
{"id":27207,"date":"2012-08-02T10:16:23","date_gmt":"2012-08-02T14:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=27207"},"modified":"2012-08-02T10:16:24","modified_gmt":"2012-08-02T14:16:24","slug":"heels-have-some-special-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/08\/02\/heels-have-some-special-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Heels have some special leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Eddy Landreth<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><br \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_20318\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20318\" style=\"width: 100px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/08\/18\/support-the-players-by-filling-kenan-stadium\/landreth-mug-30\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-20318\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/landreth-mug1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"landreth-mug\" width=\"100\" height=\"134\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/landreth-mug1.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/landreth-mug1-84x113.jpg 84w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/landreth-mug1-74x100.jpg 74w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20318\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Eddy Landreth<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nFirst-year coach Larry Fedora does not have the roster depth he would prefer, but his Tar Heels are not without talent.<\/p>\n<p>Four Tar Heels were named to the preseason All-ACC Team. Two of those are offensive linemen who are among a group of players that form the foundation of the offense and the team.<\/p>\n<p>Junior James Hurst and senior Jonathan Cooper were recognized individually on the All-ACC offense. Carolina also returns starters Brennan Williams and Travis Bond on the offensive line.<\/p>\n<p>This group combines true talent with a vast amount of on-field experience.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the biggest question is whether they will be athletic enough to operate in the spread offense when they were all recruited for a pro style.<\/p>\n<p>Fedora says yes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and without hesitation.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They are definitely athletic enough,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Fedora said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153These guys are not only athletic enough, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re big. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re really big. But if you look at them now compared to what they were at the beginning of the summer, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not nearly as big as they were.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our strength coach has carved a little bit of weight off of these guys. All he has done is build their work capacity. Each and every one of them, to a man, has gotten stronger. But they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also cut body fat. That just means their work capacity is going up, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be able to do some great things this year.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>While the linemen chosen to the All-ACC Team really represent their entire group across the front, sophomore running back Giovanai Bernard and linebacker Kevin Reddick stand out for their individual excellence.<\/p>\n<p>Bernard ran for 1,253 yards last season, the third-best in ACC history for a freshman. He was among the top three vote-getters at any position.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The first two days in the spring, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in shorts,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Fedora said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t put a whole lot of stock in what we do in shorts. But there was one guy while we were in shorts \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take me about half a day to figure out he was special.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Fedora, of course, was referring to Bernard.<\/p>\n<p>Fedora is enamored with his senior linebacker as well. Reddick has taken charge of this team.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I embraced a leadership role last year,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Reddick said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That has helped me be a better player, a better man now. At times I try to take over the whole team and be that say-so guy. When we call the huddle, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m talking every time.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When somebody messes up, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to let you know. I think everyone needs that on the team. A lot of guys are afraid to speak up. I wanted to let it be known I would be the guy who would speak up. I want the guys to know that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in this thing together. If you mess up, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be told.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Reddick said he had no choice but to focus on his position in the spring because he cannot help anyone else until he is sure of what he is supposed to do. But he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been studying and working since spring practice ended, and he has a plan for summer camp.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to take part of training camp to learn what everybody else is supposed to do so I can help teach the young guys,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Reddick said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I tell the young guys, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPut a mission out there for yourself and go get it.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Fedora has watched closely how Reddick\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s teammates respond and how Reddick has acted with respect to the coaching change and his decision to return for his senior season.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was the first one to stand up and say, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not going anywhere. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to have a great season here next year.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a leader on our defense,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Fedora said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very, very well respected by his teammates because of his work ethic and the way he carries himself.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Reddick said his goals extend far beyond just leading, though. He has something to prove to himself and his teammates.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I see [the attention], but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got to play first,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Reddick said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It does feel good to know there are people looking at me, but I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t played yet. I have to go hard in practice and put in the work.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve gotten more mature every year,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Reddick said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I came back for a reason. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel I played good. I made some plays here and there, but not enough for me to come out and try to enter the draft. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve made enough plays.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>In turn, Reddick said he fully believes his team is going to get the job done this fall.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to come out and play smart, fast and physical,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Reddick said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to try to win 12 games.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>First-year coach Larry Fedora does not have the roster depth he would prefer, but his Tar Heels are not without talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":20318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[431],"class_list":["post-27207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27207"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27207\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27209,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27207\/revisions\/27209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}