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Letter from the Editor
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Much planning and forethought went into the photo shoot for the picture you see on the cover of this magazine. Along with ace photographer Jeffrey Camarati and layout guru Julianne Hoell, we took mock photos using standins. We talked about how we would pose Mack Brown and Roy Williams. We wondered what directions we should give them in order to make the photograph turn out well. We wasted a great deal of time. Once Brown and Williams arrived—within 30 seconds of each other despite coming from opposite points of campus, Hall of Famers evidently having their own specific time zone— we quickly realized our worries were ill-founded. They immediately fell into a conversation about a wide range of topics, ranging from recruiting to the most recent opponents to athletic department business. Our entire contribution to the staging of the photo consisted of moving them back approximately ten feet so Jeffrey’s lighting would illuminate the shot. Otherwise, we just let them talk. And laugh. And greet each other with a hug. We almost felt guilty when we had enough shots. When two of the very best in their profession are having a casual conversation, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to tell them
PRODUCED BY THE RAMS CLUB EDITOR IN CHIEF ADAM LUCAS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS LEE PACE, MARGARET HIGH & PAT JAMES PHOTOGRAPHY JEFFREY CAMARATI, J.D. LYON, JR., BEN SOLOMON & UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN JUJUBE SPORTS PUBLISHING
it’s time to find another activity. It’s no surprise that Brown and Williams are friends; Brown was the featured speaker at Williams’ Fast Break Against Cancer breakfast in September of 2018. At that event, they relayed the story of how Brown had called Williams to wish him good luck on the day of the 2005 national championship game. Nine months later, it was Williams calling Brown on the day of the 2006 Rose Bowl, as Texas won the national title. As you’ll find out in the following pages, there’s a very similar mutual respect that runs throughout the Carolina athletic department with all six of the Tar Heels’ Hall of Fame head coaches. That’s a fairly incredible number that doesn’t even include a handful of current Carolina coaches who are certain to be future Hall of Famers. Most often, these pages chronicle the exploits of the student-athletes in Chapel Hill. But the six coaches we focused on this month have a combined 220 seasons of experience as a college head coach, with nearly 80 percent of those seasons coming at Carolina. It seems only fitting to explore how they’ve achieved not just such incredible tenure, but such incredibly successful tenure. And you don’t have to worry about them needing any directions.
ADAM LUCAS Editor in Chief ramsclub.com
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“There is no better all-around athletic program in the country than the University of North Carolina. It’s amazing the success and longevity so many of these coaches have had, and it’s why this place is so special. —MACK BROWN
THE
HALL OF FAME
EDITION
ON THE COVER: Roy Williams and Mack Brown make Carolina the only school in the country with dual Hall of Fame head coaches in men’s basketball and football. COVER BY JEFFREY CAMARATI TABLE OF CONTENTS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI AND J.D. LYON, JR.
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BORN & BRED
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EDITOR’S LETTER p. 3
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TAR HEEL TICKER p. 6
HALL OF FAME COACHES
10 Best In Their Field
Four of Carolina’s Hall of Fame head coaches reflect on their sucsess BY ADAM LUCAS
CAROLINA EVERYWEAR p. 20
HALL OF FAME COACHES
32 Authentically Carolina
Athletic director Bubba Cunningham directs an athletic department that features a half-dozen Hall of Famers BY ADAM LUCAS
HALL OF FAME COACHES
16 The Dean Smith Effect Two decades after he last coached a game, Dean Smith continues to have a major impact BY ADAM LUCAS HALL OF FAME COACHES
22 Carolina Coaching Tree
HALL OF FAME COACHES
34 Learning from the Best
As one of the youngest head coaches in the athletic department, Coleman Scott is learning from Carolina’s greats BY MARGARET HIGH
Carolina has impacted coaching across the country BY ADAM LUCAS HALL OF FAME COACHES
26 The Next Step
Hall of Fame induction a stepping stone, not a capstone, for Mack Brown BY LEE PACE
FIRST PERSON
40 ‘A tremendous opportunity’
As a player and as a member of his staff, Sean May has learned from Roy Williams BY SEAN MAY
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TA R H E E LT I C K E R LISTEN AND LEARN
LIFE LESSONS
Former Tar Heel student-athletes on the lessons they apply in daily life from their Hall of Fame head coaches Photos by Jeffrey Camarati
LESLIE LYNESS FIELD HOCKEY
YAEL AVERBUCH WOMEN’S SOCCER
RICK STEINBACHER FOOTBALL
JESSICA SELL
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
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“I’m a doctor, so the physician assistants who work with me, I try to keep them motivated to want to come in every day. I thank them every day for the work they do and I certainly make sure they know they’re valued. That certainly is something I’m very aware of and that I’ve taken with me from the time I was at Carolina playing under Coach Shelton.” “Anson, although obsessed with winning and domination, truly has sport in perspective. What I took from playing in his program were some wonderful lessons on the field, but most importantly, the value of being a good and honorable human being off the field. He values character above all else and speaks about that often. Anson taught me to be a leader, a competitor, and a warrior, but that soccer is just a game and to never lose sight of where it falls in the big roller coaster ride of life.” “Mack Brown was great to play for, and in the past two months I’ve learned he’s even better to work for. He’s demanding, tough, direct and compassionate, kind and caring at the same time. He’s the epitome of every leadership book I’ve ever read. I’m so thankful he came back to Chapel Hill.” “Coach Hatchell always had a spirit of excellence about her, and she demanded the very best from herself, from her staff and from her players. Her spirit of competition was contagious and infectious. She showed us what it meant to be relentless, and she used the reality of the game of basketball to parallel the realities of life and that with the right mindset and the proper self reflection that there was literally nothing that we couldn’t accomplish as a unit and as individuals mastering our minds and our mindsets.”
AQUILLA MATEEN SOFTBALL
MICHAEL BOLOGNESI FOOTBALL
“The lesson that stands out is persistence – to never stop fighting for what you want and to never settle for anything less than what you deserve. Being able to witness [Coach Papa’s] persistence on a daily basis is part of the Carolina experience I wasn’t expecting, but I’ll be forever grateful for.”
“There are the obvious lessons like pushing yourself to compete, challenging yourself and your teammates to be better, and doing everything to be prepared mentally and not just physically. The last one probably had the biggest effect on my life and career as an orthopaedic surgeon. I had to learn a lot about time management in those four years and it prepared me more than I could ever have imagined for medical school, residency, fellowship and being in practice the last 16 years. It was always evident that Coach Brown knew how important it was for so many of us figure this out and translate it in to success later on in life off the field.”
