The college football season is rapidly approaching and I was able to catch up with Morgan Randall, a 6-foot-6, 280 pound offensive lineman on the UNC football team. Morgan and I discussed his high school career, the recruiting process, changes under Coach Davis, and expectations for the upcoming season. For all you Duke fans out there, we even got a chance to talk about the Paulus brothers. Here’s the transcript of our Q&A session:
You attended Rose High School in Greenville, North Carolina. I read that you guys won a few state championships while you were there. How many did you win?
I was a part of two state championship teams. Actually, I moved from Indianapolis between my sophomore and junior years. And so I was only a part of two of the titles. They won one before I got there and now they’ve won another one after I left. That’s four state titles in a row for Rose.
That’s impressive. Did you start at Rose right when you got there? What position did you play?
I did. I started as a defensive end my junior year. There was a senior in front of me playing tight end that year but when I was a senior I went both ways the whole year. I played at defensive end, tight end, and also did the long snapping.
Let’s talk about recruiting. When did you start getting letters from schools? Which schools?
Junior year is when a lot of them started coming. I got letters from all over the place. Most ACC Schools, a few Ivy League schools, and I think I got one from Nebraska. There was a good variety of colleges.
The final three schools you narrowed your list down to were ECU, the Naval Academy, and UNC. Why those three?
I was living in Greenville so I was naturally interested in ECU because of the possibility of staying close to home. For Navy, I’m actually interested in going to medical school when I’m done with football and one stat that Navy has which is really impressive is that everybody from the Naval Academy who has ever applied to medical school has gotten in. They have a hundred percent acceptance so you look at that and it’s kind of hard to turn down. And then in regards to North Carolina, everybody in my family who has ever been to college has at some point come to Carolina. I have a brother and a cousin here right now and another cousin that just graduated. So there are a lot of family connections to Carolina. I’ve also been coming here pretty much my whole life. And when you break down the academics for the schools, Carolina just seemed to be the best fit for me.
So when you were going through the recruitment process, what was your relationship like with Coach Bunting?
The way recruiting works is you have a few different people who talk to you. First of all, you have a primary recruiter, an assistant coach that is assigned to you based on your region. My primary recruiter was a guy named Coach Lawing. He’s now at South Carolina, and he was the one who talked to me the most. After that, you have the position coach. My position coach was a guy named Hal Hunter, who was the offensive line coach. They were recruiting me to be an offensive lineman pretty much from the start so he would talk to me occasionally too. And then Coach Bunting would come by on his recruiting trips every once in a while and I would see him then and whenever I would come up here I always tried to talk with him as well.
Were you impressed by Coach Bunting?
I was. Coach Bunting is a great guy and a real good coach and I really felt that the University of North Carolina presented a great opportunity for me to make some noise in the football world.
After your season ended you played in the North Carolina/South Carolina Shrine Bowl Game. How was that experience?
It was a lot of fun, and North Carolina won the game. At the time, I believe it was my seventeenth straight week with a football game because there are twelve regular season and then four playoff games for just regular high school, assuming you make it all the way. So it was my seventeenth game and I was a little worn down by the end of it but it was a good time and I met a lot of great guys there. A lot of my teammates here at Carolina who came in with me were also on the team. It was just a great experience.
Scout.com describes you as “a 6-foot-6 jumbo athlete.” How did you feel about switching over to the offensive line from playing tight end and defensive end?
I was excited about it. I know that when you get to a conference like the Atlantic Coast Conference it’s difficult to play the skill positions unless you’re basically a freak. And my speed for high school was really pretty good and every combine time I had was right on for a solid offensive lineman. But tight ends are usually a lot faster. My 40 time is about 5 seconds, which for an offensive lineman is pretty good. But for a tight end that 40 time should have been a little faster. So it just wasn’t the position that I would play in a conference as powerful as the ACC.
You redshirted your freshman year. How did you make that decision?
At the time, I was only a solid 260 and most of the offensive lineman, and defensive lineman for that matter, are about 300 or so. I just wasn’t as strong as I needed to be. I wasn’t as mature, I didn’t know the offense and there wasn’t any reason for me to play. I know that I needed more time to develop and the coaches knew it too, so that’s the decision we made.
You attended Rose High School in Greenville, North Carolina. I read that you guys won a few state championships while you were there. How many did you win?
I was a part of two state championship teams. Actually, I moved from Indianapolis between my sophomore and junior years. And so I was only a part of two of the titles. They won one before I got there and now they’ve won another one after I left. That’s four state titles in a row for Rose.
