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Previews
Features
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Monday, August 24, 1981
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. DTHScott Sharpe
Defense (above) blocking (far
right) and conditioning (right)
are three big keys to success
of the 1931 Tar Heel football
team. Graduation hit hard on
defense, where All-American
Lawrence Taylor left. The
offensive line is how without
All-American Rick Donnalley
and Ron Wooten. In addition,
Coach Crum says cool weath
er and rain has put a damper
on individual endurance.
Strcatcr tries to coma back
from cccidcnt. Geo pco 6
and 7
Crcv;d noic 3 pc!lco adopted
by NCAA. C:o pr3 2
Atlantic Ccast Conference
football echedulo. See page 3
Tho Great Carolina footbdl
quiz. See pc.33'4 4
Ticket, distribution system
ScrcGjO determined to
keep lacroeca team cn top.
'. VJbmen's athletic program
Four new coaches come to
UNC. Sao pacp 10
Tihl YlF iutF
Can Tar Meek surpass 1980 fame?
By CLIFTON BARNES
Sports Editor
The 1981 North Carolina Tar Heel foot
ball team can be better than last year's
Atlantic Coast Conference and Bluebon
net bowl championship team if a few holes
can be filled, UNC coach Dick Crum said
as fall practice began.
"We can be a better football team and
still not go 11-1 like last season," Crum
said. "Anytime you do that well you have
to have a little luck going.
"We had good fortune at critical times
last year. The most important factor is
that we didn't have a whole lot of injuries
and we had experience. This year, we need
experience." ;
Finding the needed experience and
depth is the largest hole the coaching staff
is looking to fill.
"I like our potential on offense, but we
must develop some depth there,' Crum
said.
Rod Elkins, a 6-1, 204-pound junior,
will again direct the offense. Last season
he started every game and tied for the
ACC passing lead. This year he has already
been chosen by conference coaches as
preseason all-conference quarterback.
Elkins came on to start when Chuck
Sharpe was hurt in fall practice. He quickly
developed as a starting quarterback so
now he is firmly entrenched at that role.
"Fate dictated our quarterback situa
tion last year," Crum said. "We now have
a veteran and that should give us stability.
We'll be able to throw the football more
because Rod has gotten more passing ex
perience." Timing is the biggest thing a quarter
back and bis receivers must work on,"
Elkins said. "We were able to do that in
the spring. In addition, I know how to
read secondaries better. I've seen them on
the field. A year ago I had only seen them
on a chalkboard."
One receiver who was out much of
spring practice and thus could not team
up with Elkins is last year's starting split
end Jon Richardson.
It looks like Victor Harrison, who came
on at the end of last season to finish with
16 catches, will take over Richardson's
role at starting split end. But Richardson
will probably exceed his 15 receptions
from last season if the Tar Heels do in
deed pass more often.
Sophomore Mark Smith had just one
catch for seven yards last year but he is set
to be the starting flanker after impressing
coaches in spring drills.
But the personnel problem comes on
the interior line and the backfield. All
America offensive linemen Ron Wooten
and Rick Donnalley are gone as is four
time 1 ,000 yard rusher Amos Lawrence at
tailback and mammoth fullback Billy
Johnson.
Dave Drechsler, a 6-4, 250-pound
junior, has been moved from tackle to
guard, where he was named preseason all
conference. Senior tackle Mike Many
who was injured in spring drills and un
derwent knee surgery, is back at fall prac
tice and is expected to anchor the line with
Drechsler.
Tailback Kelvin Bryant will play more
this season, possibly more . than Crum
would like if a capable backup is not
found. Bryant, a 6-2 195-pound junior,
ran for more than 1,000 yards last season
while splitting time at tailback with
Lawrence. For those accomplishments,
ACC coaches have named Bryant as the
third preseason all-conference selection
from the Tar Heel of fense.-
It looks as if sophomore Tyrone An
thony will be the top reserve at tailback.
Anthony averaged six yards a carry in the
annual spring Blue-White game.