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TA R H E E LT I C K E R LISTEN AND LEARN
WORDS OF WISDOM
Current Tar Heel student-athletes tell some of their favorite stories from their Hall of Fame head coaches Photos by Jeffrey Camarati
KENNY WILLIAMS MEN’S BASKETBALL
“I think my favorite quote from Coach Williams is when he says, ‘If you’re going to take a shot, (be tough enough) to make it.’ He uses it a lot, especially when we’re missing shots. But it’s like, ‘OK, he’s not telling us not to shoot the shot. He’s just saying if we’re going to take it, then make some of them.’ I think that encapsulates him because he’s all about instilling confidence in his players.”
“Coach P is very easily frightened and gullible, and also always forgets to lock her car doors. Our SOFTBALL favorite memory has got to be when we climbed in the back of Coach P’s car after a late night of traveling from an away series. She had run inside to put up some things in the office, and Destiny (DeBerry) and I had already squeezed ourselves in the very back, behind the seats. The whole team knew we were back there as Coach P unknowingly got in her car to drive away. About three minutes into the ride and struggling to hide our laughter, we realized we had made it all the way to the main road and we may have taken this too far. Destiny and I decided to jump out on the count of three and scare her. She obviously freaked out because she had thought she was the only one in her car. But the concerned coach in her instinctively asked, ‘Y’all need a ride?’”
LEAH MURRAY
“Coach Hatchell always tells us that we’re in a fish WOMEN’S BASKETBALL bowl and that everybody is always watching. So it’s really important how we hold ourselves, how we act, make sure we’re responsible. She always reminds us that a lot of people know us even though we don’t know them, so I guess the lesson on that is to really hold yourself and be a class act because the University is a very high-end university and she wants us to match that level.”
TAYLOR KOENEN
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TA R H E E LT I C K E R
BRIANNA PINTO WOMEN’S SOCCER
PARIS KEA
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
MARISSA CREATORE FIELD HOCKEY
“Anson strives to help every single individual on our team maximize their potential, on and off the field. In order to do that, he teaches us to compete in everything we do. By making this a part of our core values, we will continue the pursuit of a ‘never-ending ascension.’”
“I guess the biggest thing [Coach Hatchell] expresses to us is play hard, play smart and play together. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who we’re going up against. But as long as we stick together, play hard, play smart and play together, we’re going to win.”
“In between practices, games, everything, Coach Shelton will say, ‘You are all beautiful, smart, intelligent women.’ And I think that just kind of goes to show that she isn’t growing us to become field hockey players, but rather confident women in the workplace, in our relationships after college. I think that just goes to show we’re not just breaking barriers on the field, but also off the field.”
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
BEST IN THEIR FIELD PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI 10
BORN & BRED
FOUR OF CAROLINA’S
HALL OF FAME HEAD COACHES REFLECT ON THEIR SUCCESS
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The University of North Carolina has long been a national leader in women’s sports. That includes having four active head coaches who are in their respective Halls of Fame. We asked all four for some of their thoughts on a few key questions.
I’ve had the most exposure. I always felt really lucky if I ended up in his group in an activity at the Leadership Academy.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM BEING IN AN ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT WITH YOUR HALL OF FAME COWORKERS?
HOW MUCH OF A HALL OF FAME COACHING CAREER IS TECHNICAL X AND O KNOWLEDGE AND HOW MUCH IS UNDERSTANDING AND RELATING TO PEOPLE?
Donna Papa: It creates an environment where you can surround
Anson Dorrance: It’s your longevity and recruiting and sustaining a
easy access to people who have had great success. You have
some success. But if you have a couple bust years in recruiting, you
yourself with people who have had great success, and you have opportunities to hear them speak or to bring them to talk to your
team. You get to hear their philosophies and what their process is like, and it’s a really cool atmosphere. They always say you want to
surround yourself with the best people you can to be successful, and
that’s what we do at Carolina, because we have access to them as resources.
Karen Shelton: Coach Smith set the tone for the department in terms of coaches doing the right thing. Anson set the standard for women’s athletics. His genius has always been inspiring to me. In terms of
trying to get inspiration from a fellow coach and trying to model our program after them and keep up with them, he’s the one to whom
culture. If you have one or two great recruiting classes, you can have
can fall off the edge of the earth. To have a Hall of Fame career,
it’s the combination of your ability to recruit effectively and your consistency in creating a culture that attracts extraordinary players.
Sylvia Hatchell: Success at anything is about relationships. It doesn’t
matter if it’s home, business, team, church—it’s about relationships.
You’re going to have multiple situations where you go through a whole lot. But it’s always about relationships. And the kids may not
understand at the time why you’re doing something. But I can’t tell
you how many have come back over the years and said, “Thank you for making me do this. I didn’t want to do it at the time, but thank
you.” You don’t have peaks without the valleys. You have to handle
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
all the situations and all the relationships while persevering. Shelton: It’s a combination of everything. You have to have
the knowledge of the game. You have to have the ability to recruit good kids who fit your program and style. You have to have the relationships with high school coaches, colleagues
in the department, and donors. There is an element of relationship building but you have to know the game and be
a good manager. I often say to my assistant coaches that one of the most important things I do is decide where we spend our time—what we do and when we do it, in addition to who I surround myself with.
COACH HATCHELL MENTIONED EACH OF YOU HAVE HAD TO PERSEVERE ALONG THE WAY AGAINST A CERTAIN BATTLE. HOW HAS THAT HELPED SHAPE YOUR SUCCESS? Papa: You just keep working to find the best way and to
continue to persevere at something you enjoy doing. If
something isn’t going the way you want, how can you do it better and what path might you have to take? For softball
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IT’S THE COMBINATION OF YOUR ABILITY TO RECRUIT EFFECTIVELY AND YOUR CONSISTENCY IN CREATING A CULTURE THAT ATTRACTS
EXTRAORDINARY PLAYERS” -ANSON DORRANCE
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in particular, when I came to Carolina, we had a couple of scholarships and the sport of softball in this state was slow
pitch. I came from a background of fast pitch, and that was
very different. Making those kinds of transitions in this state and seeing how big the game has gotten while we have
gone from two scholarships to 12 scholarships has been very rewarding.
