CHAPEL HILL – Larry Porter is not only North Carolina’s running backs coach, but he is the special teams coach we well.
So, in addition to asking him about the RB room Saturday, he fielded a handful of questions about the special teams, in particular the punting unit, which struggled in all aspects last fall.
Above is video of Porter’s full Q&A session, and below are some notes and quotes from what he had to say. The punting questions start at around the 12-minute mark.
*UNC Coach Mack Brown said last week he’s pleased with the punters about 75% of the time, and not pleased 25% of the time. Porter responds to that and discusses where junior Tom Maginness is right now, and also notes true freshman Lucas Osada.
“I think from where they started in fall camp to where we are today, I think you’ve seen progress. The biggest emphasis from day one to now and will continue to be is consistency. That is a focus that it’s something they are aware of. And as of right now, I think Tom has put himself in position to help us.
“And again, Lucas is someone who has improved and will continue to be evaluated. But I do think that Tom can put us in position to be effective this season.”
*Maginness is from Australia where he played Australian rules football, which is a lot like rugby and includes plenty of ruby style kicking. He arrived in January of 2023 and was considered a work-in-progress. In fact, the plan was to redshirt him last season, but when Ben Kiernan was injured and lost for the season, UNC had no choice but to use Maginness with mixed results. Does Porter have a good feel now for Maginness with respect to his comfort punting rugby style or more traditional?
“Obviously coming in as an Aussie punter, you would feel that he was probably more comfortable with the rugby, and then being able to get him to a point with the spread punt, traditional punt, to where we can add some versatility in our scheme. And so, we are making strides there.”
*The Tar Heels had a few punts blocked last season. It wasn’t clear what the breakdowns were, though it appeared the shield team was a tad slow to react a couple of times. Porter discussed the needed improvements there, as he noted how the mistakes occurred.
“I think scheme-wise didn’t have much to do with it. You look at it, it was individual individuals. And we have addressed those issues, and we will continue to do so throughout the season.”
*The distance to go was significant from where the punting unit was a year ago with apparent messes with the whole operation and the quality, or lack of, with Maginness’ kicks, to where it is now.
“That’s a fair statement. And again, I think it’s all about consistency, right? From hang time to ball placement, as part of it. But the biggest piece is just everybody doing their jobs. It was enough (that) happened last year to cause real concern, but also, it was enough happened to force us to position ourselves to address it.
“And I think we’ve done a good job. Coach did a phenomenal job this past spring. It was a big emphasis on it, and I felt coming out of the spring that we’re in pretty good shape. Now, we just have to continue to build up on that.
*Brown also said a couple of times in recent weeks the need to use more starters on special teams, about which Porter was asked.
“It’s all a collective effort, right? In terms of starters, you want to always put your best players in position to be successful and help the team but also just being mindful of this is a long season. So, some of these young players on our roster have to be in position to help us, So, as they continue to grow, we’ll continue to mix them in to have a balance on (our) special teams roster.”
