ACC video preview: N.C. State's Tom O'Brien

The ACC Digital Network's preview of N.C. State football, with head coach Tom O'Brien:

ACC video previews: Teams outside the Carolinas

The ACC Digital Network's previews of ACC teams outside the Carolinas, which we'll add as they are posted: Boston College Florida State Georgia Tech Miami Maryland Virginia Virginia Tech

ACC video preview: Duke's David Cutcliffe

The ACC Digital Network's preview of Duke football, with head coach David Cutcliffe:

ACC video preview: North Carolina's Larry Fedora

The ACC Digital Network's North Carolina football preview, with head coach Larry Fedora:

'Upgraded Swag' and notes from Meet the Blue Devils day

Duke freshman DE Hud Mellencamp signs autographs for fans. (Laura Keeley - lkeeley@newsobserver.com)

Sunday marked the first day of camp without any on-the-field work for Duke. The term "off day" might not be completely appropriate though, as the team was planning on going to church and lunch together as well as getting in some classroom work. Below, though, is a recap from Saturday's Meet the Blue Devils day, which was attended by 1,500 fans--the biggest crowd in at least 25 years (no Duke officials cold vouch for further back than that).

DURHAM -- "Upgraded Swag" is the term DE Kenny Anunike used to describe Duke's new helmets at the annual Meet the Blue Devils day this weekend. But, really, that term could be applied to the way the Blue Devils feel about the program in its entirety.

"I think we've really turned the corner," Anunike said. "This is it, this is it for us. Coach Cut has done everything he could... All the pieces are falling into the puzzle. All we have to do is go out there and play."

Playing--and earning wins--is easier said than done, especially with a schedule that features four top-25 teams (Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Stanford) and two others that received votes (North Carolina and Georgia Tech).
But even though Duke hasn't been to a bowl game or turned in a winning record since 1994, excitement around the program is building. More than 1,500 fans came to meet the team, the largest crowd in at least 25 years.

"A real Duke football fan has got to go up at the top of the ladder of the most loyal fans in all of college athletics," head coach David Cutcliffe said. "It's in my heart every year that, for so many people, you want to be successful because so many people deserve that."

Anyone searching for signs of a bright future doesn't have to look further than the Blue Devils' pair of true freshmen running backs, Shaquille Powell and Jela Duncan. Powell has led Duke in rushing in each of the two scrimmages the Blue Devils have had so far, and Duncan turned in a nine carry, 29-yard performance in his most recent action. Cutcliffe expects them both to contribute this year.

"I'm not afraid to use either one of them going into the first game," Cutcliffe said, noting that he has also been pleased with the performance of Juwan Thompson, the starter heading into camp.

• LB David Helton did suffer a mild concussion in Friday's scrimmage, according to Cutcliffe (that looked to be the case to the untrained eye). Once he gets back to his baseline measurements, he will resume football activities. Other than Helton, there were no noteworthy injuries from the scrimmage.

-- Laura Keeley

Full transcript: Carl Carey, agent of Julius Peppers, on his time at UNC

CHAPEL HILL — If you haven’t already, be sure to check out this story I wrote after speaking on Monday with Carl Carey, who is Julius Peppers’ agent and who was Peppers’ academic counselor in the athletic department at North Carolina.

Carey worked from 1998 through 2002 at UNC as an athletic department academic counselor, and he also taught in the African and Afro-American Studies department. While at UNC, he formed an especially close relationship with Peppers. That relationship is detailed here in a story that Tom Friend wrote for ESPN the Magazine.

Like a lot of sports agents, Carey is kind of a divisive figure. That’s especially true today, after it emerged that he created a website labeling one of my colleagues at The News & Observer as “dirty.” I’m not going to link to it but you might have already seen it, anyway. And no, I didn’t ask Carey about that website during our conversation.

But I did ask him, among other things, about his relationship with Peppers, his time working as an athletic department academic counselor at UNC, how difficult it was to keep certain athletes eligible and how athletes managed to find their way into certain courses at UNC.

