full buy-in from everyone on that side of the ball is so crucial. And it’s happening.
“This is our standard, and if you can’t reach it, we can’t expect you to make plays and be out there,” senior jack Kaimon Rucker said. “Having that on the board, I feel like everyone knows it.”
Effort and physicality are requirements, as Chizik laid out.
“There are two things that are non-negotiables; we call them ‘non-negotiables.’” He said. “We can’t turn on film and watch you not give maximum effort and then you expect us to put you out there. So, that’s not gonna happen. The second piece of this is this is a grown man’s game, and it’s all about physicality.
“There’s no such thing as a cover corner, a corner’s gotta be physical… Everybody on the defense has got to be physical from the front all the way to the back. So, effort and physicality are non-negotiables. We measure them every day, and if those two things aren’t happening at every position, it’s going to be hard to get on the field.”
One reason those with a rooting interest in the Tar Heels can grab onto some optimism is that the across-the-board intent to eliminate a disturbing narrative.
UNC Coach Mack Brown brought it up for the first time publicly at the outset of spring practice, noting some in the media and around the sport don’t view Carolina as a grizzled, glass-chewing bunch. Pretty, even sleek, but they aren’t physical enough.
“We’re in a position now where we’ve got to change the narrative,” Brown said. “The narrative is we’re soft on defense and we couldn’t stop the run. Everybody talks about it, including me; you don’t have enough tackles for loss, you don’t have enough sacks, you don’t have enough turnovers.
“Those things don’t happen until you consistently stop the run, and we haven’t consistently stopped the run for four years. It’s time for us to step up and do that.”
Hence effort and physicality. To be properly physical, a player must exude maximum effort. Not only does a player significantly enhance their chances at getting injured when not fully dialed in, but they make egregious mistakes that cost their team games.
Brown, Chizik, and the Tar Heels are hellbent on turning the slogan into an every down reality.