Shelton: Certainly, there are struggles. The same thing is true
for student-athletes. That’s one of the great things about
women’s athletics. We push them, and we might push them harder than they’ve ever been pushed before. Whatever we’ve had to go through only makes us stronger. Self-reflection and
being able to reflect on the program is always good. None of the coaches in this department think we know it all. There is always room for improvement and growth.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT CAROLINA THAT SEEMS TO ATTRACT SUCH TALENTED COACHES WHO WANT TO SPEND A CAREER IN CHAPEL HILL? Dorrance: When you come to paradise, it’s impossible to
leave. I’ve lived all over the world. When I finally got to Chapel Hill, I knew I was home. I never wanted to leave. I absolutely
loved my Carolina experience as an undergraduate. Of all the places I’ve lived, not just overseas but in this country, I was
overwhelmed with the quality of life in Chapel Hill. I wanted to figure out a way to hack out an existence living right here.
CALLED TO THE HALL
Shelton: The winning culture here at Carolina is fantastic. We
ANSON DORRANCE
great kids. This is a wonderful place to live. We haven’t always
FIRST SEASON AT CAROLINA: 1977 (MEN’S TEAM), 1979 (WOMEN’S TEAM) HOF INDUCTION: 2008, NATIONAL SOCCER HALL OF FAME
have an academic institution that is world class. We attract
had the biggest budgets or salaries, but the leadership within the department has always been good. There’s a great loyalty and camaraderie in being a Tar Heel.
Hatchell: When I was at Francis Marion, we went to the
national championship and women’s basketball was taking
off. I interviewed at several places, and when I went to
those interviews, I wasn’t sure. For some reason, it didn’t feel like the right fit. I wasn’t going to go somewhere just to go
SYLVIA HATCHELL
was crazy.
FIRST SEASON AT CAROLINA: 1986 HOF INDUCTION: 2013, NAISMITH BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME
somewhere. I turned down two offers, and people thought I
I’m from Gastonia, and I grew up a big Dean Smith fan
and watched him coach. That was one of the things that attracted me to Carolina. When I was able to interview here
with (former athletic director) John Swofford, the other four
people who interviewed were already proven Division I head
coaches. I remember putting my hand on Mr. Swofford’s desk and looking him in the eye and saying, “Mr. Swofford, I want
DONNA PAPA
best negotiating tactic, but I meant it. Every time I see him, I
FIRST SEASON AT CAROLINA: 1986 HOF INDUCTION: 2012, NATIONAL FASTPITCH COACHES ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME
this job. I don’t care what you pay me.” Maybe that wasn’t the still thank him for the opportunity he gave me.
He was such a great leader. My third year, I was in the
weight room of the old field house around 6 or 6:30 at night. John was over with Mack Brown in his office. John came out
at the same time I came out and we were walking to the parking lot together. He knew I was a little bit down, because
we were fighting so hard and we were close, but we weren’t there yet. He put his arm around my shoulder and said, “You
KAREN SHELTON
that was all I needed to hear. I wanted to win so badly for
FIRST SEASON AT CAROLINA: 1981 HOF INDUCTION: 2008, NATIONAL FIELD HOCKEY COACHES ASSOCIATION HALL OF FAME (ALSO A MEMBER OF USA FIELD HOCKEY HALL OF FAME AS A PLAYER)
are my coach and I believe in you.” That was all he said, but him. A couple years later, things took off and we won the
national championship, and I still remembered what he told me when we were struggling. That has been the mentality and philosophy at Carolina for a long time.
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
Papa: The success that was created by people like Coach Smith and by Anson continues to build success. Carolina is a great destination
in the way that it’s such a great balance between academics and athletics. I feel great about promoting Carolina because of the
great academics that we have. If you come here, you can compete at a high level in the classroom and on the field while living in one of the great college towns in America. The people you surround
yourself with in the community and within the athletic department are great. Alumni always describe Carolina as a special place, and you can feel that special nature in so many different ways.
WHAT’S THE BEST COACHING ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED? Papa: (Former UNC wrestling coach) Bill Lam told me that every
year in your career you will face a new challenge. Whether it’s something that happens with a player, something that happens
to you, or something within your program, nothing ever stays the
same. That’s also true in life. Every time you think you’re in great shape and things are going smoothly, there will always be some bump in the road you have to figure out.
Shelton: My husband, (former UNC lacrosse coach) Willie Scroggs,
used to always say that attitude is everything. I’m always trying to get the kids to look at things with a proper attitude, and to approach all the hard things we do as investment instead of work.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A YOUNG COACH TODAY?
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Hatchell: You have to have discipline if you’re going to have a great program. All our great coaches at Carolina are great disciplinarians.
SUCCESS AT ANYTHING IS ABOUT
RELATIONSHIPS.”
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-SYLVIA HATCHELL
And you have to have the discipline to develop your philosophy and then implement it. In some situations, you have to have tough love. Sometimes I think to myself, “If I was a player, would I want to be
coached by me?” For a lot of kids, the first time they’re disciplined
is when they’re on our team. Some of the great athletes in high
school or AAU are such good players that they don’t receive a lot of discipline, because the rules may not apply to them.
Shelton: The same thing I tell my players: love the game. If you’re
trying to get in just as a profession, that won’t work. You have to have a love and a passion for the game. That’s true in any profession that you choose. Pick a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.