So here he is, on a variety of issues:

Andrew Carter: What’s your reaction to Julius Peppers’ transcript being apparently leaked online?

Carl Carey: For something this personal as your college transcript to be leaked, I mean, you just don’t expect something this crazy.

AC: The transcript certainly raises some questions about Julius’ academic experience at UNC. Do you have an overall comment or reaction to seeing it?

CC: OK, my comment, generally, is this: I heard about this for the first time late last night. And the information that I’m getting now is I’m being told that the transcript has not yet been verified as belonging to Julius. However, if it is his personal academic information that is online, then there’s been a breach and that is very unfortunate. And I want to go on to say that Julius was an African-American Studies major while he was at UNC. It is to be expected that an African-American Studies will take African-American Studies classes. And this major is a legitimate academic course of study.

I have had the opportunity to teach a course in that department and from my experience I can tell you that Caucasian and African-American students alike told me that the course that I taught in that department was one of the best courses that they had taken during their entire career at UNC. This is a legitimate course of study. And it is very unfortunate that it has been scrutinized and maligned in the way that it has been. As it relates to Julius’ transcript, if indeed this transcript can be verified as being his, I can say that like most college students, he had some courses in the AFAM department that he did well in. And he had other courses that he struggled in, within that major.

And you know, overall, he has become a great success in his life and he has a lot to be proud of. He had some success in some of those courses, and he had challenges in some of those courses, OK? And then the final thing that I want to say is this … I want to say this, because this is something that I’ve wanted to say for a minute: There is a thirst for negativity out there. And rather than the focus being on trying to find a scandal, my hope is that there is an intelligent, serious discussion about athletes and academics that takes place as a result of these reports. And this is a nationwide issue. Not a UNC issue.

Every – well, let me back up from ‘every,’ because some people might take issue it. But I believe it’s ‘every.’ You can just say, college campuses across this country are grappling with how to prepare student-athletes for success on the court, on the field and in the classroom. They’re grappling with it, nationwide. And finally, my hope is that we start working towards solutions. Because the young men and women who are student-athletes deserve that this issue be taken seriously rather than it being tabloid fodder.

AC: You worked for years inside a major college athletic department, and I’m guessing worked with a lot athletes – like Julius – for whom academics was a struggle. From your experience, what were – and are – some of your concerns about how athletics and academics coexist on college campuses?

CC: This is what I’ll say: God gives ability to people in different areas. And just like it would be difficult for a typical student to compete on a basketball court, or a football field, it is sometimes difficult for a student who happens to have a given talent in athletics to compete at the same level as a 1500 SAT. It doesn’t make one student better than the other, that their talent happens to be in a different domain.

We don’t criticize the general student for not being able to perform well in athletics. And so this focus on the fact that some student-athletes aren’t as talented as the general student in the population at a university, it’s unfair to them. That may not be their area of strength. And actually, I applaud them for competing in an area that’s not their area of strength because we don’t ask the typical student to compete on the basketball court or on the football field.”

AC: Is Julius aware that his transcript is apparently out there, for the public to see?

CC: He’s in training camp and so his focus is on training camp. He is aware that there is something out there regarding a transcript, but his focus is on training camp, where it should be.

AC: And how, exactly, did you work with Julius during his years at UNC? I read the ESPN the Magazine story from years ago on your relationship so I know a bit about it, but what was your role in working with him?

CC: What I’ll do is I’ll just say this, generally speaking, for background. That I was an athletic academic adviser. And during that time there were two of us that were primarily assigned to the football team. And so I essentially advised half of the football team, academically.

AC: That’s a lot of guys.

CC: Yeah, it is. And I guess I should use the word, ‘counseled,’ because there’s this thing now about their academic advisers on campus and then their academic counselors in athletics. But you know, I counseled not only football players, but football players and members of the men’s track team, as well, during my time there. So in the course of working there, Julius became a student of mine. And as that article says, he was playing two sports, you know, which is incredibly demanding. It’s almost the entire school year.