That’s impressive. Did you start at Rose right when you got there? What position did you play?
I did. I started as a defensive end my junior year. There was a senior in front of me playing tight end that year but when I was a senior I went both ways the whole year. I played at defensive end, tight end, and also did the long snapping.
Let’s talk about recruiting. When did you start getting letters from schools? Which schools?
Junior year is when a lot of them started coming. I got letters from all over the place. Most ACC Schools, a few Ivy League schools, and I think I got one from Nebraska. There was a good variety of colleges.
The final three schools you narrowed your list down to were ECU, the Naval Academy, and UNC. Why those three?
I was living in Greenville so I was naturally interested in ECU because of the possibility of staying close to home. For Navy, I’m actually interested in going to medical school when I’m done with football and one stat that Navy has which is really impressive is that everybody from the Naval Academy who has ever applied to medical school has gotten in. They have a hundred percent acceptance so you look at that and it’s kind of hard to turn down. And then in regards to North Carolina, everybody in my family who has ever been to college has at some point come to Carolina. I have a brother and a cousin here right now and another cousin that just graduated. So there are a lot of family connections to Carolina. I’ve also been coming here pretty much my whole life. And when you break down the academics for the schools, Carolina just seemed to be the best fit for me.
So when you were going through the recruitment process, what was your relationship like with Coach Bunting?
The way recruiting works is you have a few different people who talk to you. First of all, you have a primary recruiter, an assistant coach that is assigned to you based on your region. My primary recruiter was a guy named Coach Lawing. He’s now at South Carolina, and he was the one who talked to me the most. After that, you have the position coach. My position coach was a guy named Hal Hunter, who was the offensive line coach. They were recruiting me to be an offensive lineman pretty much from the start so he would talk to me occasionally too. And then Coach Bunting would come by on his recruiting trips every once in a while and I would see him then and whenever I would come up here I always tried to talk with him as well.
Were you impressed by Coach Bunting?
I was. Coach Bunting is a great guy and a real good coach and I really felt that the University of North Carolina presented a great opportunity for me to make some noise in the football world.
After your season ended you played in the North Carolina/South Carolina Shrine Bowl Game. How was that experience?
It was a lot of fun, and North Carolina won the game. At the time, I believe it was my seventeenth straight week with a football game because there are twelve regular season and then four playoff games for just regular high school, assuming you make it all the way. So it was my seventeenth game and I was a little worn down by the end of it but it was a good time and I met a lot of great guys there. A lot of my teammates here at Carolina who came in with me were also on the team. It was just a great experience.Scout.com describes you as “a 6-foot-6 jumbo athlete.” How did you feel about switching over to the offensive line from playing tight end and defensive end?
I was excited about it. I know that when you get to a conference like the Atlantic Coast Conference it’s difficult to play the skill positions unless you’re basically a freak. And my speed for high school was really pretty good and every combine time I had was right on for a solid offensive lineman. But tight ends are usually a lot faster. My 40 time is about 5 seconds, which for an offensive lineman is pretty good. But for a tight end that 40 time should have been a little faster. So it just wasn’t the position that I would play in a conference as powerful as the ACC.
You redshirted your freshman year. How did you make that decision?
At the time, I was only a solid 260 and most of the offensive lineman, and defensive lineman for that matter, are about 300 or so. I just wasn’t as strong as I needed to be. I wasn’t as mature, I didn’t know the offense and there wasn’t any reason for me to play. I know that I needed more time to develop and the coaches knew it too, so that’s the decision we made.How was practice different as a redshirt?
We still had some meetings and we would be out there practicing every day. However, as a redshirt, and a freshman, one way they develop players is they put them on the scout team, which is just like the practice squad. If you’re an offensive player, you go against the defense and show them what your opponent is going to do each week. And when you get to go up against the first string guys week in and week out, you really improve a lot. I mean it’s kind of like a survival thing at that point. You have to learn quickly how to defend yourself and how to make blocks, so it was a great experience. I’m glad I redshirted.
Carolina had a disappointing season last year. Coach Bunting was fired during the season but agreed to stay on for the rest of the year. What was that like, knowing that you had a lame duck coach and the guy who recruited you was leaving?
Initially it was tough because you know the coaches and the coaching staff and when the head coach gets fired, everybody gets fired. And so at first it was a little tough. But I think it was a good thing for us as well because throughout the whole season there were so many questions about Coach Bunting’s future at Carolina. So when the decision finally came down, one way or the other, I think the team had a sense of relief that we knew what we were dealing with and we could move on.
