The offensive line was expected to be good for North Carolina this year. But they didn’t count on having to learn a whole new, up-tempo game brought to Chapel Hill by Coach Larry Fedora.

Fedora said it was a big adjustment for the linemen to make. , there was a lot of talk about the offense, the up-tempo, how are these big guys that were recruited for pro-style offense, how were they going to be able to adjust.

“it was very difficult for them, because you’ve got big guys who are used to going to a huddle, relaxing, holding hands, and then coming, taking their time at the line of scrimmage and running the play,” he said. “Well, totally, it was a shock for most of them and probably more plays than they had ever gotten in in practice and their lifetime. So it was a total shock.”

As a result the linemen trimmed down and got in better shape. And, as usual, they did it together. Fedora said they have a comfort level with each other.
“A lot of those guys have gotten a lot of snaps together, they trust each other and know what each other is going to do and so they are able to excel and keep moving forward and now I think they are just starting to hit their stride,” he said.

Fedora particularly praised All-America candidate Jonathan Cooper. “I’ve been coaching a long time. I’ve coached some offensive linemen that have been drafted in the top five or six in the country and Jonathan has some skills at the offensive guard position unlike any others that I’ve ever coached. He has tremendous feet. He has feet like a tight end, a very skilled tight end. There are quite a few tight ends out there that don’t have the feet that Jonathan has. He’s big and he’s very intelligent and he understands what you’re trying to do, and he’s good at what he does.”