OK, one last post and that’s it for the night, but take a few minutes to see this wonderful piece by Todd Gibson of NBC-17 on N.C. State’s hunt for its athletic memories.
Tim Peeler, the managing editor of GoPack.com, is digging through the bowels of Reynolds Coliseum to find old trophies and artifacts and is trying to organize it all for N.C. State. Gibson has some cool video of the project.
Wow, UNC coach Roy Williams is already raving about incoming recruit Harrison Barnes from Ames, Iowa. Williams will get his first look at Barnes in August when the Tar Heels play in the Bahamas.
“Tyler is the most driven player I’ve ever coached,” Williams told Fox Sports. “I think Harrison will be No. 2. He has tremendous focus, self-discipline and is so driven.”
Oh, and Barnes knows how to use Skype, too.
The Carolina Panthers reported for duty Wednesday, with Jimmy Clausen signed and team regulars like Julius Peppers and Jake Delhomme no longer in the fold. This is a younger, and probably not better, Panthers team than the one that finished 8-8 last season.
The major storyline hanging over this season is the future of coach John Fox. Fox is a bright, sincere coach who wants to do things the proper way. He has won in Carolina, but from a distance you get the feel that his time there is running out.
Fox has only this season remaining on his contract, and an issue to watch is whether Bill Cowher returns to coaching – and goes to Carolina. When I interviewed Cowher for WRAL back in February, he had an interest in returning “if it were the right situation.”
You can’t help but feel for Cowher in light of the death of his wife, Kaye. They went to N.C. State together, and she was from Bunn. Moving to Raleigh, and leaving the NFL, was an important decision for their family. I wouldn’t begin to predict how a devasting loss like that would impact Cowher’s future.
Where Cowher takes his career remains to be seen, and that’s certainly not at the forefront of his mind now. Bbut his youngest daughter is already at Wofford, where the Panthers hold training camp. Cowher is a tough, smart, but quite compassionate coach who’d be a great fit with Jerry Richardson if he wanted to consider Carolina.
I couldn’t help today but think of the irony of the Panthers, and Cowher’s daughter, heading to Wofford – and wonder what that might mean for future developments.
Former UNC basketball player Rashad McCants, who did not play in the NBA last season, had a chance to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers summer league team this month but chose instead to come to Raleigh to be with his ailing mother, a breast cancer survivor.
McCants, who averaged 15 points a game in 2008 for the Minnesota Timberwolves, didn’t play as much in 2009 and was traded to Sacramento which eventually refused to re-sign him. He sat out last season.
McCants, a native of Asheville, is only 26 and seemingly had an NBA-type game even when in college. He was considered moody at UNC but he hasn’t gotten in any trouble since turning professional.
He says that playing in Europe is not an option. Eventhough his surly reputation remains, hopefully he’ll get another chance with the Cavaliers or maybe the Celtics (he’s friends with Kevin Garnett).
An article on McCants titled “Born to be hated, dying to be loved” appears in the most recent ESPN The Magazine.
A sign of the UNC program’s progression under coach Butch Davis, the Tar Heels landed five defensive players on the ACC’s preseason all-conference football team, which was released on Wednesday.
Defensive end Robert Quinn, defensive tackle Marvin Austin, linebacker Quan Sturdivant, cornerback Kendrick Burney and safety Deunta Williams were all selected. The team was voted on by the media attending the ACC Kickoff press conferences in Greensboro Sunday and Monday. North Carolina had the nation’s No. 6 defense last season.
By comparison, Florida State quarterback Christian Ponder, the preseason pick for league player of the year, is one of two Seminoles on the team.
Also on the offense, Duke wide receiver Donovan Varner and N.C. State tight end George Bryan were the lone Triangle players picked.
How good is defensive end Robert Quinn? So good the UNC coaching staff essentially had to tell him to “take a knee” in the spring football game, coach Butch Davis said. Quinn was so dominant the Tar Heels couldn’t block him, which meant they couldn’t practice their offense.
Quinn, a junior, ripped off 11.0 sacks in 2009, and if you watched Carolina play at all you couldn’t help but be stunned by his development. He came into the spring even better. “He wanted to dominate every drill,” Davis said with a smile that suggested he had seen something special.
Quinn is an unusual player. He survived brain surgery as a high school senior and you figured it was a cool story that he was in college and playing at all. He also has an almost childish exuberance when you’re around him. Hewore four SillyBandz on his wrist to the ACC Football kickoff this week, and it’s not often you see 270-pound NFL prospects wearing the same bling as elementary school kids.
That gentle off-the-field nature belies a player who could be one of UNC’s best. He doesn’t have the nasty streak of Lawrence Taylor but he has a burst and overall game that reminds you of that former Tar Heel great. Taylor had 16.0 sacks as a senior in 1980, which remains a school record. But it was how he got those sacks that made Taylor so great – he didn’t just come around the edge, he roared around it with an intent to destroy.
