CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina held its second practice of fall camp Thursday morning, and afterward, and afterward, graduate safety Gio Biggers fielded questions from the media.
Biggers started all 14 games last season for the Tar Heels registering 69 tackles, two PBUs, and a fumble recovery. He is sated to start again at safety, but the group has depth and plenty of experience with two graduates having transferred in (Derrik Allen and Stick Lane).
Biggers was asked about that, his game, if there was an upgrade in the secondary from what was lost to the portal, if there might be more press coverage this fall and how that affects the safeties, the communication between Charlton Warren and Jason Jones, and more.
Above is video of Biggers’ Q&A and below are some notes and tidbits from what he had to say:
*Power Echols and Kaimon Rucker said Thursday one clear difference in the defense now as opposed to last season is that it’s “playing faster.” That is noticeable even when in thud like these last three days. Biggers backed that up, noting how much more familiar everyone is with Gene Chizik’s concepts.
“If you understand concepts, you can put things in different boxes, just learning that way is one thing that’s been really good. And overall, the defense has been playing a lot faster, something that we’ve noticed… Going into year two of the defense is much easier for guys to know what they’re doing, and coaches aren’t trying to teach you something new every single day.”
*Antavious “Stick” Lane, who goes by Stick, was a three-time All-Sun Belt selected at Georgia State, and had a nice game last season when the Tar Heels escaped GSU with a victory. Now, he’s a Tar Heel, and has made an early impression on Biggers.
“I love Stick Lane. He’s real quiet, a real quiet guy. But he comes to work every day and is always asking questions, wanting to get extra work in. He always texts me, ‘Hey, can we get extra film?’ We’re (always) doing something since he came in here this summer. I’ve really enjoyed having him here. He’s a great player.”
Biggers didn’t see much from Lane in the game last year because defensive players were on the bench going over things, but after watching a lot of Lane on film, Biggers’ evaluation is: “He’s a ball hawk, a big hitter, and he brings it.”
*Biggers won’t say if UNC got an upgrade through the portal in the secondary, but what he said speaks to considerable optimism.
“As long as those guys, (Alijah) Huzzie, Armani Chatman, Derrik Allen, as long as those guys understand the concepts, understand the plays, and take a further step than we did than last year, then we’ll be good. I wouldn’t call it no disrespect to the guys that left, but as long as we can build on what we had last year regardless of who’s in here, I think it’ll be a success.”
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