Inexperience and potential are the two words best used to describe the UNC defensive line heading into the 2020 season. Charismatic position coach Tim Cross is unfazed by any outside opinions, however, drawing on his past to help the Tar Heels stay focused during these uncertain times.
Cross met with the media via zoom earlier this week, where he compared this strange offseason to his days as a coach at Air Force.
It was common there for players to miss summer workouts to fulfill military obligations, leaving coaches to come up with innovative plans as a way to work around those scenarios. This also meant the players had to take it upon themselves to work out and stay in shape, much like they’ve had to over the last couple of months.
Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman shares that military background with Cross, having joined UNC prior to last season after five years coaching at Army. That shared mentality has paid off in a big way throughout the current crisis that has brought the world to a stand still.
“If you know that you have a set amount of time and your time management is on point—and Coach Bateman is very organized with all the installs and all that—you make do,” Cross said. “And it really did help here. Where some people may have panicked or gotten stressed a little bit, it’s just another day at the office for us I think.”
With UNC set to have such a young defensive line in 2020, this time is crucial to the development of those players. Due to the pandemic, a stacked recruiting class including one of the nation’s top overall players in defensive end Desmond Evans has yet to actually practice on the field.
Cross said he doesn’t worry about things like that because it isn’t productive to do so, noting that there aren’t any magic pills he can give his guys to make them more experienced. It all comes down to making the most of the situation.
Last year’s leaders Jason Strowbridge and Aaron Crawford are now in the NFL, but Cross hopes that the example they set last season has trickled down to the players expected to step into those roles this season—such as Tomon Fox and Ray Vohasek.
“Besides the fact that A.C. is a juggernaut inside and that Strow’s a freaky athlete, I think it’s leadership,” Cross said. “The consistency of effort. The stability of having been there before. And they were both hungry.”
How the young players on the defensive line step up and perform to the lofty potential they arrived with could go a long way in determining whether or not the Tar Heels live up to expectations this season.
It’s still unclear who exactly will take over as the next star within this group, and limited practices leading in to the season could delay the freshmen from having a chance to make an impact early on.
Much like the real world situation, uncertainty rules among the UNC defensive line. All Cross and his players can do is try their best to stay ready until it’s finally time to show what they can do.
“When your number’s called, be ready,” Cross said. “Because in this situation, the next game is the big game. Whoever we play, whenever it is, is the big one just because it is a game. And that it finally happened.”
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Photo via UNC Athletics
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