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APPROACH ALL THE HARD THINGS WE DO AS AN
INVESTMENT
INSTEAD OF WORK” -KAREN SHELTON
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
THE
DEAN SMITH EFFECT
Two decades after he last coached a game for the Tar Heels, Dean Smith continues to have a major impact BY ADAM LUCAS // PHOTO BY JEFFREY CAMARATI
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It’s been 22 years since Dean Smith last coached a game for the University of North Carolina. Only three of the players on the current Carolina even today,” says field hockey outfield wall at Williams Field at Gene Carolina basketball roster were born coach Karen Shelton. “He was the original, Anderson Stadium, the Carolina softball when the legendary coach was last on the and he was the one who when you had to facility. Karen Shelton has occasionally sidelines, and no members of the current make a decision about the program, you had her field hockey team read Smith’s team were enrolled at Carolina when would think, ‘What would Dean Smith do?’” book, “The Carolina Way.” Anson Dorrance, Smith was still alive. Smith’s indelible impact on the Tar Heel one of the most successful coaches in The Carolina program has the history of sports, credits played more than twice as many Dean Smith with forming the games at the arena that bears his foundation for much of Dorrance’s name—next season the Tar Heels coaching philosophy. “He continues to have an extraordinary impact will play their 500th game at the “Coach Smith would invite me on Carolina even today,” says field hockey coach Dean Smith Center—than it did to watch his practices,” Dorrance Karen Shelton. “He was the original, and he was the at Carmichael Auditorium (190 said. “Organization was never games). one of my strongest suits and one who when you had to make a decision about And yet it’s still very much the suddenly I’m watching these the program, you would think, Dean Smith era in Chapel Hill. practices and they are run like ‘What would Dean Smith do?’” All six of the Hall of Fame clockwork. I was absolutely coaches we interviewed for this stunned by the organization of issue independently invoked Smith’s name basketball program remains obvious. The his practices. He had this accountability when discussing the modern-day culture Carolina basketball family that he created system and an assistant manager would around the Carolina athletic department. remains strong, due largely to the hard record it every time someone missed a In many ways, 1997 feels like a different work of Roy Williams. One of Smith’s shot. At the end of practice, while Coach world—the Spice Girls were popular, most familiar mantras for his team—play Smith was addressing the team, the Mike Tyson was a heavyweight boxing hard, play smart, play together—is posted assistant managers would sprint to the contender, and the first Harry Potter book directly outside the basketball locker scorer’s table to talk to the head manager. hadn’t been released in America yet. room. The head manager would assemble that But Dean Smith endures. “He continues But what you might not realize is that day’s practice rankings and Coach Smith to have an extraordinary impact on the same saying is also written on the would use that information to determine
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
who had the honor of leaving practice first. “The accountability he emphasized blew me away. We stole it, and we soccerized it, and we called it the Competitive Cauldron. And that’s been the mark of my program since the beginning and we’ve used it on a national level and on an international level.” And it has, of course, been incredibly successful. Dorrance has won 21 NCAA championships with the Tar Heels and also used those same Dean Smith lessons to build an international powerhouse that won the first Women’s World Cup in 1991. But not every lesson learned from Smith is applied on a playing field. Softball coach Donna Papa still remembers attending an athletic department coach’s meeting at the old Slug’s at the Pines restaurant just outside of campus. “I got there a little bit late and all the tables were full except for Coach Smith’s,” she says. “Phil Ford told me I should sit at Coach Smith’s table. I said, ‘No way, I can’t do it.’ Phil finally convinced me, and Coach Smith was so kind. He greeted me, and we started to talk, and I first tried to talk about basketball. But it became obvious he didn’t want to talk about that, and instead we had such a normal, nice conversation. “Any time after that that I was down at the Smith Center or saw him on campus, he would always talk to me about my team. And not just superficial things, but he really knew details about games we had played and our players. He cared about the details.” Shelton had the same experience. “No matter when I saw Coach Smith, no matter where he was, he would always ask me either something about specific members of my family, or something very specific about our team. Whether we saw him often or not, he was always following the other teams. He always knew what was going on, and always made you feel good about it.” Smith’s interest in the athletic
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“The accountability [Dean Smith] emphasized blew me away. We stole it, and we soccer-ized it, and we called it the Competitive Cauldron. And that’s been the mark of my program since the beginning and we’ve used it on a national level and on an international level.”
department’s other programs extended beyond mere formalities. His famous comment, “Carolina is a women’s soccer school, and we’re just trying to keep up with them,” provided recruiting ammunition for Dorrance for decades. As recently as this season, Sylvia
Hatchell reminded her assistants of a conversation she had with Smith regarding recruiting. “We were recruiting a kid who wasn’t ranked that highly,” Hatchell said. “I told them that I talked to Coach Smith one time and he said, ‘Sylvia, I recruit with one thing.’ And he took his fingers and pointed
to his eyes. Coach Smith was telling me to trust my eyes and not to get wrapped up in rankings. We still follow that to this day. If we see a kid, and we like the kid, and we think the kid has a great future at Carolina, then it doesn’t matter what their rankings are or what other people think.” Today, we take it for granted that an athletic department’s shoe and apparel contract covers every program in the department. But in the early 1990s, that was still a relatively new idea. Carolina basketball had been with Converse throughout Smith’s tenure, and when the department began discussing a deal with Nike that would go into effect for the 1993-94 season, Smith made one gamechanging requirement: he wanted every program in the department to benefit from the deal. At the time, it wasn’t uncommon for
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individual sports to establish their own apparel and shoe deals, and specifically for college basketball coaches to set up their own shoe deals. Smith’s longstanding contract with Converse was largely due to the fact that a former player, Mickey Bell, worked for the shoe company. But the business of college sports was changing, and Smith and athletic director John Swofford saw an opportunity to provide gear for the entire department. The result was a $4.7 million, fouryear contract with Nike that was the grandfather of today’s $60 million, tenyear deal. For the 1993-94 school year, the Tar Heels became one of the first athletic departments in the country with an alldepartment shoe and apparel deal. “Coach Smith didn’t have to do that,” Papa said. “He made sure all of our programs were taken care of. It wasn’t all
“Coach Smith didn’t have to do that,” Papa said. “He made sure all of our programs were taken care of. It wasn’t all about him. He made sure that deal would reach further and extend to everyone in the department.”
about him. He made sure that deal would reach further and extend to everyone in the department.” Current athletic director Bubba Cunningham had minimal interaction with Smith, although he still remembers Smith speaking at a conference he attended as a young college sports hopeful in 1992. But once Cunningham took control of the department in 2011, it didn’t take him long to realize the impact Smith still carried. One of Cunningham’s first priorities as athletic director was the formation of a strategic plan. Smith isn’t mentioned by name anywhere in the report, but his influence—15 years after he’d last coached a game for the Tar Heels—was obvious. The plan identified four key values for the Tar Heels:
RESPONSIBILITY: Do what is right. INNOVATION: Find a better way. SERVICE: Put others first. EXCELLENCE: Play hard. Play smart. Win together. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but all of those relate back to Dean Smith,” Cunningham said. “We’d gone to our athletic department staff and asked what was important to them and how they wanted to operate, and that was what they came up with. And every single one of those in some way embodies what Dean Smith believed was important. Reflecting back on them knowing what I know, it’s very obvious the impact he’s had on all of us and the importance he still has.”
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C A R O L I N A E V E R YWE A R Rams Club members like to wear their Carolina Blue, and they’ll wear it all over the US and the world. If you have a photo of you in your Carolina gear in front of notable landmarks in the US and abroad, send them our way to be a part of Carolina EveryWear!
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To have your photo included: -Send your photo digitally to bornandbred@ramsclub.com. -Identify everyone in your photo and the location of the photo. Here are the “Rules”: -At least one person in the photo has to be a Rams Club member -You must be wearing Carolina gear -You must be in front of a notable landmark (sorry, as cool as Kenan Stadium and the Smith Center are, they don’t qualify). SHOW US YOUR COLORS!