And so you know, given the demands – and this is not just Julius. Just in general … college was a challenge just trying to balance the hours as a regular college student. Imagine having commitments athletically five days out of the week, plus. Five or six, depending on if you’re in season or not, and trying to balance that. And that’s the unfortunate thing – athletes are being maligned.

I’ll use this quick analogy with you. The typical student would be scared to death if they were sent out to play on a football field with the football team. They’d be scared to death. And some student-athletes, some of them – particularly the ones whose academic records from high school indicate that they’ve  had some challenges – though those student-athletes are physically intimidating in some cases, they are scared to death in the college classroom. Do you get that? A typical student would fear for their life if they were sent out on a football field with the football team. They would feel unprepared, they would feel scared. They would feel inadequate. And so you could assume an athlete whose academic records suggest that they’re likely going to struggle, and you put them in a classroom with 1500 SATs, guess how they’re feeling?

And it is a nationwide issue and I really hope that this stirs an intelligent dialogue. An intelligent one.”

AC: How much pressure did you feel to keep some of these athletes eligible?

CC: I don’t know that I really want to go into that … I’ll just say that for me, that the success of these students in a holistic way was important, and therefore I kind of took some of that pressure, in a sense, on my shoulders. But it was really more so about their overall success. Because the reality is that most of them are not going to have the kind of career that a Julius Peppers has, and the financial benefits. And so there’s a pressure to make sure that these young men, because we’re talking about football players and basketball players in general – that they have success after they leave the university. That they’re prepared for what awaits them.

And I’ve had the opportunity in my years to talk to some students after the game is over. And unfortunately, some of their stories, you know, are not good in terms in terms of what happens afterward. And so nationwide, we need to do more to talk about how we can not just gain something for universities in attracting these great athletes to come to school. But we need to be talking about how we can ensure that we’re giving them everything that they need in order to be successful.

We do a lot to attract stellar athletes to college campuses, OK. And my hope is that there is a more serious dialogue about make sure that after we attract them that we prepare them for life after their sport is over.

AC: Some might look at Julius’ transcript and identify patterns that reflect a scheme in which UNC kept him eligible. What would your response be?

CC: I’ve already kind of said it. He was an AFAM major. It’s a legitimate academic major. Many of the students that I’ve talked to over the years of working at UNC, when they talk about interesting courses or courses that there’s lively debate and discussion in class about, and that sort of thing, they talk about courses in African-American Studies. What I’m saying is this is a legitimate major. It is a legitimate department. I’ve taught a course [in AFAM]. It was riveting, interesting, kept students coming to class because they wanted to learn more. So a lot of this that’s being written about is, quite frankly, it’s unfamiliar to me. I was at UNC from 1998 to 2002 in my position in the athletic department.

AC: And you came back and taught a class in the AFAM department last summer.

CC: Yeah. Because I had taught the same course when I worked there. So one summer, I just decided, hey, it’d be nice to go back and teach the course. I didn’t know – I didn’t know – that [News & Observer reporter] Dan Kane was going to feel like that was a big deal, because it wasn’t.

AC: You’ve talked a lot about your desire to create some kind dialogue about some of these issues you’ve described. How would you want that dialogue to progress?

CC: Within the conversation there needs to be more of an understanding of the demands of being a student-athlete and in general by the public. And certainly that does not absolve student-athletes from meeting the same academic requirements that every other student at the university has to meet. But there needs to be a discussion about how you squeeze the amount of time needed to be a great athlete and a great student – how to squeeze that time into a week … and there just needs to be a discussion about how that happens. And I hope that this would spur dialogue, and that university administrators and faculty and athletic department officials who all, I believe, have student-athletes’ best interests at heart, that they will work diligently to address this very serious issue.

AC: And what was your role in guiding athletes you counseled to a particular class? How did that work?

