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North Carolina (1-0, 0-0 ACC) at Rutgers (0-1, 0-0 Big East)
Thursday, September 11 7:30 PM ESPN
Rutgers Stadium (Natural Grass)
Sports.com Line: Rutgers -5, O/U 45
Almost all head coaches work their way up the ladder by primarily coaching one side of the ball. Along the way, some coaches develop the reputation of being a “guru” or “genius” at either offense or defense. I always find it interesting when these coaches become head coaches and then their teams end up struggling at their supposed specialty.
Marvin Lewis is a perfect example. For years he was a genius as the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens, a team that ultimately won a Super Bowl because of their defense. That reputation led him to landing the head job with the Cincinnati Bengals. However, since that point Cincy has been one of the weaker teams in the NFL on defense.
Don’t get me wrong, I think Lewis has done a decent job with the Bengals but the thing is, when you have talented players – players like Lewis had with LB Ray Lewis – it’s easy to look like a genius. Which brings me to my point.
For years Steve Spurrier has been lauded as one of the most talented offensive minds in the game. Yet after watching his Gamecocks for the first two Thursday nights you certainly wouldn’t know it. First, there was his very questionable decision to start Tommy Beecher at QB. That plan had to be abandoned after Beecher threw four picks against NC State.
Then last week South Carolina couldn’t get anything going against a scrappy but typically average Vandy team, losing outright as 10 point favorites. That moved yours truly to 2-0 this season on Thursday nights and put Spurrier in a tough position as he looks to welcome the Georgia Bulldogs to Columbia this Saturday.
The bottom line is the vast majority of coaches, even the so-called gurus, need talent to succeed. Spurrier had loads of it at Florida, not so much these days in Columbia. The elite, great coaches are the ones that can take a collection of average-to-good players and mold them into a championship team. Those coaches are obviously very rare.
This Thursday night we’ll get a chance to look at a couple of coaches that have certainly coached their fair share of stud talent over the years. The only problem is its not currently in their programs. Both North Carolina’s Butch Davis and Rutgers Greg Schiano saw plenty of great football players when they were together at the University of Miami, Schiano serving as the defensive coordinator for Davis in 1999 and 2000. Additionally, both coaches have had stints in the NFL.
But this Thursday night both coaches will be trying to squeeze as much success as they can from rosters that are a far cry from the great Canes teams of the late 90’s. Not that there aren’t some bright spots.
Davis has probably said a little prayer of thanks every night for the past week for WR Brandon Tate. If not for the heroics of Tate, the Tar Heels would have likely started the season by losing at home to McNeese State. And no, that wasn’t a typo.
Tate, who also returns kicks, set a UNC record for all-purpose yardage (397) with his punt and kickoff returns and receiving and rushing yardage against McNeese State. The senior found pay dirt on a 57-yard pass play and an 82-yard punt return and also set up a touchdown with a 54-yard run. Obviously his contributions were huge for the Tar Heels as they rallied for the 35-27 win.
But when you win that ugly against a team that weak its hardly cause for celebration. By the time they kick off Thursday night Davis will have had 12 days to get things in order for the Scarlet Knights. Carolina will simply have to get more production from their trio of running backs Greg Little, Shaun Draughn and Ryan Houston as well as a better effort from QB T.J. Yates because you can be sure Schiano won’t let Tate take this game over.
Schiano actually probably wishes that Tate was the only thing he had to worry about going into this game. Like Davis, Schiano has lots of questions to answer after his first game and unfortunately for Rutgers fans, the first game resulted in a loss.
At least losing to Fresno State is respectable but that said, Schiano no doubt feels his team let a great opportunity slip by to knock off a quality opponent to start the year.
The Scarlet Knights can points to a bevy of mistakes and questionable coaching decisions in their 24-7 loss to the Bulldgos. It certainly didn’t help that Schiano’s new kicker, San San Te, missed two field goals but there is plenty of other blame to go around as Rutgers failed to convert on a fourth-and-goal play from the 3, threw an interception in the end zone and had an 82-yard punt return for a touchdown wiped out by a block-in-the-back penalty.
In short, not a great day for Schiano and his staff, particularly offensive coordinator John McNulty who watched his unit get held scoreless in the first half of a game for the first time since 2002.
Like Davis, Schiano has had plenty of time – nine days – to get things cleaned up and get ready for this game.
Also like North Carolina, the Scarlet Knights will have to get more yards from their running backs, Kordell Young and Mason Robinson and more production from QB Mike Teel certainly wouldn’t hurt either.
Whichever coach can turn their team around from shaky performances in Week one will likely find themselves in the winner’s circle at the end of this game.
