Football coaching slot filled
On Wednesday, the University of North Carolina football team announced that it hired Charlie Coiner as defensive assistant coach.
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On Wednesday, the University of North Carolina football team announced that it hired Charlie Coiner as defensive assistant coach.
If one was to look for a microcosm of the North Carolina defensive effort against Louisiana State, one should look no further than Tre Boston.
Correction (September 7, 12:00 p.m.): Due to an error, The Daily Tar Heel misidentified UNC assistant coach Troy Douglas as John Blake in a photo previously attached to this story. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
ATLANTA — In North Carolina’s 30-24 loss to Louisiana State, an unlikely side effect emerged from the 13 suspensions that left the Tar Heels shorthanded all over the field.
North Carolina associate head football coach John Blake resigned Sunday evening in a prepared statement released by the University.
It is not often that a quarterback who is within a stone’s throw of his team’s all-time passing mark has to fight for his job. T.J. Yates had to do exactly that during this year’s training camp.
Louisiana State quarterback Jordan Jefferson must be looking forward to returning to the Georgia Dome.
North Carolina’s running game feels the pressure entering its season opener Saturday against Louisiana State.
This year’s edition of the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game has a strange dichotomy.
Just within range of the cranes and backhoes renovating Kenan Stadium, North Carolina’s football team is in the midst of a rehaul of its own.
Mywan Jackson had it all planned out.For his mother Terrie Green’s birthday on Saturday, he was going to give her two interceptions as his present.He started the day by collecting a tipped pass off of the fingertips of Todd Harrelson, then out-jumped Harrelson for a second pick, this time in the end zone — and his goal was attained.“I told her I was going to get two picks for her, and it played out how I wanted it to,” Jackson said.Jackson’s play caught the eye of returning starting cornerback Kendric Burney, who has been through three previous spring games and started on the other side for the White team.“Mywan Jackson had a phenomenal day,” Burney said. “That was unbelievable for a guy that had no game experience. For Mywan to go out there and play like that, that was the best thing I’ve seen in the spring, and it’s the best thing I’ve seen in a long time.”But Jackson wasn’t the only player to make plays for the White team defense.Michael McAdoo registered four sacks and an interception. That was hardly the only pressure on incumbent starting quarterback T.J. Yates as he struggled to get into any rhythm in the game.McAdoo, unlike Jackson, did not enter the spring game expecting such a robust performance.“It kind of shocked and surprised me,” McAdoo said. “But coach said hard work pays off, so I guess it paid off today.”McAdoo figures to be fighting for the starting job at defensive end counter to returning first-team All-ACC defensive end Robert Quinn. It is unclear how much of McAdoo’s success could be attributable to injuries along the offensive line, as the spring has been unkind to the unit.Alan Pelc, Carl Gaskins and T.J. Leifheit all missed the game with injuries. Pelc and Gaskins project to start along the offensive line next season.The Blue team’s offensive line featured a true freshman, a walk-on and three sophomores with a combined 11 starts between them.“I told (McAdoo) that just because Robert Quinn is one of the top defensive ends in the nation doesn’t mean that you aren’t one of the top defensive ends in the nation,” defensive tackle Marvin Austin said. “Just go out there and work hard.”The unit shut down a Blue team offense that featured six of the offense’s 10 returning starters, including Yates, running back Shaun Draughn, tight end Zack Pianalto and wide receiver Erik Highsmith. And they did this with five of the nine returning defensive starters on the Blue team.The play of the freshman Jackson and junior McAdoo signals that even with an ACC-high 21 returning starters, UNC should be deeper this fall than it was last season.“We got kids on the second team that would probably play significant time anywhere else in the country,” Burney said. “This spring we definitely developed a bond, but they’ve definitely developed confidence that they can play with anybody.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