CC: Back then, the advice was received in combination between, that I can recall, three different offices in a sense. You have the department that the [athlete] is either a major in, if they have a major at that point … And then the second person that they got advice from would be an adviser in the college – whether that’s the College of Arts and Sciences, which is where a huge majority of students, their majors reside in arts and sciences, it’s a very large department, or a very large college. So your College of Arts and Sciences, your College of Education, et cetera, et cetera. So they might receive it from an adviser in the college, so you have the department, you have the college and then the student-athletes have academic counselors in athletics.

And really, our role was mainly providing academic support. So helping to arrange tutors and that sort of thing. But also the student-athletes have a unique situation in that their classes have to be done, for example, by 2 p.m. or so because they have practice in the afternoons. And so academic counselors in athletics are there to, at least during the time that I was there, are there to work with the student-athletes to make sure that courses that they selected, for example, didn’t conflict with practice schedules and those sorts of things.

Now were there times where a student who needed some advice on a course, could they get that advice from an academic counselor in athletics in conjunction with the department and the college? You know, sure. But I will say this – that academic counselors in athletics always, always yielded to the advice given by the department and the college. Because the department and the college, they’re the ones that know their degree plans better than anybody else. They know their courses better than anybody else. And so academic counselors in athletics by nature yielded to the department and the college. Not only was that done just because that made sense, but also in the pecking order of responsibility, it was appropriate that we yield to the department and to the college.

AC: How common was Julius’ situation at UNC? How many Julius-like situations did you encounter?

CC: Well, I mean, he played two sports, so that was atypical. So it was really double duty, you know. But certainly, in my time at the university, I have counseled many overwhelmed student-athletes. Overwhelmed.

After our conversation ended, Carey got back in touch with me. He wanted to add this, on the obvious connection people might make between Peppers transcript and the current AFAM mess at UNC: “To suggest a connection between a decade old transcript and the current academic issues at the university is extremely irresponsible.”

So there you have it. Thanks to Carey for his time.

- Andrew Carter

Duke WR Blair Holliday speaks for 1st time since accident

Duke wide receiver Blair Holliday reached another significant milestone in his recovery from a personal watercraft injury: he spoke to head coach David Cutcliffe on the phone.

"We had him on speakerphone, and it was just great to hear his voice - a sound that absolutely filled the room with exuberance," Cutcliffe said in a statement released by the school. "We talked about the rehabilitation process and how important it is, and when I asked him if he understood how much we loved him, he responded with a confident 'yes'."

Holliday relocated to the Shepherd Center, an Atlanta rehabilitation hospital specializing in medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord and brain injuries, on Monday. He was airlifted to the UNC Trauma Center July 4 after colliding with teammate Jamison Crowder on a personal watercraft at Lake Tillery.

Holliday also spoke to his parents Tuesday.

"Hearing Blair's voice was so special," said Leslie Holliday, Blair's mother. "He is fighting through this just like we knew he would, and to have the support of so many family members and friends is just amazing.  I told him that I loved him, and to hear the response of 'I love you too, Mom', was truly an inspiration."

Several Blue Devils, including Cutcliffe, visited with Holliday on Sunday before he left UNC hospitals. Holliday's progression over the past month has been "pretty amazing and uplifting," Cutcliffe said, adding that he was alert, responsive and gave out fist bumps.

"He's ready to work hard," Cutcliffe said of Holliday. "I have had personal experiences with friends that have had gotten great rehab consequences out of the people at the Shepard Center, so I know he is in good hands. "

- Staff

Notes: UNC coach Larry Fedora likes practice pace

The Larry-Fedora-likes-Red-Bull storyline has been beaten into submission but it is in fact true. He drinks a lot of the stuff, which is part of the reason why he's so energetic. He wants his North Carolina football team to reflect that energy and, given that, Fedora has been pleased early in practice.

Four practices in, he likes the pace.

"I think it's better than it was at the way we ended in the spring, so that's a good thing," Fedora said earlier today. "You know, that was the challenge, was how much work you do over the summer is going to dictate how fast we can go when we start our fall camp.

