If one game is any indication of the kind of coach that new UNC head coach Carl Torbush is, the rest of college football had better be wary.
Following Mack Brown's departure to the University of Texas, the Tar Heel program was in disarray. Questions arose among Tar Heel fans and the media: Who would they find to replace the extraordinary job that Brown had done in building a perennial national contender?
The answer was simple: enter stage right long-time UNC defensive coordinator Carl Torbush.
Well-liked and popular among his players, Torbush was one of the top defensive coordinators in the nation, guiding the Tar Heel defense to top rankings the past few years and receiving the award as the country's best defensive coordinator in 1996.
Torbush not only quickly rallied the team together, but in his first game as UNC head coach led the team to a 42-3 thrashing of Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl, the third bowl victory in the last three years for the Tar Heel squad.
Torbush is not only a well-respected defensive coordinator, but his background and upbringing help him to relate easily with his players and bring in more talent to the UNC program.
"It's given me the ability because of growing up with all kinds of people: black, white, red, rich, poor; the ability to relate, communicate," Torbush said. "So you can't put me in a recruiting situation with any kind of household that I don't feel comfortable in. There's a lot of people who can do that and they'll even fake it, but I can legitimately feel very comfortable in anybody's house I'm in and talk about anything that I need to talk about. "
Although the recent success of the Tar Heel football program has caused the entire 1998 home schedule to already be sold out at Kenan Stadium, UNC does have to deal with the loss of 14 starters, the highest number in the ACC. Also, three of those players-linebacker Brian Simmons and defensive linemen Greg Ellis and Vonnie Holliday were first-round draft picks in this past spring's NFL Draft.
"First of all, we not only lost two starters, but we also lost two backup cornerbacks," Torbush said about the secondary. "Everyone who graduated as a senior got a chance to play pro ball and that's a compliment for them, to our recruiting and to our program because it says a lot about why we're good.
"We lost some great players, but I really believe right now that we've got some excellent athletes to replace them. They just need to produce how this group has produced in the last three years."
Although the defensive line was also depleted due to the graduation of a few starters, Torbush believes that this year's line is just as talented as any other group of linemen in the country.
"Russell Davis and Michael Pringley will be as good of a defensive line group in the country if they stay healthy," Torbush said. "And I think you'll see what I'm talking about because I think both of them will be high NFL draft choices. Russell Davis is as athletic a defensive tackle as we've ever had. He can play linebacker. Our front four, if we stay healthy, has a chance to be good."
Not to be forgotten, two-time, first-team All-American cornerback Dre' Bly is returning to help anchor the secondary. Bly is already being touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate as the best player in the country, Jim Thorpe candidate as the best defensive back in the country and Bronko Nagurski Award candidate as best defensive player. Bly is the best defensive player to come out of Carolina since Lawrence Taylor, who excelled on the N.Y. Giants teams of the '80s, and is only one interception away from tying the all-time ACC career record of 17.
While the talent remains high on the defensive side of the ball, the offense is a concern to the Tar Heel staff. With only one of five starters on the offensive line returning and the new starters having limited experience, that could potentially throw a wrench into the plans of the Tar Heels' new offensive coordinator Steve Marshall, who came over from Texas A&M, to open up the offense. Without a strong line, the Tar Heels' offense could have difficulty establishing the run and giving quarterback Oscar Davenport ample protection to complete passes.
Another question is fifth-year senior Oscar Davenport: Will he stay healthy the entire season? When he has been healthy, Davenport, UNC's all-time passing completion percentage leader with a 63.7-percent mark, has been productive. Although he missed the last few games of last season and the bowl game, he was named the Tar Heels' offensive MVP.
"I look back on the history of other teams, and the teams that have had an experienced, good quarterback always have a chance to win," Torbush said. "He does have experience, athletic ability-if he's healthy he gives us the ability to do some things offensively that we can't do without him. Right now he's got to stay healthy, because he hasn't done that two years in a row."
As long as Davenport stays healthy, he will have the chance to throw to a talented group of receivers that includes Na Brown and L.C. Stevens, both of whom are All-ACC candidates.
With the Tar Heels continuing to accumulate more and more talent every year, the only question that should remain for this squad is whether this young but talented team can gel together and become a great squad that will challenge the likes of Florida State and Nebraska for the national title.
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