North Carolina defense tackling its issues of tackling
.JPG "North Carolina linebacker Chazz Surratt (21) tries to strip the ball from Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec (5) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2020, in Boston.")
North Carolina isn’t the only defense having problem with missed tackles. But an “everybody’s doing it” approach doesn’t have a good track record working on parents or, in this case, coaches. The Tar Heels know they have to do better with rival N.C. State coming to Kenan Stadium on Saturday.
By UNC coach Mack Brown’s count, the Heels have missed 54 tackles this season and their opponents have missed 66.
“If we’ve got a tackling issue, the people we’re playing do too,” Brown told reporters on Wednesday’s Zoom call. “Does that have anything to do with COVID and missing spring practice? Who knows?”
UNC linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel says the disjointed offseason caused by the COVID-19 pandemic definitely factored into tackling problems. But he owned the mistakes that have been self-inflicted. He said in some cases players have tried to do too much instead of trusting their teammates to execute their assignments. That has caused the Heels to be out of position to make plays.
“When a man’s not doing their job and another guy has to take over for that and try to get into the fit, usually he’s gonna swipe and miss a tackle,” Gemmel told reporters on a video call. “He’s going out of his element and going out of his gap to try to make someone else right. So for us looking back on film and seeing all the missed tackles, it was a lot of people doing other people’s jobs and then trying to make a tackle and missing the tackle.”
What’s concerning for the Heels is that 40 of their misses have come in the last two games -- including 19 whiffs the loss at Florida State. Brown credits some of that to the opponents they’ve had to tackle like Virginia Tech’s Khalil Herbert, who continues to lead the ACC in rushing yards per game with 148.
Carolina was ranked first against the run in the ACC after its first two games of the season, allowing just 54 yards per game. But once it faced teams that run more in the Hokies and Seminoles, that total ballooned to 152 yards per game.
“The more talented the team the more tackles you’re going to miss,” UNC co-defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said on a video call. “But it’s the good misses versus the bad misses and that’s where we’ve got to improve.”
N.C. State running backs Zonovan Knight and Ricky Person Jr., are poised to present another formidable challenge. Both rank in the top 15 in the ACC in rushing yards per game. They are used almost interchangeably in a way similar to Carolina’s Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, as only nine carries separate Knight and Person.
Bateman said that tackling remains a point of emphasis for the Heels. Tackling drills are the first thing they do every practice. Through the years, many teams, including Carolina, have gotten away from live tackling once the season begins in order to preserve players’ health. Bateman said many of their drills are about angles and pursuit in open space and not the physical act of bringing a runner down.
“I don’t think you need to tackle to the ground, every play, to get good at tackling,” Bateman said. “And understand this, when we talk about our kids tackling, it’s not effort, it’s not physical, it’s more about an angle and a finish-the-play situation.”
Gemmel believes the focus on tackling will pay off even if the drills during the week don’t include tackling to the ground.
“If you go full speed and you track the back hip like you’re supposed to then that should transfer to the game,” Gemmel said. “But if you’re not going full speed in practice, and you’re not giving your all, then you’re going to end up seeing that in the game. Looking back on film from prior weeks, us going a little bit harder in our tackling circuit will transfer to the game.”