By Lee Pace
Pre-snap and the first second and a half of a football play is on the coaches. How have the Tar Heels on the defensive side of the ball evolved since last season in terms of speed, strength and technique? What call are they in? Have they lined up correctly? Have they been schooled in recognizing the offense’s tendencies and the clues that signal what might be coming? Are they communicating effectively among one another?
With those thoughts in mind, head coach Mack Brown and defensive coordinator Gene Chizik have made a number of adjustments since the 2022 season ended with the Tar Heels posting a 9-5 record and ACC Coastal Division championship. Jason Jones comes from Indiana to reunite with Charlton Warren coaching the secondary. Ted Monachino, a 17-year NFL coaching veteran, has joined the staff as an analyst, bringing an additional set of eyes, ideas and perspectives. The coaches have traveled to visit the staffs of other programs running similar defenses for ideas and critiques. They have put every game plan and call from 2022 under the microscope.
“We’re going to amp up the aggressiveness on defense, we have to produce more sacks and tackles-for-loss and turnovers,” Brown says. “We have to be more aggressive on early downs and play more bump coverage and force some chaos.
“We have to change the narrative,” he continues. “The narrative is we’re soft on defense and can’t stop the run. You don’t have enough tackles-for-loss, not enough sacks, not enough turnovers. Those things will not happen until you stop the run. We haven’t done that for four years. It’s time to step up and do that.”
After that first 1.5 seconds, it’s all on players. React and go find the ball, make a stop.
Toward that end, the Tar Heels hope that the maturation of younger guys, rehab of injured players and the influx of new faces through the transfer portal will provide a deep enough talent pool to bolster the production of those sacks, tackles-for-loss and forced turnovers Brown is talking about.
End Des Evans is limited in spring practice but is expected to be full speed by August. Tomari Fox is back on the interior line after missing 2022. Sophomore tackle Travis Shaw has lost some 20 pounds and has gained some agility and stamina and Kedrick Bingley-Jones, a prize lineman who has never been injury free over…
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