UNC coach Larry Fedora looks to replace Vic Koenning

There wasn’t one specific moment, or one play or one game, North Carolina coach Larry Fedora said, that led him to decide the Tar Heels’ defense needed a change in leadership. It was, likely, a lot of things.

The 70 points allowed against East Carolina. The constant stream of long plays allowed against Clemson and Miami and others. The no-show performance in the regular-season finale against N.C. State.

So last week Fedora met with Vic Koenning, the assistant coach most responsible for the defense, and Fedora said, “We made the decision that Vic was going to pursue some other college jobs and other opportunities out there. So it was a mutual decision.”

That’s how Koenning’s three-year tenure at UNC ended. He won’t coach the defense when the Tar Heels play Rutgers on Dec. 26 in Detroit in the Quick Lane Bowl, and the search for Koenning’s replacement has begun.

How long that search might last – or how long Fedora hopes it will last, even – is unclear. Fedora, though, made one thing clear Monday: He’s open to abandoning UNC’s 4-2-5 base defense in favor of a more traditional 4-3 or 3-4 base scheme.

“Do we have to be a 4-2-5?” Fedora asked Monday. “No, I don’t feel that way. That’s going to have a lot to do with the next coordinator that comes in here. I still think I’m very committed to being multiple and being able to get to various fronts from the same personnel base.”

UNC has used a base 4-2-5 defense – four linemen, two linebackers, five defensive backs – since 2012, its first season under Fedora and its first, too, with Koenning running the defense. There were some rough defensive performances that season, and some more rough ones a season ago.

And then came this season, which has been among the worst in school history. The Tar Heels, with one game left to play, have allowed more points than ever. They’re allowing 495.7 yards per game, second-most in school history.

The problems were widespread. In some games – against ECU and Clemson, for instance – the Tar Heels gave up a litany of long plays. In others – against Miami and N.C. State – UNC was no match physically at the line of scrimmage.

Though the defensive problems were easy enough to identify, the cause has been more difficult to define. Was there a disconnect between coaches and players? Did the scheme simply not fit? Did UNC lack the right kind of personnel for what Koenning sought to do?

Tim Scott, a senior safety, blamed attitude more than anything.

“We just didn’t get up when we needed to get up for the games,” Scott said Monday. “The only game I can honestly say we got riled up for was Duke. And I guess we were playing for the (Victory) Bell. But we came into N.C. State just lazy and not really as focused as we were the week before.

“And it happened like that the majority of the season. Not necessarily the young guys, but even the older guys – myself included sometimes. We were just lazy with our work ethic during the week.”

UNC followed its best defensive performance in the victory at Duke with one of its worst amid a 35-7 defeat against the Wolfpack, which gained 388 yards rushing against UNC. That was the most rushing yards the Tar Heels have allowed under Fedora.

After a season of defensive struggles, the breakdowns against N.C. State could have sealed Koenning’s future. Dan Disch, an assistant coach whose technical title is defensive coordinator, will lead the defense in the Quick Lane Bowl, Fedora said.

He said he didn’t anticipate any further changes on the defensive coaching staff “at this time” but didn’t rule out that possibility later.

“A lot of that will be determined in the future,” Fedora said.

When Fedora arrived, the defensive players the new coaching staff inherited had been recruited by former coach Butch Davis to fit a 4-3 defensive scheme. Then those players had to adapt to the 4-2-5. Now, another change could be coming to a more traditional defensive alignment.

Fedora said the Tar Heels’ scheme will be up to the coach he hires. And what kind of coach is Fedora searching for?

“A guy that’s going to be high energy, that’s going to be a guy that’s very positive,” Fedora said. “A guy that’s going to be excited about coaching those guys, and a guy that’s going to get 11 hats to the ball.”

Jeff Schoettmer, the junior linebacker, said switching schemes “could be” be problematic but said players were looking forward to a change.

“When a new coach comes in and a new system, I think guys – I think a little more breath of energy just gets breathed into them,” he said. “So guys will be excited for the spring and spring ball. Really show a new coach how they are.”

In the meantime, though, the remaining defensive staff will prepare the Tar Heels for Rutgers. Koenning, Scott and Schoettmer said, wasn’t present when Fedora broke the news of the coaching change on Saturday, and Scott said the team found out on Twitter that Koenning was leaving.

After such a difficult season, with so many defensive breakdowns, some might have seen a change coming. But, Scott said, “We were just all in shock that we found out that way.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2014 at 4:43 PM with the headline "UNC coach Larry Fedora looks to replace Vic Koenning."