Why John Blake Was The First To Fall On The Sword at UNC
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 6:53AM Joe Simmons
Updated on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at 8:32PM by
Joe Simmons
Updated on Monday, October 4, 2010 at 3:22PM by
Joe Simmons
Not many people were surprised at the announcement of defensive line coach John Blake’s resignation on Sunday afternoon. It capped off a hectic weekend for a North Carolina football program swimming in a two-pronged NCAA investigation.
But a detrimental side effect of that decision lies in the fact that UNC will be without one of the most celebrated defensive line coaches in the nation for the remainder of the 2010 season. Make no mistake about it Blake, also known as Black Santa, for his ability to get the best prospects in the country, is one of the best if not the best defensive line coaches in the country. Take a look at the NFL prospects that have left that defensive line in the last four years and are playing in the NFL.
Butch Davis stated that he would probably make a few moves this week to balance out the coaching staff. There will be added responsibility to the coaches already in place and a few coaches will have to move to positions other than those they have coached in the past. The first move will probably be secondary coach Everett Withers leaving the defensive backs to coach the linebackers corps since he already has experience coaching linebackers when he was at Tulane.
According to Inside Carolina, “Art Kaufman, who has also been a defensive coordinator, will assume the role with the defensive line from the standpoint of being able to run the meetings,” Davis said. Helping Kaufman along the front line will be player development assistant Norris McCleary, a former NFL defensive lineman. “He’s worked in our strength and conditioning program,” Davis said. “He’s been a defensive lineman; he played at East Carolina. He came here as a result of his relationship with Jeff Connors.”