Every time a new coaching staff comes in you can tell a little bit of what they think about their personnel by what they're telling recruits and what they emphasize with offers, who they're talking to, etc.
Here are some obvious areas of need it seems they've identified.
1. Size in the front seven. Several of the linebackers I've spoken with, such as Tyrone Hopper and Justin Foster (2017), have said that the coaches believe they need more size at the linebacker position. Defensive tackles like Kyree Campbell and others have mentioned the same thing about the defensive line. Apparently this is a core belief for Gene Chizik. It may be philosophical but it's also particular to their situation now.
I think earlier in the Larry Fedora era the staff has been willing -- as we've mentioned and reported (in quotes, even) for some time -- to take guys an inch shorter or 15 pounds lighter than some other guys. This is a good way to get some 'tweeners in a Money Ball sort of way, as other schools might be passing on great players. But it creates a bit of a size void that becomes more significant over time. Haven't looked at the numbers or averaged the weights, but I know this staff wants more size, particularly at linebacker.
That doesn't mean they'll be recruiting 240 pound linebackers, but they're recruiting guys with big frames -- 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 -- as opposed to guys that are 6-feet and 6-foot-1, for the most part. There will obviously be exceptions.
This is interesting. What goes around comes around in college sports. Everything was all about speed. Now, most teams have speed and size is at a premium. It's at a premium in the secondary and now its increasingly so in the front seven.
2. Balancing the QB recruiting depth. This could be a one-year cyclical thing. In fact, there's good reason to believe it is. Chazz Surratt and Jawon Pass are both dual-threats all the way. David Moore and Avery McCall (down the road guys) are to a lesser extent. That could be a pure coincidence but the two major targets and maybe the two biggest "minor" targets are all dual-threats. Could be balancing the depth chart. Obviously a couple of the program's young guys are pro-styles. Last year was more slanted to dual, with Ratliff as a run-first right now and Elliott as a mobile pro or an accurate dual, however you want to class him. So '16 will be a dual-threat year.
And '17 looks like a pro-style year. Hunter Johnson, Jake Fromm, Tommy Devito, etc., -- most of the major targets we've reported on, are pros.
Could be coincidence but it's so across the board I think there's some strategy there.
3. Not settling for a small pool. Increasingly UNC has been sending out of state offers around even at some positions where maybe you wouldn't expect them to. Tons of in-state running backs this year, for instance. Yet that has not stopped them from offering a lot of out of state guys of late. Amir Rasul, Matt Falcon, Tony Jones, etc.
Nowadays you just cannot target 50 players for 25 spots. You've got to target 150 players to some degree. There's just so much competition, every kid is known by every school, and a verbal really means nothing.
Here are some obvious areas of need it seems they've identified.
1. Size in the front seven. Several of the linebackers I've spoken with, such as Tyrone Hopper and Justin Foster (2017), have said that the coaches believe they need more size at the linebacker position. Defensive tackles like Kyree Campbell and others have mentioned the same thing about the defensive line. Apparently this is a core belief for Gene Chizik. It may be philosophical but it's also particular to their situation now.
I think earlier in the Larry Fedora era the staff has been willing -- as we've mentioned and reported (in quotes, even) for some time -- to take guys an inch shorter or 15 pounds lighter than some other guys. This is a good way to get some 'tweeners in a Money Ball sort of way, as other schools might be passing on great players. But it creates a bit of a size void that becomes more significant over time. Haven't looked at the numbers or averaged the weights, but I know this staff wants more size, particularly at linebacker.
That doesn't mean they'll be recruiting 240 pound linebackers, but they're recruiting guys with big frames -- 6-foot-3, 6-foot-4 -- as opposed to guys that are 6-feet and 6-foot-1, for the most part. There will obviously be exceptions.
This is interesting. What goes around comes around in college sports. Everything was all about speed. Now, most teams have speed and size is at a premium. It's at a premium in the secondary and now its increasingly so in the front seven.
2. Balancing the QB recruiting depth. This could be a one-year cyclical thing. In fact, there's good reason to believe it is. Chazz Surratt and Jawon Pass are both dual-threats all the way. David Moore and Avery McCall (down the road guys) are to a lesser extent. That could be a pure coincidence but the two major targets and maybe the two biggest "minor" targets are all dual-threats. Could be balancing the depth chart. Obviously a couple of the program's young guys are pro-styles. Last year was more slanted to dual, with Ratliff as a run-first right now and Elliott as a mobile pro or an accurate dual, however you want to class him. So '16 will be a dual-threat year.
And '17 looks like a pro-style year. Hunter Johnson, Jake Fromm, Tommy Devito, etc., -- most of the major targets we've reported on, are pros.
Could be coincidence but it's so across the board I think there's some strategy there.
3. Not settling for a small pool. Increasingly UNC has been sending out of state offers around even at some positions where maybe you wouldn't expect them to. Tons of in-state running backs this year, for instance. Yet that has not stopped them from offering a lot of out of state guys of late. Amir Rasul, Matt Falcon, Tony Jones, etc.
Nowadays you just cannot target 50 players for 25 spots. You've got to target 150 players to some degree. There's just so much competition, every kid is known by every school, and a verbal really means nothing.
