The Daily Tar Heel
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893.
Monday, March 18, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue

We keep you informed.

Help us keep going. Donate Today.
The Daily Tar Heel

Excitement: Key word as UNC football opens training camp

Egg
Egg

Long before the North Carolina football team took the field for the first training camp practice of the year Monday, Coach Larry Fedora gathered his players and showed them a video the UNC football video department put together as a preview for the upcoming season. 

Unlike a usual "hype" video, the trailer traded in the big hits and long touchdowns to focus on what the team had done together this offseason. Clips of players working out in the weight room and video of several of the squad's team building summer challenges outweighed the game highlights. A narrator spoke about preparation — about the road. 

"There's this thing about roads. They get overlooked a lot, taken for granted. People don't think enough about how you get someplace, they're too busy talking about where they want to go," the narrator said. 

Fedora said that is what he wanted his team to gather from the video. To get where you want to go, you first have to put in the work.

"At this point that's all this team has — is the legwork that they've put in since January 6, and that's what it was all about," he said. "We haven't accomplished anything, but we've put in a lot of work. Now let's go find out who we're going to be."

With this lesson in mind, the Tar Heels took the field with an excitement and energy several players and onlookers took note of. This, senior guard Landon Turner said, is the start of something he hopes will continue. 

"It's a night and day difference from last year as far as attitude and maturity level, just from everybody, especially my guys," Turner said. "These summer workouts were a lot easier, guys kinda just knew what to expect and we carried a lot of good stuff in from last season, so we're gonna build off of that."

After UNC's season-ending loss to Rutgers in the Quick Lane Bowl on Dec. 26, several players pointed fingers at teammates who weren't stepping up. Several months and a team-building exercises later, players said the changes in the locker room have been startling. 

"The mood around the team, I feel like we're as close of a unit as we've been with all the summer challenges that we did," said junior receiver Ryan Switzer. "Hopefully that continues, because right now we have friendships, and that is going to ultimately help you when you deal with adversity down the road, and when you're losing late in the game, your friendships and your teammates are going to help you." 

With this new-found excitement, Fedora and the Tar Heels are optimistic about the upcoming season. And while Monday was one of the first steps towards the the team's ultimate goals, Fedora said his players are ready to put in the work and ready to take the road seriously.

"We're starting to get more pieces of the puzzle, and going into today this is the strongest team we've had since we've been here. These guys have bought in. They've committed themselves to the weight room in the summer and doing the things that they need to do."

sports@dailytarheel.com

To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.