***********************************************************************

Wanna be a UNC Tar Heels insider? You can for just $8.33 a month

************************************************************************

CHAPEL HILL – Gene Chizik is the mentor, and Amari Gainer is his pupil.

At least Gainer is one of many football students of Chizik’s, but his relationship with North Carolina’s defensive coordinator is a bit different.

Gainer spent five seasons at Florida State, redshirting in 2018 and getting 2020 back because of Covid rules. So, with a year of eligibility remaining, the Seminoles’ legacy entered the transfer portal. Also FSU’s leading career leading tackler among the members on last season’s team, Gainer’s mission was to find a place that can help him get to the NFL.

So, he chose North Carolina. Consider this football graduate school for Gainer, who has embraced every moment he’s been in Chapel Hill since January.

“Florida State was my dream school; my dad went there,” Gainer said about transferring to UNC. “So, it was an open mind when I hit the portal. But being with (UNC Coach) Mack (Brown) and seeing the whole environment, I knew it was the right place for me. Great tradition, great feel, great time.”

Gainer played in 46 games at FSU registering 210 tackles. At nearly 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, the Tallahassee, FL, native also had six sacks, 19 TFLs, and five forced fumbles for the ’Noles.

He left a pretty great tradition, too. A place in which he was comfortable, and a program on the rise, and where he had a lot of success.

“When it comes down to it, it’s about going to the next level,” Gainer said. “As far as connections and relationships, it was hard, but life’s hard. Making that jump, making that decision was a risk betting on myself. Going back to my natural position at outside linebacker kind of played a pivotal role into me being here.”

Outside linebacker at UNC is the jack position, and Chizik coaches there along with running the entire defense. Gainer isn’t wasting any time at Carolina. There’s no leaving anything on the bone for him.

So, if you watch the Tar Heels at practice and check out the jacks doing drills, make sure to keep an eye on Gainer. He’s the freak athlete who looks sculpted right out of a football manual, and he’s following Chizik around in between most of his reps.

If Chizik walks in a direction of another player to say something, Gainer is right there, too. And when Chizik is watching as Tar Heels properly execute drills, he speaks with Gainer teaching and teaching. That’s what coaching is.

Chizik says Gainer is “always on my hip” and more.

“He’s very conscientious as a football player,” Chizik said. “He loves the game, he’s a violent player, he plays really hard. It really is important for him to learn what’s going on. So, he never takes a rep off, it doesn’t matter if he’s in there or not…

“So, when you see him with me, even when he’s not in, we’re talking things through every single rep. That’s how important it is for him to learn.”

A violent player?

Football is a game of violence to a degree, but coaches don’t often use that word. But Chizik has multiple times regarding Gainer, often describing his game as “violent.”

What does that mean, in a football sense?

First, Chizik: “Because he plays so hard. There’s never a rep or a down off for him. He’s one those guys where you’ve got to say ‘whoa’ and not ‘sick ‘em.’ Like, ‘Hey, this is half-speed, three-quarter speed, back off.’ And you want that as a coach. We look for a level of violence on the field, because the game is that, but it’s the way he plays, the intensity he plays with. Everything’s fourth-and-one to him.”

Now, Gainer: “Violent to me means being lower than your opponent being able to drive your feet and have that mentality that no one’s going to stop me that’s in front of me. That’s the definition of being violent.”

A natural question posed for Gainer was how much pleasure he gets out of the violent aspect of football.

“A lot,” he said smiling.

Good thing, given that outside linebackers must be able to play various passing routes, all run plays, get the quarterback, and most importantly, set the edge.

Gainer says playing jack allows him to display his versatility, something he wants the NFL to see, especially rushing the passer. He wants to rack up sacks this coming season, something UNC hasn’t done much of the last few seasons.

And Gainer wants to win. He chose Carolina to have a special season personally and as a team.

If that happens, Chizik no doubt will give Gainer a positive grade on his year in Chapel Hill.