One of the overlooked storylines among the UNC football program last season was the hiring of former Tar Heel superstar Dre Bly as the team’s cornerbacks coach. Now, more than a year into the job, Bly is doing everything he can to inject his own mentality into his players.
While the hiring of head coach of Mack Brown stole all the headlines prior to the beginning of the 2019 campaign, the decision to add Bly—a College Football Hall-of-Famer in his own right—to the staff was also critical.
Bly had not coached at this level before, but he brought a wealth of NFL experience to the program and a familiarity with Brown, having starred for him in the late 1990’s during his first tenure in charge at UNC.
That kind of pedigree has worked wonders for the Tar Heels on the recruiting trail, as Bly has been quick to adapt to that part of the job.
On the field, Bly says he’s made a point from day one to instill confidence—knowing his players are often left on an island to guard their matchups one-on-one. With mistakes normally leading to huge plays, it takes a certain kind of mental toughness to play that position at a high level.
“I’m very competitive,” Bly told reporters earlier this week via Zoom. “I hate to lose at anything I do. I wanted my DB’s to have that same mindset. I wanted those guys to have that mentality. And I think as the year progressed, we got better in that area and we were more loose—which allowed us to make plays.”
Injuries are a common workplace hazard in football, but no position group was hit harder for the Tar Heels last season than the defensive backs.
This is where Bly’s teaching was kicked into overdrive, as true freshmen like Storm Duck and Don Chapman played with confidence toward the end of the season after being forced into extended playing time.
To get an even better feel of the locker room, Bly said he also took advice from one of his injured leaders: senior cornerback Patrice Rene, who tore his ACL early in the year and was granted a medical redshirt to return for 2020.
“I’ve kind of been the older guy—I’ve experienced a lot during my time at Carolina,” Rene said. “I’ve had like four different coaches. So, [Bly] kind of leaned on me—being one of the older guys—to connect with the guys we have in the room right now and to help him out with certain things. It’s definitely a title I’m proud to hold.”
Looking ahead to next season, the Tar Heels should receive a huge boost in the secondary with transfers Bryce Watts and Kyler McMichael now eligible to play. Rene, Duck and rising junior Trey Morrison will round out the main group of cornerbacks Bly and defensive coordinator Jay Bateman have to work with, which should allow UNC to be much more creative on that side of the ball.
“Coach Bateman and I, we’re very excited about what that’ll look like for us,” Bly said. “It’s gonna allow us to try different things, and hopefully it’ll lead to better matchups for us defensively when we’re playing faster teams or teams with multiple receiver packages.”
Should the secondary live up to lofty expectations next season, there should be no secret why.
“I’m coaching confidence every day,” Bly said. “Every day. To me, that’s the most critical thing that you have to have to play that position.”
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