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1) Chris & Suzanne Marshall of Spartanburg, SC, at the Parthenon in Athens, Greece; 2) Caroline, Jean & Danny King of Harrisburg, PA, in Thailand; 3) David Stroupe & Preetha Chakrabarti of New York, NY, Pandal hopping at the Durga Puja Festival in Kolkata, India; 4) Gale & Chip Smith of Bonaire, GA, with Wren Leigh Filipiak at Hohensalzburg Fortress in Salzburg, Austria; 5) Janie & Jim Crouch of Whitsett, NC, at Cabo San Lucas; 6) Kyle Crawford of Cumming, GA, at Kings Canyon, Australia; 7) Lisa Langley Fey of Atlanta, GA, with Lisa Laughter Mitic at Machu Picchu, Peru.; 8) Wayne & Janice Miller of Rock Hill, SC, with Helen & Gayle at the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland; 9) Chris & Charles Mason with Anna & Mason of Mount Carroll, IL, at the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC; 10) Matthew, Bennett, Samuel & Shannon Leder of Concord, NC, at the Ledge in the Willis Tower in Chicago; 11) Lynn Sherrill Murphy of Conover, NC, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 12) Jerry & Rae Clark of Orlando at the Great Wall in China; 13) Mark Gordon, Terry Gordon, Anna Hawn Gordon & Barry Gordon of Statesville, NC, at the Opera House in Budapest, Hungary; 14) Chuck & Susie Wakild of Raleigh at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa; 15) Keith & Chancy Kapp of Raleigh at Petra in Jordan; 16) Amy & Dennis Goss of Chapel Hill at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando; 17) Mildred Webber Holmes & Caroline Holmes of Washington, DC, in Jamaica; 18) Game-watching party at the home of Linda & John Morgan in Roanoke, VA; 19) Traci Cook, Jason Cook, Mason Epperson, Talan Cook, Macoy Wood, Owen Cook, Sadler Wood, Aspen Wood, Neal Wood & Julie Wood in Jackson Hole, WY
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COACHED UNDER PHOG ALLEN AT KANSAS, WHO PLAYED FOR JAMES NAISMITH AT KANSAS,
WHO INVENTED THE GAME OF BASKETBALL.
= WON A NATIONAL TITLE AT CAROLINA NAME IN CAROLINA BLUE = FORMER COACHES NAME IN NAVY = CURRENT COACHES
PHOTOS COURTESY OF UNC ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS, JEFFREY CAMARATI, PEYTON WILLIAMS & ROBERT CRAWFORD
LEGEND
THE ROOTS OF CAROLINA BASKETBALL GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME. SINCE THEN, THE PROGRAM HAS BECOME NATIONWIDE, DUE LARGELY TO INCREDIBLE SUCCESS, BUT ALSO BECAUSE TAR HEEL PLAYERS AND COACHES HAVE POPULATED JOBS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY.
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“I JUST WANT TO THANK ALL OF THE DONORS WHO HAVE HELPED MAKE MY CAROLINA EXPERIENCE SPECIAL AND SOMETHING I’LL NEVER FORGET. MY TEAMMATES AND I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH. WE’VE GROWN TOGETHER AND GROWN SO MUCH OVER THESE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, AND I’VE MADE FRIENDS FOR LIFE.” -LUKE MAYE
THANK YOU RAMS CLUB MEMBERS FOR PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES!
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO MAKE A LIFE-CHANGING IMPACT ON CAROLINA STUDENT-ATHLETES, VISIT RAMSCLUB.COM/CAMPAIGN
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
THE
NEXT STEP
Hall of Fame induction a stepping stone, not a capstone, for Mack Brown
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BY LEE PACE // PHOTOS BY LEE PACE & BEN SOLOMON/NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION
ré Bly returned to Kenan Football Center mid-afternoon one Friday in January after a week of recruiting in time to help host some prospects that weekend. He turned on the television in his office, and it just happened that ESPN Classic was running a replay of the St. Louis Rams’ victory in Super Bowl XXXIV over the Tennessee Titans 19 years ago. Bly winced as he watched himself as a Rams cornerback drop a potential interception late in the game, then smiled when the victory celebration ensued after a 23-16 victory. He reflected on what his Super Bowl ring then and his return just six weeks earlier to Chapel Hill to coach cornerbacks for Mack Brown had in common. “Everything I’ve accomplished in football, I owe to Coach Brown,” said Bly, a three-time All-America cornerback from 1996-98. “He’s a Hall of Fame coach who helped me become a Hall of Fame player. That holds a lot of weight. People pay attention. “As for his age,” Bly says, referring to Brown’s 67 years and nodding toward the TV and a clip of Rams coach Dick Vermeil at age 63, “Coach Vermeil was a high-energy guy and showed you can win as an older coach. He laid the
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foundation and hired a great staff of assistants who could coach and teach. That’s what Coach Brown has done. “I don’t care what his age is. He’s got more energy than me. And that’s hard to do.” Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham stunned the college football world on Nov. 27 when he announced hiring Brown to succeed Larry Fedora as the Tar Heels’ new head football coach. Exactly one week later, Brown was in New York for induction ceremonies into the College Football Hall of Fame. Among those in the huge ballroom at the Hilton Midtown were some of Brown’s former players from head coaching stops at Appalachian State, Tulane, Carolina and Texas. “He’s not finished,” said Dusty Renfro, who played under Brown at Texas in the late 1990s and has remained close to the program. “He was out of place not coaching, you could see it.” Johnathan Robertson, a walk-on to the Tar Heel program in the early 1990s, considered the list of coaches already enshrined, men the ilk of Bear Bryant, Darrell Royal, Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno. “I think it is amazing at a Hall of Fame event to celebrate a career for someone who’s starting the next chapter,” said Robertson, a commercial real estate developer in Miami. “That’s pretty unique. I’m not sure how often that happens.” Hardly ever, certainly, and it brings up the obvious question
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
of why someone with Brown’s credentials, a relatively pressure-free job of talking at ABC/ ESPN and deep financial resources would want to get back into the fray of chasing 17-year-old quarterbacks and having your every move rehashed in the fishbowl of major college athletics. For Brown, it was simple: “You miss the players, you miss the coaches and the camaraderie, you miss having an impact on young men’s lives,” he said. Hiring a new coach two years past the standard retirement age has been panned in some corners. But those who have spent time around Brown the last few years at ESPN studios in Bristol, Conn., and on the road in college football beg to differ. “I thought this was a phenomenal hire for a number of reasons,” ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said. “It was outside the box. People say, ‘Well, what do you mean?’ Mack Brown’s 67 years old. He’s already been there before. In my
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mind, it really showed some creativity. They are getting someone who’s very comfortable with the fan base.”