Did Coach Bunting’s attitude towards the team or his coaching style change at all after the news came through? Did he talk with you guys about it?
He did talk to us about it briefly. He didn’t want to dwell on it because he was still focused with the rest of the season. Coach Bunting loves the University of North Carolina. He played here, he was the coach here, and he really does love the university. The way Coach Bunting looked at it, it seemed to me and I believe everybody else he wanted to win for the university. It wasn’t about his job at that point. He just wanted everybody to do well.
What did Coach Davis say to the team at your first meeting after he accepted the job?
He said that he wanted to win. He obviously had the chance to see us a little bit and he said he wanted to win and for us having just gone 3-9, it was still fresh in our minds and we wanted to win too. Coach Davis was talking about winning national championships down the road. Everybody in that room was just loving it because I don’t care what school you’re at, you want to win.
What was the big difference in coaching styles between Coach Bunting and Coach Davis? What are some of the major changes that are affecting the players?
There aren’t too many major changes. One thing is that the practice style is a little bit quicker. For example, this might have to do more with the assistant coaches, but our offensive coordinator, Coach Shoop, wants to run a lot of plays during practice so we have picked the tempo up more so than it was with Coach Bunting. That has led to a greater level of efficiency. Coach Bunting still wanted a full practice, everybody going hard, having fun, but it might be a little bit quicker now.
Can you walk me through one of your practices? What’s your routine?
Normally we’ll get out there a little early with the offensive line and we might go over some blitz pickups or put in a new play or something like that and then we’ll stretch.. Then we’ll have some individual time, and we’ll run plays against the defense for the rest of practice. There might be a section where we concentrate on just running the ball, one where we concentrate on throwing. We also do one-on-ones against the defense.
I’ve read that Butch Davis is trying to change the culture around here. I just picked up your student newspaper and it reads “the coming of a big name coach to a program in limbo usually results in a well documented culture change the newcomer tries to foster.” How would you say that Butch Davis has tried to change the culture around here?
He’s talked about winning a lot and really tried to give our players every opportunity to succeed. There’s lots of ways he has done that, either through focusing on the strength and conditioning aspect or focusing on some aspect of the offense or defense, bringing out something he thinks we can do well. But, football is football. There’s a lot of different ways to play the game but the same rules apply to everybody. So, I think the major change is the level of excitement that the fans have. There is a lot of anticipation for Coach Davis’ first season. And the players want to play and win and the fans are looking for that too.
I heard that Coach Davis decided on T.J. Yates as the starter, what do you think about the quarterback decision?
T.J. and I are in one of the same classes together, so we know each other fairly well. T.J. is a great guy and a good quarterback and if he’s the one that coach has named as the starter then he’s our starter and we’re going to stand behind him.
Do you guys give Mike Paulus any heat for being Greg Paulus’ little brother?
Not too much, really. Mike is at Carolina playing Carolina football so I don’t think he’s going to sabotage it or anything like that. He’s really a great guy so no, not too much. He was actually my roommate for one session during the summer and so I met Greg and a couple other basketball players.
Did they come over to Carolina?
Yeah, they came over to help Mike move in and a few times after that.
Who all came over to help Mike move in?
Marty, I don’t know his last name, he’s like Lithuanian or something like that, he’s real cool. Maybe two other people, can’t really remember. But they were nice guys too. Greg Paulus actually called me before Mike did because it was kind of like a last second thing. Greg brought Mike’s stuff down before Mike flew down because of Mike’s high school schedule.
He drove down?
Yeah. Because he was out of school and Mike was still finishing up high school so Greg drove Mike’s stuff down before Mike had a chance to get down here.
What did you think of Greg Paulus?
He was a great guy, great guy. I hope I would be considered one of his friends, I know I would consider him one of mine.
What do you think about Kendrick Williams, a walk-on, being awarded a scholarship?
I’m extremely happy for Kendrick. He’s been working hard ever since he got here. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I’m really excited for him and I wish him the best this season, I’m sure he’s going to keep on giving everything he has.
Do you think Coach Davis is sending a message emphasizing competition by awarding Williams a scholarship?
We always encourage competition, in practice for any position, or going up against whomever you have to block. It’s always competitive out there. I think competition motivates people to play that much harder for their spot, so I think it’s great.