Alan Burrus, 5-11, 210, will be the
starting fullback, barring the injuries that
, have plagued him his first two years. He
was counted on for reserve duty last sea
son, but a hamstring injury sidelined him
for so long that coaches decided to red
shirt him. In 1979, the junior from Shelby
started six games at defensive back before
being injured.
Sophomore James , Jones, a walk-on
from Rocky Mount, ended spring work
outs as the No. 1 reserve fullback. His
coaches say they have been pleasantly
surprised by his play.
Not only does the defense have to worry
about depth, but it must also worry about
who will be starting. All-America outside
linebacker Lawrence Taylor is gone, as
are tackles Donnell Thompson and Harry
Stanback.
"When you have two first-round NFL
draft picks and one sixth-round draft pick
gone from your defense, it is hard to re
place them," Crum said. "Settling on our
top defensive players will be one of our
primary goals in fall practice.
"We've taken over 10 years experience
and replaced it with one on the defensive
line alone," defensive coordinator Denny
Martin said. "It may take a little while to
jel. We have kids who by gaining experi
ence are going to be good football
players."
It appears that Mike Wilcher, a 6-3,
230-pound junior from Washington,
D.C., will assume Taylor's role as outside
linebacker. Senior Jeff Pierce may also
play some there.
"The defensive line is what makes a
good defense," Marcin said. "It's our
first line of defense, the linebackers are
second and the defensive backs third. If
the line fails, it puts a lot of pressure on
the linebackers and backs."
If the Tar Heels were playing today,
junior Jack Parry and sophomore
William Fuller would start at tackle. Parry
and Fuller, each 240-pounders, are smaller
than the 257-pound Thompson and the
262-pound Stanback. Parry has started
i,
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Rod Elkins
DTHScott Sharpe
one game as a Tar Heel, Fuller none.
"People ask me who we're going to
miss the most and I'm not sure that it's
not Steve Streater,' Crum said. Streater
was named all-conference at both free
safety and punter.
Sophomore Walt Black ended spring
practice as the starting free safety, but
he has no varsity experience. Former
quarterback Chuck Sharpe who missed
See TAR HEELS on page 3
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DTHScott Sharpe
DTHScott Sharpe
Battle I&Fews ove TV ecDiniftiraett
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By GEOFFREY MOCK
Assistant Sports Editor
First of two parts '
Faced with increasing costs caused by inflation,
colleges are turning to television revenue for football
games to avoid athletic budget deficits. But athletic
directors are finding that new and lucrative television
contracts are causing as many problems as they solve.
The NCAA just signed a four-year, $264 million
contract beginning in 1982 with CBS-TV and ABC
Charles M. Neinas, CFA executive director, has con
firmed that NBC will share the costs of a legal fight.
Harold Enarson, president of Ohio State Univer
sity, a school not in the CFA, said that, it is mind
boggling that big-money television can be in a position
to get control power.
"I think one would be naive in the extreme to be
lieve one could let someone else pay half your legal
fees without having that other party share mightily in
the control of policy," he said:
f-t But there are also objections to the NCAA control.
TV. This ends years of ABC's exclusive coverage of University of - North' Carolina- Athletic Director
are cable and subscription TV," he said. "The
possibilities are incredible." . :
Swofford said he had talked to local programmers :
about televising Carolina football games, but no:
agreement was yet in the works. "We talked about
delayed telecasts. The NCAA prohibits the schools
from showing live football on TV." i
Interest in these matters is not purely financial.
to' work out more sports tiianXCarr said good television exposure could provide a
id. (t'i f J heeded boost to any football program. "There is a
NCAA footbaU
The contract calls for expanded coverage beneficial
to all NCAA schools, but fails to satisfy the demands
for reform by some of the sport's major powers, j .
As a result, the College Football Association, rep
resenting major independent schools and every Inv
portant conference but the Pacific 10 and Big Ten,"
John Swofford said the CFA had two objections to
the NCAA contract. First, Carolina and the Atlantic
Coast Conference had not been on television enough.
