Decision helps Tar Heels now and in future
NED BARNETT, Staff WriterCHAPEL HILL - The season opener is still days away, but North Carolina football coach John Bunting and new offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti already have combined for a smart call. That call came Tuesday, when Bunting announced Joe Dailey will be the Heels' No. 1 quarterback and redshirt freshman Cam Sexton will play a regular role. That decision means no split quarterback situation. No team divided by loyalties. No offense bouncing from one style to the other. Instead, there will be quarterback starting and one collecting experience should Dailey falter or be injured. Bunting tried having two quarterbacks split the job equally in 2001. The combination of Ronald Curry and Darian Durant succeeded, but it was rocky. Maybe that 8-5 season would have been even better if Bunting had made a choice. When it comes to quarterbacks, two heads are rarely better than one. In giving the nod to Dailey, a junior transfer from Nebraska, Bunting didn't exile Sexton to the bench. Sexton will get regular snaps and a regular chance to show what he knows and what he needs to learn. Bunting hopes to model the quarterback arrangement on the one used by Louisville in 2004, a season in which the Cardinals came into Chapel Hill and beat the Tar Heels 34-0. In that setup, Louisville senior Stefan LeFors started the game and played most of it. Freshman Brian Brohm started every second quarter and played several series. LeFors wasn't thrilled with the arrangement, but it was good for the team, which went 11-1. And it was good for the quarterback position. When LeFors went out with a concussion against Miami in the season's fifth game, Brohm had enough experience to step into a huge game and go 7-for-12 for 51 yards. Louisville lost 41-38 after giving up 20 points in the fourth quarter, but it didn't lose because it lost its quarterback. LeFors and Brohm came out of the arrangement well. LeFors is with the NFL's Carolina Panthers. Brohm, a junior and last year's Big East Offensive Player of the Year, is a Heisman Trophy candidate. The Carolina version of LeFors-Brohm could come undone as early as Saturday's opener against Rutgers. Dailey may show up like the quarterback who got demoted to fourth string after 11 starts at Nebraska. Sexton, who had a great high school career at Scotland County High School in Laurinburg, may shine and become a football favorite son. That's an unlikely scenario. Bunting and Cignetti took a long look at both quarterbacks, and Dailey and Sexton competed hard for the No. 1 slot. The coaches went with the quarterback who has experience. He's also the one with better speed and scrambling ability but who still can throw the short, accurate passes required by Cignetti's West Coast offense. Rich Hansen, Dailey's high school coach at St. Peter's Prep in New Jersey, said he's tired of hearing Dailey described as an option quarterback. He said Dailey can throw as well as he scrambles and runs. "Can he escape? Absolutely. Can he run? Yes. But he's not an option quarterback," Hansen said. "I think he's going to be efficient and make things happen." He spoke recently with Dailey and said the quarterback is committed to rewarding UNC for giving him a second chance. "Succeeding and leading that offense is the priority in his life, trust me," Hansen said. Dailey is getting his chance, but Bunting has been careful to leaving a role for Sexton. With that, he has taken an important step toward addressing one of the most challenging parts of college football -- quarterback succession. Good programs often are consistent in the strength of their defense or the power of their running game, but few seem to avoid the up and down pattern of having a good quarterback followed by having gaps at quarterback. Florida State has struggled to fill the core position with a strong player. So have Boston College, Wake Forest and Maryland. N.C. State is still recovering from the vacuum that followed Philip Rivers. With Dailey taking the lead and Sexton in a supporting role, Carolina has its quarterbacks stacking up nicely. Daily could start for two years. Then Sexton for two. Behind him will be Mike Paulus, one of the nation's best high school quarterbacks -- and brother to Duke basketball guard Greg Paulus -- who will arrive at UNC in 2007. Columnist Ned Barnett can be reached at 829-4555 or nbarnett@newsobserver.com. |
 |