How UNC football keeps Minnesota guessing about defensive look for season-opener

Here’s what Minnesota’s offensive staff is looking at as it prepares to play North Carolina in the football opener:

Power Echols will start at inside linebacker for UNC. That’s a given. But ...

Echols could be the weakside ‘backer. Or he could be the middle linebacker — coaches call them the “Will” and the “Mike” in football parlance.

Then again, redshirt freshman Caleb LaVallee could start at the Will and Echols line up at Mike, which they have at times in preseason practice. Or LaVallee could back Echols up at Will, with sophomore Michael Short and freshman Ashton Woods being used at middle linebacker.

And all that is based on Amare Campbell. Will he play or not? If so, how much?

The sophomore injured a hand during fall camp. The thought is he could be ready for the Aug. 29 opener in Minneapolis but no one is saying for sure — linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen said last week that he was hopeful Campbell will play.

All that should keep the Gophers guessing a bit as they put together their offensive game plan and script. Echols and Campbell together offers an altogether different look.

Regardless of who plays or where, UNC’s defensive game plan remains the same, LaVallee said.

“We’re the attackers. We’re not sitting back, reacting, we’re going to get it,” he said. “We keep preaching we’re going to be the best defense in college football, every single day.”

New defensive coordinator Geoff Collins has brought that mentality – “I love that dude,” LaVallee said. UNC coach Mack Brown has endorsed it.

“Our creed is to play tough, play smart and to give everything you’ve got,” Campbell said.

A year ago, Campbell watched as Cedric Gray and Echols took virtually every meaningful snap, combining for 223 tackles. Thigpen said he did not notice any dropoff by the two in games and so he kept them in.

“I had two guys in superior shape and they loved being in the game,” he said. “For me, you play until you get tired and you raise your hand. That’s my philosophy.”

But Gray leaving for the NFL has changed the defensive dynamic. So has Brown insisting that his assistant coaches get more players in the games to develop better depth and as a way, in theory, to help ward off the late-season slides UNC has had the past two seasons.

Campbell said he learned a lot last season from Gray and Echols, noting, “Ced and Power did it every day. No days off.”

Echols, quieter in the past, has said he will be more vocal this season. He said Gray “passed the torch” to him and that it’s his defense to lead in 2024.

At the ACC Football Kickoff, Echols was asked about his best qualities as a football player.

“My drive and determination in everything I do,” the 6-0, 225-pound senior from Charlotte replied. “I never waiver, quit or stop or fail.”

Thigpen said Echols leads in every aspect. Arrive at the Kenan Football Center early for a 6:30 a.m. meeting, he said, and Echols will already be there, sitting in a corner, alone, meditating. He’s the first on the practice field to stretch, Thigpen said. He takes charge in the meeting room.

“He sets a standard where he wants everybody to be great and he pushes,” Thigpen said. “Him being in the room, it elevates everybody’s game.”

With Gray opting out of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in December, Campbell was able to step in and get his first start against West Virginia. He wanted to go into the preseason leaner and faster, only to injure his hand.

LaVallee, who played in four games last season, has made the most of his opportunity in camp, with a chance of either starting the Minnesota game or getting a good number of snaps in the game.

Thigpen said some of LaVallee’s teammates call him “Little Power,” quite the compliment for the Georgia native, who is listed at 6-1 and 225 pounds.

“The game has slowed down for him,” Thigpen said. “There’s an old saying that you can’t tell the difference between a scared player and a confused player, that they look the same. He’s not confused anymore. You can see his athleticism, his power, his punch.

“He’s getting there. He’s looking like a Carolina linebacker, like those we’ve had in the past.”

Thigpen being one, earning All-ACC recognition at linebacker under Brown in the early 1990s.

Campbell has several tattoos on his left arm, nearly all the art dealing with family. There’s is another, a quote attributed to former NFL quarterback Steve Young:

“The principle is competing against yourself and being better than you were the day before.”

That’s Campbell’s personal motto and one he will take into this season.

“It’s about stacking days and being better than you were, every single day,” he said.

His biggest wish now is to be able to go full tilt on Aug. 29 against Minnesota. Call it a birthday wish -- Campbell turns 19 on game day.

This story was originally published August 20, 2024 at 6:00 AM.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

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In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.