CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The new-look North Carolina football program is taking shape and certainly appears to have a nice collection of leadership.
New coach Larry Fedora introduced his staff Tuesday at the Kenan Football Center, and it includes six coaches from Southern Mississippi, where Fedora was the head coach before taking the UNC gig. Fedora also signed up the defensive coordinator from Illinois and a former UNC assistant, who should have some Tar Heels fans excited.
The group is steep in experience, has a terrific track record and will bring a style of football to Chapel Hill that will be much different than anything put forth by the baby blues. But it was time for a change, as UNC needed to go in a completely different direction.
As for the staff, new receivers coach Gunter Brewer served in the same capacity at UNC from 2000-04. The Tar Heels had some quality receivers at the time, including Sam Aiken, who spent time in the NFL.
Brewer then spent six years at Oklahoma State, where he coached Justin Blackmon and Dez Bryant. The Cowboys had the No. 2 passing offense in the nation in 2010, Brewer’s last season in Stillwater. Brewer also coached Randy Moss at Marshall in the 1990s, and overall has tutored three Biletnikoff Award finalists.
Fedora and Brewer worked together for three years at Oklahoma State, and Brewer told him North Carolina was the best place he had worked.
“So, obviously, that planted a seed in my mind,” Fedora said. “And then when I called Gunter to think about adding to him to the staff, he was like, ‘I’ll crawl back out there.’”
Fedora has also corralled defensive coordinator Vic Koenning from Illinois. A former head coach at Wyoming and defensive coordinator at Clemson, Koenning’s four Tigers’ defenses ranked in the top-25 in scoring, pass efficiency and total defense. Illinois ranked seventh nationally in total defense this past season.
Koenning is experienced and has seen virtually every kind of offensive approach, so bringing in someone with his resume is important given the variety of ACC offenses and that 11 starting quarterbacks are returning around the league.
“Running to the football and tackling is something that’s going to be synonymous with this defense,” said Koenning.
He also noted that some of his Illinois players said they would shut out UCLA in their bowl game last week, which wasn’t exactly a negative to the coach.
“I thought about that afterward, that’s the kind of attitude and that’s the kind of expectations that we’re going to have,” he said. “I don’t necessarily believe in going out and predicting that. I don’t want boisterous-type players, we want players to be confident, though, and expectations are extremely high.”
Fedora still must hire a running backs coach, but in total, six of his staffers were with him at Southern Miss, where the Golden Eagles were quite prolific on both sides of the ball.
They were one of just several teams this season to average more than 200 yards rushing and through the air and their defense returned 11 interceptions for touchdowns, setting an NCAA record.
Seven of the assistants have been coordinators, and they strongly believe in Fedora’s proven approach and style. For example, USM defensive coordinator Dan Disch comes over after completely changing the Golden Eagles’ philosophy to a 3-3-5.
It worked so well that they shut down the high-flying Houston Cougars on the road in the Conference USA title game. That same Houston team rolled over Penn State in their bowl game this past weekend.
Fedora and his staff will implement sweeping changes at UNC. The players will be in a whirlwind during spring practice, especially on offense. A massive, NFL-sized offensive line must slim down and speed up.
Quarterback Bryn Renner likely will get pushed by freshman Marquise Williams, tailback Gio Bernard will read holes differently, and the group overall must be in better shape. Fedora’s USM team ran about 14 more plays a game than Carolina, which means conditioning and depth will be keys for the offense.
But if you consider how the USM staff changed its defense so effectively in just a few months, the same thing can also happen with a revamped bunch of Tar Heels.
“I think this is going to be a staff the North Carolina people are going to be extremely proud of,” Fedora said.
The ACC should be better next season, but this hire isn’t so much about 2012, which could be anchored with a bowl ban by the NCAA. The hiring of Fedora is about the long-term future of UNC football. And so far, the man is off to an impressive start.
