Nov. 3, 2002

Despite being outscored 127-13 over the last ten quarters. Despite getting hammered Saturday by Maryland. And, despite his keen disappointment in the way the Tar Heels played, John Bunting still believes he and his staff will eventually get the program turned around.

His belief was strengthen this weekend with a solid recruiting effort. While he couldn't talk about specific prospects or possible verbal commitments he felt good about the way things went. "With good players coming to visit Carolina, see Chapel Hill, meet our staff and see what we're doing with our players, I feel we're going to get a lot of great players here," Bunting said. "There's every reason to believe that we will get them and get this program turned around."

He indicated many of the weekend visitors were at the Old Well Walk prior to Saturday's game, and they saw the fan support. Bunting said several told him, "Just think what it's going to be like when we start winning!" But during the game, as the score mounted, those recruits saw several thousand fans bolt for the exits. Unlike a lot of other coaches, Bunting understands. "We're not giving them very much to stay around for. When we play that poorly I expect them not to stick around. Overall, I've been very, very pleased with our fans. I think they've been terrific. I just wish we could do more for them."

When the head coach and his staff reviewed the game tape Sunday morning they were not at all pleased with the team's effort. "It's the first time I was not satisfied with what I saw. Not satisfied at all. In fact, I was very disappointed with some players who I won't identify, but their lack of effort has been pointed out. I'm very hopeful they will learn from it, and it won't happen again. I will not stand for it!"

Bunting indicated he might look for a change or two this week, but he wasn't about to discuss those changes until the team gets back to the practice field on Tuesday. Then he'll see how it goes.

Everything went great for Carolina during the first eight, nine, ten minutes on Saturday, but then Maryland hit the 80-yard scoring pass. "There was a breakdown in coverage," Bunting pointed out, "but the real dagger was the punt return. That just crushed us."

The Tar Heels are so fragile that when one, two, three or four negative things happen they seem to fold and can't rally back. "That takes leadership," Bunting said, and he should know. As a Tar Heel, he saw Bill Dooley's program come of age between his sophomore and junior seasons. Once he got to the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles had six straight losing seasons before Dick Vermeil arrived and got them into the Super Bowl. "He had the kind of players he wanted, we learned how to practice, we learned how to play games and we learned how to play through the difficult times."

Bunting's first head coaching experience at Rowan (NJ) University followed much the same pattern. The Profs won ten games in his first two seasons, then went 28-6 over the next three years.

"You need leadership and experience," he explained. "It takes players who have been around one another for a period of time, and they know how to rally around each other. We just don't have that kind of team right now. It's really impossible for them to have that kind of feel right now with all of the young players who are on the field, but it will come. We will have that kind of team."

Some of those players are already here, and a few more paid a visit this past weekend.