Kap On OL's Play, Chemistry & Dillard Defending Mates
CHAPEL HILL – UNC offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic met with the media following the Tar Heels’ practice Tuesday at Kenan Stadium to discuss some things from last weekend’s loss to California and looking ahead to this Saturday’s home game versus No. 17 Louisville.
*The OL has battled adversity since camp opened with Khaliel Rodgers retiring and coming back, Tommy Hatton’s issues and Jared Cohen deciding again not to play. Add leader Bentley Spain’s injury and lost practice time, the unit was certainly challenged leading up to the opener.
So they finally get Spain back and appear to have the line they hope to run with for the rest of the season, and then Spain goes down early in the second half and Rodgers battled some after turning his ankle in the second quarter.
“I thought they did a nice job…, I thought they stepped up and Charlie did a nice job for his first real significant time. I was pleased with that. You hate to lose your veteran guy, but I thought they stepped up in that aspect.”
*On the difficulty developing necessary chemistry when there’s so much influx going on:
“I get tired of talking about it and guys get tired of hearing about it, but as long as we’re shuffling guys in and out it is a challenge. But there’s nothing we can do about it. We need to keep working and developing and hoping we can stay healthy for a period of time.”
*One of the great things about playing an actual game is that it speeds up the chemistry developing process, and that was clearly the case this past weekend.
“There’s no doubt that playing in a game is invaluable, that’s why you wish you had a couple of preseason games. It’s the first time for a lot of these guys. As coaches, you’re not really sure how they’re going to respond. You kind of see at practice, but everybody handles a game differently. Some guys kind of rise up and some guys kind of shrink to the pressure. So now that you’ve got that game under your belt, they should have more confidence and they’ve learned a ton. Now you want to see that jump to the next game.”
*Kap was pleased with his Florida grad transfer cam Dillard at center. He was as expected.
“I thought he did a really good job. I was really pleased, he snapped the ball well, he had a couple of false starts – him and the quarterback not being on the same page. But, he tried to be physical. I saw him finishing some blocks out there, which is really good to see.”
*The incident in the end zone very late in the game wasn’t a pretty scene, but at least Dillard ran over and go involved, protecting his teammates. That said, Kap doesn’t want to see him go to that extent.
“He can’t do that,” Kapilovic said. “You can’t go over there and pick people off piles.
But, it had to be a positive that a new player, whom most of the team probably still doesn’t know very well, stood up for his teammates as Dillard did.
“I’m sure that the guys appreciate it and respect it, but I don’t want that,” Kapilovic said. “I understand it, but he needs to get the o-line ready to go so when they’re done with the World Wide Wrestling match in the end zone we can run another play.”
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