After dropping to last place in the ACC Coastal Division with two straight losses to Georgia Tech, North Carolina needed a spark.On Sunday, it thought it had gotten just that in the form of three multi-run innings, highlighted by a sixth-inning moonshot by Jesse Wierzbicki. And then the relief pitching struck.Between Michael Morin, Greg Holt and Garrett Davis, the bullpen managed to give up 10 runs in collecting 10 outs. Five of those runs were scored when the Yellow Jackets were down to their final out.Ga. Tech ultimately pushed across three runs in the 10th inning to complete the sweep, 11-8.“It’s tough,” Wierzbicki said. “We had an 8-3 lead in the top of the ninth and — we should win that game. It’s frustrating. There’s not really many words to describe it. It hurts.”A routine flyout in the 10th inning Sunday turned into a double as Brian Goodwin misjudged the ball, breaking inwards only to watch the ball fly over his head.Between UNC’s first two losses, there were few similarities in the style of play. One was a classic pitchers’ duel, and the other was a slugfest.Friday’s game featured both teams’ aces, as reigning ACC Pitcher of the Year Deck McGuire toed the rubber for Georgia Tech, countered by Matt Harvey for the Tar Heels. They both pitched well, with neither team able to do much of anything against the two hurlers.Their stat lines were virtually identical — one earned run, struck out double-digit batters and allowed nine base runners. The only significant difference was Harvey’s unearned run in the fifth inning. It was the lone difference between the two squads as Georgia Tech took a 2-1 win.“I block out all the other distractions and just try to stay within my game,” Harvey said on Friday. “The last thing I needed to do was worry about what he was doing out there, because he’s a tremendous pitcher.”Harvey was on fire in the first two innings, striking out five of the first six Yellow Jackets he faced.“I was having some good movement on my two-seam fastball, and I was locating it very well,” Harvey said. “Early my changeup was working pretty good, and then I was even able to throw some curveballs for strikes.”Colin Bates had no such luck to start Saturday’s game — he gave up back-to-back-to-back home runs in the first inning. Ga. Tech’s bats stayed hot for the rest of the game as it cruised to a 13-5 win.Sunday’s game was not the first relief pitching meltdown. Saturday’s game yielded a similar five-run outburst. Nate Striz’s performance went into the box score as no innings pitched, three earned runs, three hits and two walks.Even though coach Mike Fox refused to talk to the media, he did talk to Adam Lucas of the Tar Heel Sports Network.“We are in search of that guy in the bullpen who can close the door,” Fox said to Lucas. “Whether we move some things around or start trusting a freshman, we need to shore up our bullpen.”The Tar Heels also had problems in the field, as they notched at least two errors in every game, ultimately costing them two of the three games. The sweep is the first the Tar Heels have suffered at Boshamer Stadium since 2001.“I am concerned about our defense,” Fox said. “We have seemed to fall apart this series defensively, and that is a little uncharacteristic of our team.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
In the NCAA Tournament, experience is the lifeblood of successful teams.Often, teams focus on winning basketball games by relying upon the players with the most experience on the roster.North Carolina’s women’s basketball team is no different. Saddled with a 10-seed and a long trip to Seattle, the Tar Heels will rely on those who have done it before.If UNC is to avoid its fifth first-round exit in 22 appearances, juniors Cetera DeGraffenreid and Italee Lucas will need to play a huge part in carrying the Tar Heels to victory.This could prove problematic, as neither has been able to play well at the same time all season.“Since the beginning of the season, sometimes we were both off,” DeGraffenreid said. “Everybody has their struggles. Everybody goes through it. (Lucas) really cares about this team, and she really wants this team to succeed.”With DeGraffenreid playing well, Lucas is now struggling with her consistency, manifested by her 13-54 shooting performance during the last five games. From 3-point land, she is 3-22 in the same stretch.Lucas is clearly talented, evidenced by her play in practices, said coach Sylvia Hatchell. The enigma, however, is how to get Lucas to play that way during games.“We’ve watched film with her, and we’ve talked about just letting the game come to her,” Hatchell said. “I think she’s trying to make things happen too much sometimes when she’s out there.”Lucas is capable of making quite a bit happen. She was selected for the 2nd team All-ACC, largely for her ability to score in bunches. She scored 28 points in the second half to carry UNC past N.C. State in Raleigh, and set a Tar Heel record for three-pointers in a game in an overtime loss to Virginia.If that Lucas is able to make a reappearance, UNC has a great shot to advance past Gonzaga.“I would like for her to just be Italee,” Hatchell said. “Just relax and play. She could really make a difference for us.”Not coincidentally, during its last five games, UNC went 2-3, including a loss in the first round of the ACC Tournament.That loss threw North Carolina back onto the NCAA bubble, and the team was given a reprieve when the selection committee squeezed them in as an at-large bid.“Everybody was nervous about us getting in,” DeGraffenreid said. “I think everybody should just take it as an opportunity and look at it as a blessing that we did get in.”The 10-seed is the lowest in UNC history, but it is a title that Hatchell seems to relish.“(The players) know that they’re a better team than their record indicates,” Hatchell said. “I think they are anxious to prove that.”
