By Lee Pace, GoHeels.com
The offseason lives of Tar Heel football players have been ratcheted up the last two weeks as the program makes its transition from winter conditioning to spring practice in March and early April.
First there was Judgment day-six hours spread over two days Feb. 12-13 of intense leadership training and team-building under the direction of a former Marine platoon commander.
Then on Monday was the first of coach Larry Fedora's annual Blue Dawn regimen-eight sessions over two weeks of early morning conditioning.
The threads running through both are to help reveal leaders and burnish everyone's leadership skills; hone each player's competitive edge; and push each player to burst through boundaries he'd never broken before.
"We're trying to create as much discomfort as possible," Fedora says. "We're trying to push guys farther than they think they can go. Then we watch and see how they react. If we get the reaction we want, that's great. If not, we try to push them even farther to create that reaction. This is also when your leaders are going to step up-when things are really tough and difficult. You're going to see in February how guys are going to respond under adverse conditions in the fall."
Spring ball starts Sunday, March 1, with three sessions planned that week before the University's spring break. The coaching staff was on the road recruiting most of January, and these two off-season initiatives provide a bridge between winter conditioning and spring practice.
First was the "Judgment Day" protocol conducted by a company named The Program.
GOHEELS!
The offseason lives of Tar Heel football players have been ratcheted up the last two weeks as the program makes its transition from winter conditioning to spring practice in March and early April.
First there was Judgment day-six hours spread over two days Feb. 12-13 of intense leadership training and team-building under the direction of a former Marine platoon commander.
Then on Monday was the first of coach Larry Fedora's annual Blue Dawn regimen-eight sessions over two weeks of early morning conditioning.
The threads running through both are to help reveal leaders and burnish everyone's leadership skills; hone each player's competitive edge; and push each player to burst through boundaries he'd never broken before.
"We're trying to create as much discomfort as possible," Fedora says. "We're trying to push guys farther than they think they can go. Then we watch and see how they react. If we get the reaction we want, that's great. If not, we try to push them even farther to create that reaction. This is also when your leaders are going to step up-when things are really tough and difficult. You're going to see in February how guys are going to respond under adverse conditions in the fall."
Spring ball starts Sunday, March 1, with three sessions planned that week before the University's spring break. The coaching staff was on the road recruiting most of January, and these two off-season initiatives provide a bridge between winter conditioning and spring practice.
First was the "Judgment Day" protocol conducted by a company named The Program.
GOHEELS!