I read somewhere that 51 of your 84 players have never played a down of college football. It seems as though you are missing the veteran presence that a lot of high achieving teams seem to have, like Wake Forest last year. How do you think this team is going to respond not having an established set of veterans to rely upon?
I don’t know how it’ll all work out, I know people talk about experience and I’m sure it is important but right now we’re focusing on us and if one guy can get the job done, and do it well, I don’t think his experience should be a major factor. There’s always something to experience but I think coach just wants to play the best players.
What are your expectations for the season?
I expect us to play hard every game. A lot of people want number estimates, but really, I expect us to go out there and have fun and play good football. And I think if we do that, wins and losses and all that will take care of itself.
I couldn’t help but look a little forward on the schedule. You have a November 24th showdown at home against Duke. And actually the last two years the games have been very competitive, going down to the wire both years. Any thoughts on the matchup?
We respect Duke as a football program. They’re really making some great strides. The quarterback you had last year really looked good against us. I believe you’re program is on the rise too. Duke’s not to be overlooked in any game.
What are your plans after football? You mentioned wanting to go to medical school.
I want to be a Sports Medicine doctor and do orthopedic surgery.
So you’re pre-med, that must be a pretty challenging curriculum. What’s your schedule like this semester?
This semester I will be taking Organic Chemistry, French III, Intro to Islamic Civilization, and Personal Health.
Wow. You’re going to take Orgo during football season. How do you manage your time?
Very, very closely. It’s not necessarily an easy thing to do with all of the practicing and meetings and sometimes you’re just so tired it’s difficult to do homework. But you just get through it and the weekends are key. Sunday’s are all day homework.
We still had some meetings and we would be out there practicing every day. However, as a redshirt, and a freshman, one way they develop players is they put them on the scout team, which is just like the practice squad. If you’re an offensive player, you go against the defense and show them what your opponent is going to do each week. And when you get to go up against the first string guys week in and week out, you really improve a lot. I mean it’s kind of like a survival thing at that point. You have to learn quickly how to defend yourself and how to make blocks, so it was a great experience. I’m glad I redshirted.
Carolina had a disappointing season last year. Coach Bunting was fired during the season but agreed to stay on for the rest of the year. What was that like, knowing that you had a lame duck coach and the guy who recruited you was leaving?
Initially it was tough because you know the coaches and the coaching staff and when the head coach gets fired, everybody gets fired. And so at first it was a little tough. But I think it was a good thing for us as well because throughout the whole season there were so many questions about Coach Bunting’s future at Carolina. So when the decision finally came down, one way or the other, I think the team had a sense of relief that we knew what we were dealing with and we could move on.
Did Coach Bunting’s attitude towards the team or his coaching style change at all after the news came through? Did he talk with you guys about it?
He did talk to us about it briefly. He didn’t want to dwell on it because he was still focused with the rest of the season. Coach Bunting loves the University of North Carolina. He played here, he was the coach here, and he really does love the university. The way Coach Bunting looked at it, it seemed to me and I believe everybody else he wanted to win for the university. It wasn’t about his job at that point. He just wanted everybody to do well.
What did Coach Davis say to the team at your first meeting after he accepted the job?
He said that he wanted to win. He obviously had the chance to see us a little bit and he said he wanted to win and for us having just gone 3-9, it was still fresh in our minds and we wanted to win too. Coach Davis was talking about winning national championships down the road. Everybody in that room was just loving it because I don’t care what school you’re at, you want to win.
What was the big difference in coaching styles between Coach Bunting and Coach Davis? What are some of the major changes that are affecting the players?
There aren’t too many major changes. One thing is that the practice style is a little bit quicker. For example, this might have to do more with the assistant coaches, but our offensive coordinator, Coach Shoop, wants to run a lot of plays during practice so we have picked the tempo up more so than it was with Coach Bunting. That has led to a greater level of efficiency. Coach Bunting still wanted a full practice, everybody going hard, having fun, but it might be a little bit quicker now.
Can you walk me through one of your practices? What’s your routine?
Normally we’ll get out there a little early with the offensive line and we might go over some blitz pickups or put in a new play or something like that and then we’ll stretch.. Then we’ll have some individual time, and we’ll run plays against the defense for the rest of practice. There might be a section where we concentrate on just running the ball, one where we concentrate on throwing. We also do one-on-ones against the defense.