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“I love to see that the fire is still burning. Nobody can recruit like Mack Brown. If you get him into the family rooms of recruits, he’s going to bring in a different level of player than they’re used to having in Chapel Hill.” “I love to see that the fire is still burning,” added Kirk Herbstreit. “Nobody can recruit like Mack Brown. If you get him into the family rooms of recruits, he’s going to bring in a different level of player than they’re used to having in Chapel Hill.”
Brown speaks in terms of “we” when talking about his coaching career and the partnership with his wife of 27 years, Sally, who’s actively involved behind the scenes. “We never said we were retired,” Brown says of resigning at Texas after the 2013 season. “We always said we were ‘re-wiring.’ We didn’t want to quit. We needed to have a purpose.” One effect of Brown’s coming back into the coaching fray is that “winningest active coaches” lists have to be recalibrated. Brown enters the 2019 season No. 1 with 244 wins, leading Nick Saban at 237. Bill Snyder at Kansas State and Mark Richt at Miami retired in the offseason with 215 and 171 wins, respectively. Third among active coaches now is TCU’s Gary Patterson at 167. “We are so blessed to have had that longevity and success,” Brown says. “You walk into a high school and you talk to these kids, you have Hall of Fame rings and trophies, it’s really helped us short term in
recruiting. It gives us credibility. And the fact I was on TV for five years, all the kids and coaches saw me. It’s been a huge help.” Four of Brown’s 10 assistant coaches have direct ties to Brown from their playing days or the embryo of their coaching careers—Bly, Tommy Thigpen, Tim Brewster and Tim Cross. Brown’s stature in the business was important as well in hiring the six other coaches. Receivers coach Lonnie Galloway grew up in Eden and has been a Tar Heel fan all his life. He played at Western Carolina before getting into coaching and most recently was at Louisville. “Coach Brown being in the Hall of Fame and winning a national championship—you’re in the door with that anywhere you want to go,” Galloway says. “Our job now is to make sure these high school coaches feel like they should. Growing up in North Carolina, there was always a buzz when Coach Brown was here. Our job is to get it back.” “The most important and biggest reason I’m here is Mack Brown,” adds QBs coach and offensive coordinator Phil Longo. “To have the opportunity to work with a guy his caliber and who’s been so successful at the top level of the sport is an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” Senior tailback Antonio Williams spent three years at Ohio State before transferring to Carolina for the 2018 season. In the short time Brown has been in charge, he’s seen a presence and bearing from the head coach and his staff that has permeated the Kenan Football Center. “When a coach has confidence, it rubs off on the team,” says Williams. “We needed that confidence. We ended the 2017 season on a loss and then lost nine games this year. It’s hard to have confidence in the face of something like that. These men have all the confidence in the world.” Brown had a nine-year run at Texas from 2001-09 of 10 wins or better, culminating with the 2005 national title team that went 13-0 and beat USC in the Rose Bowl for the championship. The 2009 team also advanced to the final game but lost to Alabama, an injury to QB Colt McCoy proving to be a precursor to issues at that position that would haunt Brown through a 5-7 season in 2010 and three more years of eight or nine wins. His final season at Texas in 2013 was also marked by the distraction of incessant reports that a group of boosters was lobbying to lure Saban from Alabama. “It didn’t end like everyone would want it to end, and most of the time it doesn’t,” Brown says. “I thought we had it fixed. I thought we’d turned the program back to 10-plus wins, but we were starting to lose recruits because of rumors. That last year we lost six recruits who were among the best in the country because people were talking about whether I’d be the coach. It got to where it was healthier for me to move on.” That final chapter in Austin has a direct bearing on what’s happening now in Chapel Hill. “He didn’t like the way it ended at Texas and he feels like he has something prove,” said Dwight Stone, a member of the UNC Board of Trustees and its immediate past chair. “Mack’s a competitor.”
Pat Crowley was a starting offensive lineman during Brown’s first two years at Carolina in 1988-89 and has spent time with Brown since his return to Carolina. “Some critics say he’s too old or whatever, but that’s just people taking shots who don’t know him,” Crowley says. “One of things that is overlooked in this is that he did not leave Texas how we wanted to leave Texas. He has some unfinished business. That’s my own observation. More than anything, I think we wanted this job to show people he still has gas in the tank and can turn a program around and win championships. I think this is a perfect setup to win an ACC title and compete nationally.” Brown’s longtime friendship with Cunningham, basketball coach Roy Williams and dozens of key Tar Heel administrators and Rams Club members have helped make the transition seamless. And he’s putting into practice many of the ideas and tweaks he picked up studying dozens of teams as a color analyst and studio commentator. “I’m a whole lot better coach now than I was five years ago,” Brown says. “I’ve had time to get away from it, I’ve had time to look and learn and get my energy back. I was planning on doing this one more time. I put five years into what I wanted to do differently if I did come back. “I’ve enjoyed the coaches, enjoyed the kids, I’ve enjoyed being back out there.”
MACK IS BACK
Mack Brown’s return means the list of winningest active coaches in college football has to be recalibrated, bumping Nick Saban out of the top spot.
BROWN : 244 WINS 1 MACK TULANE // NORTH CAROLINA // TEXAS // NORTH CAROLINA SABAN : 237 WINS 2 NICK TOLEDO // MICHIGAN STATE // LSU // ALABAMA PATTERSON : 167 WINS 3 GARY TEXAS CHRISTIAN SOLICH : 164 WINS 4 FRANK NEBRASKA // OHIO FERENTZ : 152 WINS 5 KIRK IOWA ramsclub.com 29
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
Authentically
CAROLINA Athletic director Bubba Cunningham directs an athletic department that features a half-dozen
HALL OF FAMERS Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham provided his thoughts on working with Carolina’s Hall of Fame coaches.
