Football: Special teams units searching for returns

For the past four years, special teams have been a strength of North Carolina's game plan.

Things peaked in 2008, when the combination of Brandon Tate's electric kick returns and Bruce Carter's freakish knack for blocking punts made the Tar Heels a threat to score on every special teams play.

But in 2009, things are less sure. Namely, Tate's departure leaves the team without a tested return man.

For the outset of the season, Butch Davis has designated Kendric Burney as the punt returner, but Burney is also the team's No. 1 cornerback at a thin position, and coach Butch Davis wants to keep Burney's legs fresh for his all-important pass defense responsibilities.

That may well mean punt return duties for players like Da'Norris Searcy and Johnny White. In fact, Searcy is listed ahead of Burney on the UNC depth chart for punt returns. But Searcy has never returned a punt in a college game, and Burney was UNC's second punt return man in 2008.

While UNC's return game won't be as dynamic without Tate, it might not have to be. Carter returns, and in him UNC has the premier punt blocker in the conference, if not the nation.

Carter's run of four straight kicks blocked through two straight games last season bordered on the supernatural, and Carter wants to have more of the same in 2009.

But Carter's return might be the only spot in special teams that has been solidified. UNC's best return coverage man, backup safety Matt Merletti, went down with a torn ACL in the preseason.

At punter, a position battle has intensified through training camp. Grant Schallock served as the backup last season and entered camp as the starter.

But freshman C.J. Feagles has pushed Schallock throughout camp, and Davis is quick to note how much ground the freshman has gained on Schallock, going so far as to say that Feagles and Schallock might split punting duties during UNC's opener against Citadel.

Feagles also possesses the family pedigree, as his father is Jeff Feagles, longtime punter for the New York Giants of the NFL.

"(Schallock) clearly had the edge from being here," Davis said. "But C.J. Feagles has come in over the last two weeks with his mechanics and he's cleaned up a few issues, and he's realized that in high school you might have had longer to get the ball off in high school than you will in college.

"Tops you're going to have 2.2 seconds to get the ball off your foot."

Family pedigree is something that runs deep throughout the UNC kicking staff. Casey Barth returns after winning the kicking job last season.

Barth always throws people familiar with North Carolina's history for a loop, since he is the spitting image of his older brother, Connor — the four-year starter at kicker before Casey arrived.

Barth already made a name for himself in 2008 as the kicker for UNC, making 10-of-15 field goal attempts, and was perfect on extra points, on the way to edging out Jay Wooten during the course of last season. Wooten attempted six field goals, making four.