I’ve read that Butch Davis is trying to change the culture around here. I just picked up your student newspaper and it reads “the coming of a big name coach to a program in limbo usually results in a well documented culture change the newcomer tries to foster.” How would you say that Butch Davis has tried to change the culture around here?
He’s talked about winning a lot and really tried to give our players every opportunity to succeed. There’s lots of ways he has done that, either through focusing on the strength and conditioning aspect or focusing on some aspect of the offense or defense, bringing out something he thinks we can do well. But, football is football. There’s a lot of different ways to play the game but the same rules apply to everybody. So, I think the major change is the level of excitement that the fans have. There is a lot of anticipation for Coach Davis’ first season. And the players want to play and win and the fans are looking for that too.I heard that Coach Davis decided on T.J. Yates as the starter, what do you think about the quarterback decision?
T.J. and I are in one of the same classes together, so we know each other fairly well. T.J. is a great guy and a good quarterback and if he’s the one that coach has named as the starter then he’s our starter and we’re going to stand behind him.
Do you guys give Mike Paulus any heat for being Greg Paulus’ little brother?
Not too much, really. Mike is at Carolina playing Carolina football so I don’t think he’s going to sabotage it or anything like that. He’s really a great guy so no, not too much. He was actually my roommate for one session during the summer and so I met Greg and a couple other basketball players.
Did they come over to Carolina?
Yeah, they came over to help Mike move in and a few times after that.
Who all came over to help Mike move in?
Marty, I don’t know his last name, he’s like Lithuanian or something like that, he’s real cool. Maybe two other people, can’t really remember. But they were nice guys too. Greg Paulus actually called me before Mike did because it was kind of like a last second thing. Greg brought Mike’s stuff down before Mike flew down because of Mike’s high school schedule.
He drove down?
Yeah. Because he was out of school and Mike was still finishing up high school so Greg drove Mike’s stuff down before Mike had a chance to get down here.
What did you think of Greg Paulus?
He was a great guy, great guy. I hope I would be considered one of his friends, I know I would consider him one of mine.
What do you think about Kendrick Williams, a walk-on, being awarded a scholarship?
I’m extremely happy for Kendrick. He’s been working hard ever since he got here. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I’m really excited for him and I wish him the best this season, I’m sure he’s going to keep on giving everything he has.
Do you think Coach Davis is sending a message emphasizing competition by awarding Williams a scholarship?
We always encourage competition, in practice for any position, or going up against whomever you have to block. It’s always competitive out there. I think competition motivates people to play that much harder for their spot, so I think it’s great.
I read somewhere that 51 of your 84 players have never played a down of college football. It seems as though you are missing the veteran presence that a lot of high achieving teams seem to have, like Wake Forest last year. How do you think this team is going to respond not having an established set of veterans to rely upon?
I don’t know how it’ll all work out, I know people talk about experience and I’m sure it is important but right now we’re focusing on us and if one guy can get the job done, and do it well, I don’t think his experience should be a major factor. There’s always something to experience but I think coach just wants to play the best players.
What are your expectations for the season?
I expect us to play hard every game. A lot of people want number estimates, but really, I expect us to go out there and have fun and play good football. And I think if we do that, wins and losses and all that will take care of itself.
I couldn’t help but look a little forward on the schedule. You have a November 24th showdown at home against Duke. And actually the last two years the games have been very competitive, going down to the wire both years. Any thoughts on the matchup?
We respect Duke as a football program. They’re really making some great strides. The quarterback you had last year really looked good against us. I believe you’re program is on the rise too. Duke’s not to be overlooked in any game.
What are your plans after football? You mentioned wanting to go to medical school.
I want to be a Sports Medicine doctor and do orthopedic surgery.
So you’re pre-med, that must be a pretty challenging curriculum. What’s your schedule like this semester?
This semester I will be taking Organic Chemistry, French III, Intro to Islamic Civilization, and Personal Health.
Wow. You’re going to take Orgo during football season. How do you manage your time?
Very, very closely. It’s not necessarily an easy thing to do with all of the practicing and meetings and sometimes you’re just so tired it’s difficult to do homework. But you just get through it and the weekends are key. Sunday’s are all day homework.
5 comments:
Wow. You don't find too many football players taking Orgo during football season. Sounds like a cool guy.
Awesome. I'm so pumped for UNC football baby.
Morgan sounds like a great kid!
What a great guy. That's the kind of kid every coach dreams of recruiting.
I have watched Morgan Randall grow up. He is a great kid. No question about it! Medicine will be lucky to get someone like him someday!
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