North Carolina’s 88-66 win against North Carolina Central went so well that even assistant coach Andrew Calder was seen smiling.Calder, the usually irascible sidekick to head coach Sylvia Hatchell, would probably not admit it, but he was caught enjoying a laugh with a referee with about 40 seconds left in the game.With UNC in the midst of playing their most well-rounded game in weeks, it is hard to hold it against him.The Tar Heels (19-11) improved drastically in their halfcourt offense, shooting 49 percent for the game.The key was Chay Shegog getting multiple touches in the high post where she could turn and either shoot or spot open cutters.“It’s much easier (to get in rhythm),” Shegog said. “Especially with this new offense, I don’t have to score and I know where all my teammates are.”Shegog, who battled a head cold during the game, scored an efficient 17 points in 26 minutes on 8-12 shooting.During one stretch, Shegog scored nine straight Tar Heel points to help keep pace with the Eagles.“She did a nice job in there, and we had several other people that we were running in there with the cuts,” Hatchell said.The game could not have come at a better time for the Tar Heels, as they were disappointingly bounced in the first round of the ACC Tournament by Maryland last Thursday.“Oh, yes (we practiced during the ACC Tournament),” Hatchell said. “We came home and practiced during the time we would have been playing.”Hatchell scheduled the game as a tuneup to keep her team in rhythm during the two-week layoff between ACCs and NCAAs.“Last year we had that real close game with North Dakota,” Hatchell said. “This is a hard game here, but it’s good to go ahead and get that out of the way before playing in the tournament.”The Tar Heels had five players in double digits due to the easy shots they were able to manufacture in the halfcourt.Italee Lucas notched 10 points on 11 shots — a frustrating statistic for UNC’s coaches.“She’s had practices where she was unbelievable shooting the ball,” Hatchell said. “We just need her to let the game come to her.”From the players’ standpoint, if UNC is going to make a run in the NCAA Tournament, they will need consistent production from both Lucas and junior Cetera DeGraffenreid.“Like coach says, she wants us to be the ones to step up and lead the team,” DeGraffenreid said. “They’re only going to go as far as we’re going to go.”Laura Broomfield led the way on the boards, pulling down 14 rebounds to go along with 12 points, for her fifth double-double of the season.Waltiea Rolle sat out the game, recovering from a concussion she sustained in practice a week ago.The injury left the Tar Heels to trot out their 15th distinct starting lineup of the season.“Yesterday I was thinking, ‘OK, this is our 30th game, and I still don’t know who our starters are,’” Hatchell said.Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
What is delayed is not denied.