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What have you enjoyed about watching these coaches learn from each other and work together? There is tremendous respect among our coaches and a great mutual appreciation for how good they are in their particular areas. I think you see that in their support of each other, whether it’s in a meeting or in attendance at each other’s events. That has been something very special to watch. What benefits are there for the younger coaches in the department of having relatively easy access to six Hall of Famers? Obviously, it’s beneficial to them to be able to watch those coaches coach their games and see the strategies and motivation that they are using on a daily basis. But there’s also an opportunity for younger coaches to utilize the Leadership Academy, coaches meetings and athletic department events to interact with our more experienced coaches and ask questions about how they run their programs. I’ve found that our veteran coaches are very open to helping the younger members of the department. And our veteran coaches also regularly demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning and development. That becomes a selffulfilling prophecy. How has watching this group changed the way you think about successful coaches and the qualities you look for when you’re hiring a coach? Sometimes when you answer a question like this it sounds trite, but I’ve
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“They might achieve it in different ways, but the consistency of the care and the total commitment to the kids is the same. The foundation of that is the same. How they achieve it depends on the individual, and they have a unique understanding of what works best for them.”
really found that it is true. What has become very important to me is the authenticity of the person and how that comes through in the way they build a program. And that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re doing it the exact same way. Instead, they’re being true to themselves. Anson, for example, has very well articulated values and he has quotes associated with each of them. The players on his team memorize those values. At the end of the year, when they’re playing in a championship game, he writes a very personal letter to each senior, and the team knows that they are playing for those seniors. That’s a different style than Roy Williams might use. He emphasizes the Carolina Family, which is something he learned a great deal about from Coach (Dean) Smith. It’s not as formally written out, but he still has that personal connection with the players that is every bit as strong as the one that Anson has. They might achieve it in different ways, but the consistency of the care and the total commitment to the kids is the same. The foundation of that is the same. How they achieve it depends on the individual, and they have a unique understanding
of what works best for them. Fit is such an important part of a coaching hire. Why is Carolina the right fit for these six, and how do you identify that same type of fit when you’re hiring a new coach for one of Carolina’s 28 sports? There are very specific characteristics of a place that you have to understand. Actually, more than just understand them, you have to appreciate them for you and your program to be successful. Each school is slightly different. North Carolina is a highly competitive academic institution with great athletic programs. Some of those attributes are easier for some people to understand than others. Those who embrace the school are more successful than those who might try to change aspects of the school to fit their personality. The trick is that you don’t always know for certain in an interview process who will embrace the special characteristics of an institution. And you have to understand that those characteristics, and the way a coach relates to them, can change over time.
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HALL OF FAME COACHES
BY MARGARET HIGH
PHOTOS BY JEFFREY CAMARATI
LEARNING FROM
THE BEST
AS ONE OF THE YOUNGEST HEAD COACHES IN THE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT, COLEMAN SCOTT IS LEARNING FROM CAROLINA’S GREATS
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here’s something beautiful about the way wrestling serves as a microcosm for the real world. Grit. Resilience. Strong morals. Strong will. The real world is tough and it takes staying true to who you are to come out on the other side victorious. Or at least that’s what UNC’s wrestling head coach Coleman Scott says. It’s part of a common thread among some of Carolina’s most storied coaches. Any of the six Hall of Fame coaches with offices in Chapel Hill will immediately start talking about developing their athletes into good human beings, emphasizing being moral people. The athleticism comes naturally. The values are instilled. While Scott is certainly embracing that emphasis by being in close proximity to the Hall of Famers, it’s something that he came to Carolina with. “God, family, wrestling. In that order,” Scott says. He was hired as head coach of the wrestling team at 29 years old. Now, at 32 years old, his program is beginning to show the benefits of his priorities. 34
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LEARNING FROM THE BEST Scott comes with a significant wrestling pedigree. The Waynesburg, Pennsylvania native won three state championships and went on to wrestle for Oklahoma State. There he was a four-time All-American and won an individual national championship in 2008. It was at Oklahoma State where Scott was shaped by legendary wrestling coach John Smith, sharing the same last name and similar status as our beloved Dean. “He was tough,” Scott says. “You had to have thick skin. If I’m being honest, it was a love, hate relationship. But when you get to know him afterwards, he’s a really good guy.” After a successful career at Oklahoma State, Scott set his sights on the 2012 London Olympics. Four years after his national championship, Scott qualified as Team USA’s 60kg wrestler. In Colorado Springs, Scott was introduced to USA Wrestling head coach Zeke Jones and assistant coach Bill Zadick. Zadick says Scott was always a lethal wrestler, known for his powerful double leg takedown. He was a smart wrestler, dependent on technique and critical thinking over exhausting the opponent. “Coleman just wrestled really intensely and really sharply,” Zadick says. “We had the World Cup earlier in that year, and he went undefeated. He became very laser focused. He wasn’t going to accept anything less than what he wanted.” As Scott arrived on the floor of the bronze medal match in London, his laser focus was directed on Kenichi Yumoto of Japan. It was a little over three hours after Scott barely lost to the eventual gold medalist, Toghrul Asgarov of Azerbaijan. Two or three more seconds on the clock and Scott could’ve won. Physically and emotionally, Scott was drained. Assistant coach Zadick stood beside the mat, looking at Scott as he got into the starting position to wrestle. It was man-to-man, will against will.
