To his right, outside the transparent glass wall on the fifth floor of the Kenan Football Center, nearly all that remains of the stadium’s turf are the hedges that normally surround the field of play.
The rest of the field is a colossal crater formed by the claws of the construction vehicles roaming the terrain, making it appear as if a bomb went off on the 50-yard line.
Shortly after Chizik starts fielding questions, he issues a statement similar in magnitude to the gaping hole on the field.
“I wanted to be at a place where we could potentially win a championship,” he said, slapping his hands on the podium for extra emphasis. “Because I’m not coming out of retirement, if you will, without having a chance to win one.”
This offseason, the UNC football program completely detonated its defensive coaching staff, provoking Chizik — who won a national title in 2011 as head coach at Auburn — to leave his jobs at ESPN and SiriusXM Radio to come to Chapel Hill and begin building the defense from the bottom up — much like the field he’ll be standing on next fall.
Wednesday’s National Signing Day showed the program has begun to lay the foundation, as the Tar Heels ended the day with 19 commits and eight players on the defensive side of the ball.
“You bring in Gene, and Gene’s pedigree speaks for itself,” Coach Larry Fedora said. “These kids know who he is, they know what he’s accomplished. So, you get instant credibility with him coming on our staff.”