As the North Carolina bats went this weekend against the Maine Black Bears, so went the No. 11 Tar Heels.In two out of the three games, the Tar Heels (6-1) scored eight or more runs, and in those two, they won.The first win was an 11-1 thrashing on Friday, and the second was an 8-4 win on Sunday. The loss was a 5-3 game on Saturday in which UNC struggled to create any offense against Maine ace Jeffrey Gibbs.“The kid on Saturday was good,” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “He was their best guy, and their reliever they brought in. We faced their best two guys (on Saturday). We got some pitches to hit and didn’t get it done. The game’s predicated by the guy that’s on the mound.”Gibbs and Steve Perakslis combined to limit the Tar Heels to three runs on just five hits. The win is Maine’s lone win of the season (1-5).“They came out with a pretty good arm on Saturday,” UNC third baseman Levi Michael said.“He had pretty good life to his ball, and he was hitting his spots, so I think as hitters we probably didn’t do our part in that game.”UNC’s bats heated up at just the right time, as North Carolina used a three-run seventh to propel them to the series win on Sunday.“(Sunday) was a hard-fought win,” Fox said. “Getting behind by two runs, I was proud to see our guys come back being down by two runs and winning the series.”The key hit in the rally came from Dillon Hazlett, who has driven in a run in five consecutive games — a feat that departed first baseman Dustin Ackley only achieved twice in his storied senior season. From there, the Tar Heels notched two more runs to put away the Black Bears.Tommy Coyle, who entered the series with two hits on the season, contributed two more, including an RBI single in the first inning on Sunday, to double his RBI tally.“We don’t look at their batting average,” Fox said. “Tommy Coyle’s really swung the bat well for us. He struck out one time in 24 at-bats, and Brian (Goodwin) hasn’t struck out much. So they’re moving the ball.”Mike Cavasinni scraped together a single hit in all three games, extending his career-high hitting streak to 13 games, including a bunt single on Sunday.On the rubber, the Tar Heels were amazingly consistent. Each starting pitcher threw at least five innings and notched five strikeouts and two or fewer walks.The most impressive was Matt Harvey’s nine strikeouts against 20 hitters faced.Ben Bunting extended his multi-hit streak to five games with two hits in each game during the series.“It just all seemed to work,” Bunting said. “Balls seemed to be finding holes. It wasn’t necessarily squirting through holes, but I was just getting lucky, and finding the right gaps.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
North Carolina jumped on UNC-Greensboro early and never let up, taking a 12-2 win on Tuesday — but it still was not good enough for head coach Mike Fox.Despite 12 runs on 16 hits, Fox wanted more.“Actually we were a little disappointed, because we felt like we left (runners on) second and third like four times in a row,” Fox said. “We felt like the game should have been a little bit more out of hand, earlier than it was.”Not only did the Tar Heels leave 11 runners on base, but all of them were in scoring position.A four-run spurt in the bottom of the third is what finally put the game out of hand, as Garrett Davis held the Spartans at bay and allowed the Tar Heels to enlarge their lead.The starting lineup combined for 14 hits, providing ample offense for the pitching staff as they threw a combined three-hitter. “It’s real important to stay focused after you get up so early,” right-fielder Brian Goodwin said. “You just have to continue to score runs and stay mentally focused. It’s easy to say ‘whatever’ and take plays off. If you do that, it opens the door for the other team to come back.”The knockout blow was delivered by Goodwin in the third, as he tripled home two runs with a screamer down the right field line.Of Goodwin’s three hits on the season, two have been triples.“That’s not very many (hits),” Goodwin said with a laugh. “That is really random. It makes three hits sound a lot better, though. Geez. I’ll take it.”Davis took care of the other side, putting together five innings of two-hit baseball.The only blemish came on a two-run home run by Ed Jayjack in the fourth after Davis walked the leadoff hitter in the inning. “It’s out of the way, you’ve already given up your first one,” Davis said of his mindset after the home run. “So you have nothing else to worry about.”That was the first hit of the day for the Spartans, as they could not get much going all game long. UNC-Greensboro walked more often than they got hits — totaling three hits and five bases on balls. The secret to Davis’ success was throwing strikes early in the at-bats. When he cruised through the first two innings, it was primarily because he was able to get ahead in the count quickly.“The key to pitching is to get ahead of batters,” Davis said. “If you have them where you want them, then you can throw what you want to, and they don’t know a fastball is coming. You have to keep them guessing.”Davis was able to get ahead of batters and put them away, using 79 pitches to go five innings.“Today was a good step for Garrett Davis,” Fox said. “Early on he had good life and had good stuff, but he got a little bit tired.“We needed him to go five innings, and obviously he got to some three ball counts. He came back after that home run — which was important — and really attacked the next three hitters.”Nineteen players — including nine true freshmen — saw action for the Tar Heels, as Fox took the large lead as an opportunity to get in new players. “I saw some guys come off the bench and get some good at-bats, which means they’re staying in the game, and being positive,” Fox said.Mike Cavasinni singled in the fifth inning to extend his career-high hitting streak to 10 games.