“IN A CORNER, I ALWAYS WANT TO REMAIN CALM AND THINK IN TERMS OF THE ATHLETE’S STRENGTH AND WHAT THEY CAN DO,” ZADICK SAYS. “I KNOW HOW MUCH IT MEANS, HOW MUCH OF MY LIFE I HAD COMMITTED TO ACCOMPLISHING THESE THINGS: TIME, ENERGY, EFFORT, FAMILY, COACHES AND TRAINING PARTNERS.” When Scott lost the first round, Zadick stayed calm, telling Scott to focus. Focus. Zadick’s façade broke once Scott pinned Yumoto to the mat in period three and won the bronze medal. Zadick and the rest of the coaching staff quickly embraced a panting Scott. Years of preparations paid off. Scott, however, isn’t really sure where the bronze medal is today. Maybe it’s in the closet. The last time he brought it out was probably before Christmas when someone came over for dinner and wanted to take a look. His kids have only seen the medal once or twice. “It doesn’t mean anything,” Scott says. “I remember seeing family members after the match. I was doing it for them.” Years of accomplishments barely decorate the walls of his office in Carmichael. A few certificates are hung, but photographs of his family dominate. Humility. That’s a characteristic Coleman Scott has in common with the six Hall of Fame coaches at UNC. “He’s a quality human being,” Zadick says, now head coach of USA Wrestling. “I respect his philosophy and his competitive outlook and his information at large.” After the 2012 London Olympics, it was only natural that Scott transitioned into coaching by serving a brief stint at Oklahoma State before coming to Carolina. When Scott was hired by UNC, he was still vying for a spot on the 2016 Olympic team. “Was it the best move for me competitively?” Scott says. “No. But you don’t pass up opportunities to be head coach at a university like Carolina.” Scott remembers at the first head coaches meeting he attended, fencing head coach Ron Miller was being recognized for 50 years of service. Miller’s coaching tenure was nearly double Scott’s age. He also was star-struck by Carolina’s greatest. Scott grew up playing soccer and had followed
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LEARNING FROM THE BEST women’s head coach Anson Dorrance closely. Roy Williams was an obvious icon. Scott found himself learning from Jenny Levy, UNC women’s lacrosse head coach and a future Hall of Famer. Levy became a valuable mentor last year when Zadick invited Scott to coach USA Wrestling women’s team. “Coaching women is different than men,” Scott says. “I can’t get all up in their face like I can for the guys here.” The basics were the same: develop the athletes and do things the right way. Scott just needed to learn the best strategies for making connections with the women wrestlers and get the most out of them, something Levy knows how to do well with lacrosse. “Like all of our Hall of Fame coaches, Coleman challenges himself even more than he challenges others,” athletic director Bubba Cunningham says. “Coleman was coached and trained by some of the best teachers in the world and through that experience, he learned a lot about what it takes to be a successful coach.” In his fourth year as head coach at UNC, Scott has led the Tar Heels to a top-15 national ranking, something that hasn’t been achieved since the ‘90s. His athletes will say it’s because he fosters a family environment, through both incorporating his own family with the team and also through placing the same level of emphasis on each wrestler, starter and nonstarter. Zadick will say it’s because Scott’s a good person. He has strong morals and is a positive role model for all the athletes he trains. Cunningham will say it’s because he is a rising star in the profession; that he’s committed to taking Carolina’s wrestling program to unprecedented heights. “I think Coleman has learned really well,” Zadick says. “Taking the best of what he can draw from all his past coaches into what he already does extremely well, and then being innovative with it.” Redshirt sophomore Josh McClure says one of Scott’s greatest strengths is always being a student of the sport. After helping coach USA Wrestling, Scott came back to UNC ready to implement some things he learned and adapting it to their program. Another signature of Scott: energy on the floor. When any wrestler wearing Carolina blue steps on the mat, Scott is ready to have their back. He’s famous for his foot stomping and letting the referees know when a call was questionable. “Coleman will fight for anything,” McClure says. “He wants to win so bad. I don’t know if I’ve ever met anybody who is as competitive as him.” Despite intensely wanting to win, McClure says Scott won’t accept anything other than the right way. There’s no cheating to win, only winning through strong will. “He’s big on doing things the right way,” McClure says. “Like doing things in the community, or cutting weight. If you’re going to do it, do it the right way.” Scott’s strong moral compass and young age confirmed to redshirt sophomore A.J. Rechenmacher that UNC was the right choice for him. Rechenmacher saw the strong sense of family within the wrestling staff and athletes, something he was looking for in college. “I think where Coleman is different and has set himself apart is how he’s still young and very relevant, but he has a level of maturity that makes him the best of both worlds,” Rechemacher says. “It’s as if he has 40 years of coaching crammed into his few years of experience.” The differences between Scott and some of UNC’s most successful coaches are few, the biggest being time. However some of the core values found in Dorrance, Levy, Williams, Brown, Fox, Hatchel and Sheldon are reflected in Scott. The best coaches have a unique ability to understand each athlete so personally that they know how to squeeze the best out of them, Zadick says. He sees that quality in Scott.
“YOU’VE ALWAYS GOT TO BE WILLING TO CHANGE AND ADAPT,” SCOTT SAYS. “LOOK AT ANSON AND JENNY. BUT THROUGH THAT, IT’S ABOUT STAYING TRUE TO WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT. IT’S ABOUT NOT LETTING YOUR MORALS SLIP.” 38
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FIRST PERSON
‘A tremendous opportunity’
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I had just finished my freshman season at North Carolina of running he was going to make us do, because I knew I when Roy Williams was announced as the new basketball couldn’t keep up. coach. My reaction was immediate: I was petrified. Now I can’t imagine my life without having played for What most people didn’t know about my recruitment was Coach Williams. When I was a player, I wasn’t sure I wanted to that Coach Williams was the last coach I talked to before I be a coach. It’s been a tremendous opportunity to start from made my decision. At that time, he was the ground up with Coach Williams, the head coach at Kansas. Because my because it’s enabled me to see every dad played for Coach Knight at Indiana, aspect of the program. Most players—me some schools had assumed I would included—don’t realize everything that “Coach Williams truly loves automatically attend Indiana. But word the coaches do. Since I’ve been on staff was starting to get out that since Coach at Carolina, I’ve seen another side of it, Carolina Basketball and the Knight had left IU, I was open to other from the academic details to making the University of North Carolina. He schools. practice plan to coordinating travel for protects it like it’s one of his kids. players at Christmas break. Making the Coach Williams called me and said Kansas And it’s been a great opportunity entire program work is about so much had been watching more than just playing a certain defense me and they would for me to be part of his staff. When or running a certain play. you’re around brilliant people, it like to recruit me. It’s also been incredible to watch a Hall It was late in the brings out the best in you. And I’ve of Fame coach work. As a player, what recruiting process, pushed me so hard was his attention to and I told him I been able to work with one of the detail. He saw absolutely everything that greatest coaches in the history of happened on the court. It didn’t matter felt that would be unfair to the other if he was talking to the trainer about the game.” schools that had another player and facing away from the been recruiting court, you could miss a box-out and he me for so long. would know it immediately. When he was hired at Carolina, As a member of the staff, I’ve seen that the attention to that was all I could think about. I was detail goes beyond just what happens on the court in games. I convinced he wasn’t going to play never realized how much he loves practice. He loves the drills, me and would be mad that I hadn’t he loves working on time and score situations, he loves every been interested in Kansas. The single part of it. And if we’re not on the court for a game or truth is that he probably doesn’t practice, he’s trying to figure out how he can get on a plane even remember that phone to go recruit a kid. conversation. Coach Williams truly loves Carolina Basketball and the In reality, maybe I was University of North Carolina. He protects it like it’s one of his worried about two things: that kids. And it’s been a great opportunity for me to be part of phone call and the running. his staff. When you’re around brilliant people, it brings out I wasn’t worried about his the best in you. And I’ve been able to work with one of the coaching style. I knew I greatest coaches in the history of the game. could play for any coach. But I was so nervous about the amount
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SEAN MAY
Assistant Coach, Men’s Basketball Illustration by Jason McCorkle
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