Excitement, physicality on first day in pads for Heels

Not even a booming summer storm could ruin Carolina’s first day in pads.

The fifth day of training camp got off to a spirited start with players prepared to make full-contact for the first time, but a fast-moving lightning storm forced the Tar Heels indoors about 30 minutes into the practice — something that would have halted practice altogether in the past.

“That’s huge,” left tackle Charlie Heck said. “Last year, we would have gone into the locker room…gotten cold, gotten tired and had to go warm up all gain once it cleared up.”

Instead, Mack Brown said, they lost a grand total of three minutes getting up and running inside where practice never skipped a beat on what’s always an exciting day of camp.

After spending the first four days getting the feel of things, the energy completely shifts when the pads come on.

“It’s totally different,” defensive tackle Jason Strowbridge said. “Everybody is coming and competing, and everybody is trying to get after it.”

In addition to intensity, players are moving at full-speed and seeking to finish every play at maximum effort. Specific to defensive linemen, full pads mean a shift in where they’re targeting offensive players to make stops.

It’s the same across the line of scrimmage for Heck, who flashed a wide smile. On the fifth day, the big boys get a chance to do what they do best.

“You’ve got to know your drill, but it really comes down to playing tough and playing physical,” he said. “You really get to see that in players when the pads are on.”

The rivalry between the two groups has taken off this week, starting with inside run drills on Monday when Brown said the defense dominated, as both sides stepped up their intensity.

“Yesterday was our most physical inside run drill since we’ve been here,” Brown said. “The defense really stepped up and just stuffed the offense.”

On Tuesday, Brown credited offensive line coach Stacy Searels with getting his group fired up to the tune of three straight big runs up the middle to start the drill, saying the “offense killed the defense.”

Of course, there’s good and bad in seeing the offense take control one day then having the pendulum swing the opposite direction the next day.

“We’ve got to have a consistent attitude and we’ve got to play the same all the time,” Brown said. “We’re not talented enough or deep enough to play up and down; it’s a great message that we’ve got to play hard every play to get where we want to get.”

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