CHAPEL HILL – As North Carolina’s football season winds down, the Tar Heels are heading into the season-finale Saturday versus N.C. State with a bit of a morale boost.
First, they ended a six-game losing streak last weekend by defeating Western Carolina. Second, they moved into their new approximately $80 million part-time practice home Tuesday.
Actually, the Tar Heels held their walk-thru last Friday in the facility, but Tuesday was the first time they held an actual practice in there. It isn’t entirely completed inside, and the exterior, which includes two full-length practice fields and a combination soccer and lacrosse stadium aren’t even close to being ready.
But it was ready enough for a practice, so the Tar Heels went ahead and sort of moved in.
“It’s a great place, it’s one of the bigger ones that I’ve been in where you can get everything done in there, the kicking game, have the whole team in there,” offensive coordinator Chris Kapilovic said. “So, it’s a huge plus to be able to have that surface and be able to have a place like that to practice.”
Morale, though, really is one of the primary reasons the team went inside on one of the best weather days Chapel Hill has seen all month.
“It’s nice to be able to get in there here at the end of the year,” defensive coordinator John Papuchis said. “I think it’s a good morale boost for the guys to get a change of environment.”
Another reason the Heels used the facility Tuesday and may use it for the rest of the week is to allow the re-sodded surface inside Kenan Stadium to take. It was out in Monday, but with heavy rain forecast for Saturday’s game against the Wolfpack, a decision was made to stay off of it.
As large and efficient as the facility is, can it handle a fully-functional major college practice, or at least as much as they could get done inside Kenan?
“I wouldn’t say more but you can get as much,” Kapilovic said. “Sometimes, you go to an indoor and you don’t have a full field and you can’t do special teams, we can get all of that done.”
The players sure like it.
Senior linebacker Cole Holcomb will play his last game as a Tar Heel on Saturday, so he was excited to finally step foot inside wearing his gear.
“I’m excited we finally got to be indoors, I finally got to check it out before I left,” he said.
Senior safety J.K. Britt said the building will pay dividends down the road.
“I wish it would have been done a couple of years ago…,” he said. “It’s going to be great for recruiting, great for guys to practice in, the winter time.”
The entire complex is expected to be 100 percent ready when the team starts spring practice sometime in early March.