"So we're still a long way from where we want to be but our guys were better when we started day one when we were on the 15th day of spring ball. So that's a good thing. And so hopefully we can just get a little bit better each and every day."

It might have been natural to expect a drop-off in energy from the end of spring to the beginning of preseason workouts. After all, players went months without practicing in Fedora's fast-paced system, and they'd only had 15 practices to begin with.

But Fedora said the energy level has been consistent so far in preseason practice. It's not where he wants it to be, but it has been consistent.

"[We] try to keep our energy level the same each and every day," he said. "... It doesn't matter what it is, we're going to try to play the game the same way. So I think they moved around the same way they did as the first day, or the second day. So I think that's a good thing."

Some other news and notes:

--As expected, Fedora didn't provide an update on the status of injured receiver T.J. Thorpe, who suffered a broken bone in his foot on Sunday. Fedora did say this: "I don't know what to tell you, because I don't talk about injuries. Here's what I'll tell y'all about injuries, guys. I will tell you about anybody that we lose for the season. And that's it. So we haven't lost him for the season, so I don't really have anything to say for him." A source close to the situation said on Monday night that it's unclear at this time how long Thorpe might be out.

--Given Thorpe's injury, it was a bit alarming that fellow receivers Reggie Wilkins and Sean Tapley, both sophomores, weren't at practice either. But Fedora said he wouldn't be surprised if both returned to work on Wednesday morning. It sounded like both might have had some issues with cramping in recent days.

--Today was the first day UNC practiced in pads. Fedora said whether the Tar Heels tackle or "thud" while in pads "depends on the situation." It's a mix of both tackling and thudding.

--Given that Fedora said he'd only update injuries when someone is out for the season, someone asked whether anyone had been lost yet for the season. Not that Fedora is aware, he said.

--Tim Jackson, the junior defensive end, has been working some at defensive tackle thus far in practice. Fedora said the coaching staff is moving guys around at different positions, especially up front on both sides. "We're just trying to build depth throughout those positions," he said, "because you've got to be prepared."

--More on this at some point later, but a guy to watch throughout the preseason will be Roy Smith, a walk-on receiver from Miami who's a sprinter on the UNC track team. Smith has potential, Fedora said, as a return man - and his value could increase the longer Thorpe is out.

--Freshman receiver Quinshad Davis was still absent on Tuesday. According to what he wrote on his Twitter account, Davis has been in Minnesota, presumably seeking treatment for the unspecified medical condition that has kept him out of the start of practice.

- Andrew Carter

Report: UNC receiver T.J. Thorpe out with broken foot

North Carolina sophomore wide receiver T.J. Thorpe suffered a broken foot in a practice Sunday and will be sidelined an unspecified amount of time, according to what his mother told the Durham Herald-Sun.

Thorpe, a former standout at Jordan High in Durham, led the ACC with an average kickoff return of 26.7 yards a season ago. In addition to his role as a return specialist, he was expected to play a larger role as a receiver in first-year coach Larry Fedora's spread offense.

Carmen Thorpe told the Herald-Sun that she wasn't sure how much time her son would miss.

"It's definitely not a bad injury but it's going to take some time to heal," she said.

Carmen Thorpe did not return a phone call seeking additional comment. UNC, meanwhile, hasn't confirmed Thorpe's injury. Fedora has said it's his policy not to discuss injuries.

- Andrew Carter

UNC football: What we learned about the Tar Heels at ACC Kickoff

CHAPEL HILL -- And we're back from Greensboro, and from the ACC's annual preseason football kickoff. As you know by now, the ACC media picked the Tar Heels to finish third in the Coastal Division, behind Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech. UNC received two first-place votes.

Lots of things came out of the ACC's media days, which were somewhat overshadowed by the NCAA's announcement of debilitating sanctions against Penn State in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child abuse case. I wrote a story you can read here about how the ACC coaches reacted to the news.