"I believe ACC football has improved tremendously
in the past ten years, but we are not getting our share
of the coverage," he said. ' , t
J. The CFA also disputes the distribution of television
revenue. Although CFA 'schools account for more
siened a four-vear. $180 million contract with NRf.
TV. The agreement, if ratified at a CFA meeting on . ' than half of all television appearances, they receive
Aug. 21 in Atlanta, would seem to be in violation of " only 4$ percent of the revenue. "A lot of money in
a NCAA requirement that all member schools adhere the NCAA goes to places other then those that parti-
to the NCAA television contract.
Virginia Athletic Director Dick Schultz said the
CFA will definitely be in a legal battle with the
NCAA, because the majority of CFA members will
have ratified the television pact by the time the Sept.
10 reconsideration date comes.
Schultz said that the eight ACC schools, should
vote as a unit. "If we, don't, it could be chaos," he
said. "Suppose North Carolina voted for it and Vir
ginia voted against. Would that mean a Carolina-Virginia
game couldn't be shown on TV?"
There are many unanswered questions, but one
question has been answered that of legal expenses.
cipate in the TV package, Swofford said.
The NCAA vgets 8.5 -percent of the television
revenue, 4.5 percent of which goes to pay the travel
expenses of any athlete who qualifies for an NCAA
championship. The contract also limits a team to six
appearances every two years and requires 12 Division
I AA games every two years, further restricting the
amount of revenue going to the college powers.
Swofford takes a moderate position on the latter
objection. "The requirement for appearances by
non-Division I schools and the payment of travel ex
penses is not necessarily bad. Our philosophy is to
have an extensive and a well-balanced program, and
football revenue can help it."
From a purely financial standpoint, the CFA con
tract is more lucrative than that of the NCAA, but
the NCAA could go to court to require enforcement
of its contract, causing a major split within the or
ganization. "We are npjnterstMii'ation that
would tear apart the lS"CAA,Swbffordaid -
"The thing that is difficult is that you can't isolate
football. If the CFA happens to' branch 'of that or
ganization will havei
just' football.' he said
Charli rnrr'nktant flthlrtH'iireetft vfnr 'TiCorrelation between exposure and popularity," he
cruitingM UNC, said the ramifications of the CFA "The more you are seen, the more people will
contract went beyond finances. "A lot of other things be amiliar with you."
tnat we cnensn are attected by tne contract, ana we : .ft is that influence that has broueht the NCAA to
j I perhaps its greatest disagreement ever. With the
! I 'dollar signs getting bigger, the nature of college ath
I Cletics becomes increasingly threatened by the struggle
between the colleges and the NCAA for control of
television rights.
The dispute would undoubtedly affect sports other
than football. The recent bidding war between the
networks for rights to college basketball may indicate
"There fare binding recruiting rules that have
evolved to give us a good standing, and that's a heavy
side of the pendulum. The NCAA has provided an
atmosphere that is conducive to our goals. The CTA
has just been an adjunrt," Carr said.
The issues symbolizes the problems that come with
the influx of dollars into the athletic arena Swofford
said: "One of the base issues is who owns the proper-
ty rights to television. Does the institution or does the
.NCAA? ' '
"All of this is about doHarsrand sometimes, you
tire of talking about it, but when you are committed
to maintaining a self-sufficient program, you have to
take it into consideration'
Despite the objections to the NCAA contract,
Swofford said it was an improvement over the past
contract and that North Carolina can expect to bene
fit from it. But the important chances for increased
benefits may come from outside network television.
"Two things that will have an impact in the future
that the sport may be ripe for the problems now fac
ing football. The NCAA allows greater sovereignty
in basketball, allowing many of the conferences to
have their own television contracts.
"The football contract is completely different than
for basketball," Swofford said. "If the NCAA
should ever decide that the conference can't have
their own package, we'd have a real problem, be
cause the ACC package is very lucrative."
Tomorrow: The ACC's basketball contract.