A Fresh Look at Carolina Football
On Saturday, April 14, Tar Heel fans got their first look at the football team under the new head coach, Larry Fedora, at the spring football game. The spring football game is an annual event where fans can come watch the team scrimmage and enjoy a day full of events, including cheerleader and player autographs, live music from Chase Rice, Liquid Pleasure and the UNC Marching Tar Heels, as well as food vendors. The teams for the scrimmage were determined by the coaching staff. The game was played in four quarters with a normal clock in the first half and a running clock in the second half. Between the first and second quarter, former linebacker Zach Brown was presented with the Elite Linebacker Trophy. Brown was UNC’s leading tackler in 2010 with 105 tackles and a first-team All-ACC selection, he was presented the award by the College Football Performance Awards. Brown is predicted to be selected in the upcoming NFL draft. This was the first chance for UNC fans to see the Tar Heels under Coach Fedora, who was recently hired by the university. Fedora led Southern Miss to the 2011 Conference USA championship. Since joining staff, Fedora has worked hard to get Carolina fans excited about the upcoming football season, despite recent NCAA sanctions. Fedora reached out to the Greek community by meeting with chapter presidents to discuss how to make game day bigger and better for college students. The spring scrimmage also gained more importance for UNC as the football program was recently handed additional sanctions from the NCAA. The NCAA found the football program had violated policies in regard to academic fraud and impermissible and improper benefits to student athletes. When the NCAA investigation began, UNC instituted several self-imposed sanctions, including a new social media policy, vacating wins from the 2008 and 2009 seasons and decreased student scholarships. The university also fined itself $50,000 and put itself on two-year probation. In addition to these sanctions, the NCAA added a year to the probation and further decreased student scholarships. Now that the NCAA investigation has concluded, it is time for UNC to move on and develop a strong football program under Fedora. The spring game was a great way for fans to get a first, and fresh, look at the Carolina football program. There are only a few more months until the first home game on September 1 against Elon, so get ready to tailgate Carolina fans!
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