Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 13, 1984, edition 1 / Page 24
Part of Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Football 1984September 13, 198417 Redshirting now the rule for most freshmen By SCOTT FOWLER SufT Writer The days of the freshman foot ball player who comes straight out of high school to star for a major college team have gone the way of the Model T Ford and electric hat-tippers. You might run across one every now and then, but they are def initely a rare breed, thanks chiefly to the phenomenon called redshirting. Last year at UNC, 96 percent . of the freshmen football players did not play a single down and were redshirted, meaning that their four years of eligibility begin this season. Of those 25 freshmen, only tailback William Humes saw playing time and is a sophomore both athletically and academically this fall. Redshirting is an accepted practice at most major universities nowadays. The rationale at UNC: With football cutting into the number of academic hours a player can take, why not redshirt him when it will take him four-and-a-half or five years to grad uate anyway? Otherwise, he might not graduate at all. Redshirting has contributed directly to a higher percentage of college players graduating today, UNC coach Dick Crum said. "From the academic stand point, being redshirted is in the player's best interest," Crum said. "We want them to make the academic adjustment immediately. "The first goal I have is for the guys to get a degree. People may laugh at that statement, but it's true. If a player has a potential to make an impact immediately we will use him, however. "Also, if the player is a potential pro athlete, the NFL teams want them to go to various tryout camps during the spring of their senior year. So they're not getting any class time then, and end up having to drop courses if they haven't already graduated." Joe Conwell and Brooks Bar wick, both redshirts who as seniors graduated in December, were able to attend the tryout camps. Con well eventually signed with the Philadelphia Stars. On the other hand, non-redshirt Donnell Thompson, who ended MON T'JES WED THURS FRI NFL Football Ladies Rockin' Free Beet til Happy Hour Night Pick the lockout Free Wednesday Midnight 3-9. 225t winner and admission, your favorite Also, specials draft and get price Beer and wine rock n' roll all for those 21 & specials for drinks for the for ladies only night 225t over. those 21 & rest of the till 10:30. Late draft till 10:30. over, night Free nite happy All night pitchers for hour from specials for trivia 10:30 to those 21 & questions. midnight with over. Giant video 225 draft screen and specials for those 21 & over. If you're looking for a nice, climate controlled establishment with a lot of class to dance or socialize, Purdy's is the place to be. We also offer large seating capacity, 2 wide screen TV's, A giant screen, A large completely equipped bar and a professional, courteous staff. his eligibility in 1980, is just now completing his degree. And some of the players who use up their eligibility in the first four years just never come back. Most of the players who have been redshirted feel in hindsight that the idea was a good one, although they weren't too high on it when it was first put to them. "Coming in everybody wants to play after being a superstar in high school," redshirt sophomore Eric Streater said. "You don't want to do nothing but just practice. But college ball is all based on timing, which you've got to know, and it takes about a year to understand the system anyway. You've just got to wait your turn." Streater will start at split end this year. Crum agreed that a freshman is hard-pressed to beat out a starter in the fall of his freshman year. "If a freshman challenges for a position at all, it's usually in the spring when they know the system better. They're competing with guys who are 22 or 23 years old and very familiar with our system, so it's very tough to come right in and contribute." Quarterback Mark Maye was one of the Tar Heels' more well known redshirts last year. "I think in the future 111 look back and think it was the best thing in the world for me to be red shirted," Maye said. "I would've only got a snap here or there, or gone in some games when we were winning real big, and I felt like it would have been smart to wait for a whole year instead of taking 1T the yoouR COME VESET US AFTER THE GAME! GO HEELS! Sun. noon-10 M-Th 11-11 Fri & Sat 1 1-midnight 15912 East Franklin Street Chapel Hill Enjoy the finest sound and light system in the area. The place in Chapel Hill for dancing or meeting friends. UNBEATABLE WEEKLY SPECIALS INCLUDE: just a couple of snaps." Pat Sheehan, a 6-3, 250-lb. offensive tackle from New Jersey who was redshirted along with Streater in 1982, really had a new system to learn, since he was switched from defense to offense in the spring of 1983. "At first, I didn't understand (being redshirted)," Sheehan said. "I felt like I was never going to play. People at home didn't under stand at first either. "To many people, being red shirted has the connotations of being put on a back burner," Sheehan said. "But I looked at it positively, thinking that if they weren't going to have a use for me they wouldn't want me around for another year. After that, I got motivated, and there weren't too many problems." This year, Sheehan's motivation has paid off, as he will attempt to fill Brian Blados' shoes at left tackle. The players do have some choice in becoming a redshirt, Crum said. "We talk to them individually. We don't force anyone to stay here five years, just like we don't bring in a recruit and say hell definitely be redshirted." Maye said he was told early on that he would be redshirted. "I wasn't real sure until the Miami (Ohio) game and we won pretty big and the next day or so after practice, coach (Randy) Walker told me." "I didn't know until the end of the season," Streater said. "But I sort of figured I would be since of 106 W. Franklin St. Behind Baum Jewelry 942-PUMP SAT $2.00 Pitchers till 10:00 I didn't get in the games any." Sheehan was called to Crum's office the week of the season opener against Pittsburgh in 1982. "Coach Crum called me to his office, and explained it was to my advantage to be redshirted. I wouldn't have gotten any playing time anyway that year." From an academic standpoint, the players tend to differ in their evaluation of how much redshirt ing has helped their grades and whether they would need the extra semester or two. "I may start some graduate work in the last year," said Shee han, a double major in history and English. "If I'm finished in four, that's it." Maye, speaking about his grades as a freshman, said: "There wouldn't have been much difference." Streater, an industrial relations major, said he would need four and a half to five years. One common criticism of red- t -ia in" 1 Special Half Month Rates Available Carr Mill Mall First RESTAURANT INTIMATE, ILAXmG, UNIQUE! IN ADDITION TO OUR OTHER DINNER MENU ITEMS CHOOSE FROM SIX DINNER SPECIALS SERVED IN OUR LOUNGE 5:00-9:00 p.m. Mon.-Fri. PRICED 03.95 - $6.95 IXWER LEVEL, UNIVERSITY SQUARE All ABC Permits " 143 W Franklin St. 929-1571 X X M li si $ SI Dick Crum shirting claims that coaches are merely stockpiling plavers. "That's completely untrue," Crum said. "We can have only 95 players on scholarships at any one time. If we carry a player for another year, that just means our 95 scholarships are spread over five years rather than four." oMe 942-7545 Class Free a week AND LOUNGE 3 1
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 13, 1984, edition 1
24
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75