Quinn says he wants to get 20 sacks this season, a figure that makes you want to chuckle – at least until you hear Butch Davis talk about him. You can be confident Quinn won’t be taking a knee against Carolina opponents this fall.
It’s a fair outcome for the marijuana charges against four N.C. State football players to, well, blow over, since the fact that a bunch of college kids were smoking pot hardly ranks as major news. Coach Tom O’Brien refused to go into the issue on Monday in Greensboro and WRAL.com quoted him as saying the issue had been addressed and, “We’re moving on.”
Jakes Vermiglio, Markus Kuhn, George Bryan and J. R. Sweezy were charged April 24 with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. The charges against Vermiglio, Kuhn and Sweezy were dropped Tuesday, according to The N&O and WRAL. The case against Bryan was continued.
This is significant because left tackle Vermiglio and tight end Bryan are starters and Kuhn is listed at No. 2 on the depth chart at defensive tackle. State needs all the good players it can get this year as O’Brien tries to turn around a program that is 16-21 under his watch. Already, State will play the season without Rashard Smith, a projected starter at cornerback, because of a knee injury.
Perhaps the most interesting case is Sweezy. He was charged in March of beating up a shuttle bus driver, but PackPride.com reported those charges were dropped last month. Sweezy is not listed on the two-deep, but keep in mind players who get in trouble in the offseason are often not left off the depth chart. Sweezy played in 12 games last season and started against Gardner-Webb.
With quarterback Thaddeus Lewis completing his eligibility for Duke last season, the Blue Devils need a productive, trusted leader to replace him.
Sean Renfree, though just a redshirt sophomore, finds himself first in line for the opportunity.
A highly touted prospect out of Scottsdale, Ariz., Renfree saw limited action behind Lewis last season before suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament last November. While recovering from the injury, Renfree wasn’t able to compete in contact drills during spring practice. But he was able to take part in many other drills.
“He got a lot more work in the the spring than I ever thought he would,” Duke coach David Cutcliffe said.
Renfree’s commitment to the Blue Devils goes beyond toughness. Cutcliffe said Renfree received an invitation to attend the Manning Passing Academy this summer, but declined.
For nearly two decades, the Mannings have held their passing camp in Louisiana each year. It brings together NFL, college and high school quarterbacks. Archie Manning and sons Peyton and Eli always attend. (As a reporter covering the New Orleans Saints beat, I first met Eli when he was a teenager at this event. I also watched Chris Simms, among others, as a high school player there).
While honored and intrigued at the opportunity, Renfree chose to stay in Durham working with his Duke teammates this summer, figuring it would help the team more. But Renfree worried about offending the Mannings.
Cutcliffe, having coached Peyton and Eli, told Renfree he’d handle passing on the regrets.
“I told him they wouldn’t be angry,” Cutcliffe said. “He said, “I don’t want to do it because I feel like I need to be here rehabbing and working with our players.’ I think that’s indicative of the commitment that Sean has as a player. It made me kind of smile, to be honest with you.”
Tom O’Brien has been trying to hire Jon Tenuta since, oh, about the time Tenuta graduated from Virginia in 1982. O’Brien finally got him, as the linebackers coach for this N.C. State team, and Wolfpack players had no idea what was ahead when Tenuta arrived for their first meeting.
Pack linebacker Nate Irving said he was used to his group laughing and joking around – and quickly learned his new coach had a different vibe. Irving said Tenuta walked in, and said, “Alright, the laughing stops now.”
“He introduced himself and got straight down to business,” Irving said.
Tenuta, 53, has been a defensive coordinator at seven different schools and spent the past two seasons at Notre Dame. Before that he spent six seasons at Georgia Tech and one at UNC. Tenuta is known for both his gruff, demanding style and his dazzling ability to create blitzing defenses. O’Brien said Tenuta’s style will blend in well with what he and defensive coordinator Mike Archer want to achieve this season.
But what has struck Irving, too, is how well Tenuta knows the game. While Irving expects more blitzes, he also expects State’s run defense to improve, in part because Tenuta is so specific in what he expects.
O’Brien, for one, is thrilled to finally have Tenuta on his staff. “He brings an attitude about the way he coaches and approaches the game,” O’Brien said.
Yes, he does. Irving learned that the first meeting.
Tom O’Brien tends to shoot straight, so it’s worth paying close attention when he talks about Mike Glennon. It’s easy to assume that Russell Wilson will start at quarterback for State, but O’Brien continued to insist Monday that the quarterback position is open.
“Mike Glennon is going to push Russell for the starting job,” O’Brien said. And asked they could share the position, O’Brien said, “I’ve never been a two-quarterback guy.”
It’s not just what he says, but how he says it. There’s some real conviction in O’Brien’s voice when it comes to Glennon. Remember, O’Brien is a guy whose best Boston College teams featured drop-back, NFL-style passers.