Nov. 24, 2003

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by Lee Pace, Extra Points

As you wind your way through the resume and scrapbook of John Bunting, there are a handful of threads that tie the beginning to the present. Talk to those in his past and you'll find unanimity over his intelligence, toughness, energy and, most of all, his leadership skills.

Now more than ever Bunting will be tested as a leader and chief executive officer of this business known as Tar Heel football.

"We're disappointed in this season and we're disappointed today," Carolina athletic director Dick Baddour said Saturday. "But I'm behind John Bunting and I think our fans are behind John Bunting. I'm confident in his leadership and his coaching ability."

Bunting today is faced with leading his players, his staff, his institution and its fans out of a nasty morass of losing--five wins in two years.

Some understandably are calling for Bunting's job.

Others think the head coach needs to retool his staff. Indeed, it would appear the odds are slim that the same coaching staff will take the field next Labor Day weekend in Utah. That's just the way this business works. Before that issue could come up Saturday at his post-game press conference, Bunting took the initiative:

"We will regroup. And before you ask the question, I can tell you we will look at everything we've done this year, starting with me, and evaluate what we need to do to do it better. What we're doing is not good enough--not even close to being good enough."

Often during difficult times like these my in-box collects harsh and stinging missives from fans frustrated over the losing, particularly aggravated at the Heels giving up more than 500 yards a game. Many attack Bunting. Some attack his coaching staff. Lots attack me for not writing that the whole lot should be fired.

But that's okay. They have not had the opportunity to look Bunting in the eye and understand his vision for Carolina football. They've not had the chance to talk with those he's been to battle with over the years--from Springbrook High to Chapel Hill to Philadelphia and on and on through his career.

And every once in a while, a voice of reason will pop from the muck of negativity, like this email from Robert Jones, a player under Bunting at Glassboro State more than a decade ago:

"I personally would like to thank you for your stance on the Carolina football program and more important, your support of Coach Bunting," Jones wrote earlier this season. "I played for Coach at Glassboro State/Rowan College from 1989 through 1991. He had a profound impact on me as a player and more importantly as a person. He has a unique ability to teach you about life through football. Eventually he will surround the program with 'his guys,' and those guys will go to war for him and one another every week. He gives his heart and soul to his players and soon he will receive the same from all of them."

Bunting is hard at work on what he hopes will be another solid core of "his guys." In the end, his success or failure will depend on how well he recruits.

The Tar Heels on Saturday bid adieu to 21 players--19 of them seniors and two of them fourth-year juniors with a year of eligibility remaining. Parsing the list of players introduced before Saturday's kick-off, you'll find nine fifth-year, scholarship seniors (Derrick Johnson, Issac Mooring, Willie Parker, Dexter Reid, Clay Roberson, Brandon Russell, Jeb Terry, Michael Waddell and Jupiter Wilson). There are two fourth-year, scholarship juniors (Jermicus Banks and Clarence Gaddy). There are three transfers (Bobby Blizzard, Dan Orner and C.J. Stephens). And a handful of walk-ons and kicking-team specialists.

This group had the misfortune of being too late for the glories of the Brown era and caught in the middle of the Torbush-Bunting transition. Of the nine members of the 1999 recruiting class who survived, not one is assured of work on Sundays in the professional ranks. Several will get opportunities. One 1999 recruit is already at work, that being Sam Aiken of the Buffalo Bills.

Otherwise, many of the rest of the 1999 class fell by the wayside at some point for one reason or another: Ian Alexander, Justin Browne, Donti Coats, Daniel Davis, Riko Feemster, Darryl Grant, Jamal Jones, Chris Kocaj, Isaiah Robinson, David Scott, David Stevenson, Marcus Wilson and Greg Woofter.

The Tar Heels need players--blockers the ilk of Jeff Saturday and Kevin Donnelly, pass-rushers like Greg Ellis and Ebenezer Ekuban, lock-down corners like Dre Bly, linebackers who can run like K. Mays and Brian Simmons.

"We have positions where we need more speed, and it's fairly obvious to see," Bunting says. "We have problems on the perimeter and the secondary."

All eyes remain on Bunting's ability to lead his program--first back to respectability, then to championship mettle.