All weekend North Carolina relied on timely hits in its sweep of George Washington, and all weekend Mike Cavasinni delivered.The fifth-year senior went 4-for-13 on the weekend. While getting four hits in a three-game weekend series is not blazing, he got hits when it mattered. Cavasinni singled three times with two outs in or after the seventh inning.On Friday, he came up twice in big situations — once in the ninth and once in the 10th — and was able to get on base.“The good thing about Cavi coming up is our other guys are watching and going, ‘OK, here’s the smallest guy on our team, and here’s how you respond in that situation,’” UNC coach Mike Fox said. “So if anything else, he’s setting a good example this weekend in helping us win.”In a weekend rife with young players making their collegiate debuts, it makes sense that they would look up to the elder statesman of the team — especially when he is getting big hits to help the team win.“It’s very clutch of him,” freshman Bryn Renner said. “A fifth-year senior, he’s been here forever. He’s actually taught me and all of the other freshmen how to play here, so he’s a great leader and I’m just really happy for him.”The first big hit on Friday, a groundball up the middle, started a two-out rally when the Tar Heels were down to their final out. Cavasinni was eventually brought around to score.The second was a seeing-eye single that moved Dillon Hazlett to third and scored Ryan Graepel.“On Friday night, it was more I just wanted to get on and get something going,” Cavasinni said. “I crowded the plate. I was willing to get hit with the ball, do anything to just get on, and they just happened to throw a ball that I got lucky on and hit just to the right spot.”On Saturday, Cavasinni’s big-hit parade continued, as he singled home two runners with the bases loaded to put the Tar Heels in front for good. UNC had struggled to develop anything until the hit in the seventh.“He’s been through the wars,” Fox said. “He’s not scared. He’s played on the biggest stage you can play on, and he’s not intimidated. He’s a guy you want up there because he’s usually going to give you a good at-bat.”Cavasinni also extended his hit streak to nine games with a single on Sunday. The hit streak marks the longest of Cavasinni’s career, and extends from last season.“He’s such a leader,” freshman Brian Goodwin said. “If you’re going to follow anyone on the team, he’s the one you should be looking to follow. He’s just so humble, but then in the big situations he always comes through.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Awaiting a pass from Ariana Moorer in the first overtime, Virginia’s Monica Wright looked ready to put the finishing touches on a sterling performance against North Carolina.Wright slipped, and the ball glanced out of her hand and out of bounds. If the assist had been completed, the Cavaliers would have taken a three-point lead with just more than a minute left in the first overtime on an uncontested layup.That was about the only thing Wright did wrong in carrying the Cavaliers to a 82-78 victory on Monday night.Wright ended up with 33 points, six short of her career high of 39.Whenever Virginia needed a basket, No. 22 was quick to deliver. The consistency of her scoring, despite all of the defensive pressure on her, seemed to dishearten UNC.“Our focus was on her, but she’s a great player,” junior Cetera DeGraffenreid said. “On any given night, she can go out there and score 30 points. It’s really hard to stop her.”After Wright’s performance, North Carolina was singing her praises, and everyone volunteered that she is a “great player.”“There’s no doubt about that,” UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. “I think she’s probably the player of the year in the conference. I don’t know of anybody else that’s better than her.”With her 17th point of the game, Wright passed N.C. State’s Genia Beasley for third place in career points in the history of the ACC.This was Wright’s sixth 30-point performance on the season. Her 22.7 points per game average entering the game gave her the title of the ACC’s leading scorer.“She’s pretty doggone good, because if you take her off that team, a lot of things change,” Hatchell said. “I mean, she had 33, and they only had one other kid in double figures with 11.”UVa.’s offense was clearly designed to give Wright scoring opportunities. On virtually every possession, the 5-foot-11 guard would snake through a labyrinth of picks and screens, all in hopes of springing for a single second to get a shot off.Freshman Tierra Ruffin-Pratt drew most of the job of covering Wright. Ruffin-Pratt often passed her off to another defender, only to end up back on her later in the possession.“It’s definitely tough,” guard Italee Lucas said. “That’s when you have to have your help defense, because picks — especially that third one — are the ones that catch you.”Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
Track and field is a sport of repetition.