As for UNC, lots of things of interest emerged. I'll write about some of those both here and in the paper in the coming days, but first wanted to provide a recap of five things we learned about the Tar Heels during the ACC kickoff. Here goes ...

•First-year coach Larry Fedora is optimistic about how his team has grasped his new offense ...
Obviously, it's early.  We're still more than a week away from the start of preseason practice, and more than a month away from the Tar Heels' season-opener against Elon. But Fedora on Monday spoke glowingly about how the Heels have handled the transition to his up-tempo spread offense, which will utilize a no huddle approach.

Fedora has been a part of installing this offense at Middle Tennessee State, Florida, Oklahoma State and Southern Miss, and now he'll do it at UNC. He said he had the easiest time installing it at Southern Miss, where he became the head coach before the start of the 2008 season. And it was easier installing it there, he said, because he had a quarterback who "got it."

The good news, Fedora believes UNC's Bryn Renner gets it, too. And that makes him confident that the Heels can quickly grasp the new offense.

•... But the team's conditioning will have to improve
One thing was clear after UNC ended spring practice, and both Renner and linebacker Kevin Reddick spoke of it: The Tar Heels had to become better conditioned. The speed of Fedora's offense requires players to be on top shape, as does the aggressive philosophy of UNC's new 4-2-5 defense.

The man charged with improving UNC's physical condition is Lou Hernandez, the team's new strength and conditioning coach. He has his work cut out. Even though it was clear in the spring that the conditioning had to improve, UNC hadn't yet learned how to practice in the spring in Fedora's new system.

In fact, Fedora said the Tar Heels never really came close to practicing with the kind of speed with which they'll normally practice once they grasp the offense and defense. So conditioning is likely to be a never-ending point of concern in this transitory season. 

•Depth is a major concern
Ask Fedora where team depth most concerns him and he'll likely name the following positions: offensive line, receiver, running back, quarterback, defensive line, linebacker, defensive backs. The one area where he's OK with the Tar Heels depth? Tight end. He likes what UNC has there.

Every other position, though, makes Fedora nervous, and that was clear on Monday when he identified all of the above positions - with the exception of tight end - as ones where he's concerned about depth. Of course, he was likely being somewhat facetious about some of the positions. Some likely concern him a lot more than others.

Receiver could be of great concern, especially after the dismissal of Todd Harrelson. He only had made three catches in three seasons, but he would have had a chance to play a larger role had he remained on the team. Without Harrelson, three of UNC's top five receivers are sophomores, and mostly unproven.

•The culture appears to be changing
Fedora won't come out and say this, and can't come out and say this, but it seems there might have been a star system in place under former coach Butch Davis - a system in which some players worked hard and others, well, didn't.

Fedora has worked to change the culture since arriving at UNC, and his clean-slate approach - in which he has only counted what players have done since he arrived in January - has required players to rededicate themselves to the program. So far, Fedora said, he has been pleased with what he has seen. He identified defensive tackle Sylvester Williams as who has turned into a different person since Fedora arrived. Williams, Fedora said, was "fat and overweight" several months ago, and Fedora told him he needed to lose 30 pounds. So Williams did.

Fedora has also instituted some new rules to clean up the image of the team. Among those new rules: No hats indoors and no earrings. Fedora was asked about the no-hat, no-earring rule, and he said he put them in place for no other reason than he wanted to, and felt like it was the right thing to do.

•The postseason ban doesn't seem to matter ... at least for now
Fedora and his players are saying all the right things about the fact that they'll have to sit out the postseason as punishment for the misdeeds in the program that occurred under Davis' watch. UNC can still win the Coastal Division, Fedora likes to say, and the Heels can still have a memorable season.

And those things remain true, at least for now. The postseason ban won't affect motivation entering the season, but it remains to be seen how it might affect the team midway through the season, especially if the Tar Heels find themselves amid some adversity (which would be normal in a head coach's first year).

The postseason ban doesn't matter now, but might it matter if the Tar Heels are 4-4 or 5-3 with a month left to go in the regular season? We shall see ...