April 13, 2023
Ben Kiernan and Drew Little have on occasion done everything perfectly preparing for a Carolina football game. Practiced hard and with focus during the week. Studied tape of their own technique and what they might see from their opponent on Saturday. Gotten their sleep. Drank their water. Perfected their routines leading up to their jobs on the field.
And then: Nothing. Stood there and watched.
At times over four years of prolific offensive performances since Kiernan, a punter, and Little, a deep snapper, arrived at Carolina in 2019, the Tar Heels have not punted in a game, two examples being the 2019 Military Bowl win over Temple and the lambasting of Miami in the 2020 season finale.
"Yeah, a few games we've not been needed," Kiernan says with a smile. "It's great for our offense, I'm all for it, I'm loving it. But it's actually good for our mindset—you don't know if any one punt might be last of the game, so make it count."
Adds Little, "If we only have one punt or two punts, we have to make sure they can be the difference in the game. We always talk about doing the things that don't require talent, and that's effort."
While the Tar Heel offense has worked during spring practice to improve its downhill running game and pass protection and the defense has labored to develop its ability to put heat on the quarterback, the special teams have focused on grooming depth, installing some schematic tweaks and furthering a mindset that Coach Mack Brown insists is a core value as the Tar Heels work from a big-picture mantra of being good over four years to becoming great. Brown cites the fact the Tar Heels were 14th in the ACC in 2021 in a composite ranking of the four core special teams and bounced to second in 2022.
"We made amazing progress," he said. "Our goal this year in special teams is we're trying to win games instead of just be good. Change the game. That's very important. We've gotten so much better, now it's time to change the game. A huge part of that is depth. We had five walk-ons on special teams in the bowl game against Oregon."
Kiernan and Little both went through Senior Day ceremonies last November but opted to use their Covid-induced extra year of eligibility and return for an encore. They met on recruiting visits as far back as their sophomore years in high school—Kiernan a Dublin native whose family moved to Raleigh and Little from the town of Richfield, just northeast of Charlotte. They've roomed together for four years, and Little has snapped literally thousands of balls that Kiernan has fielded and then punted.
Little jokes that he can understand Kiernan's Irish accented speech much better than before, and Kiernan responds that makes sense because he's hung around Little's "country accent for six or seven years."
"When he goes home and gets around his family, though, it's a little stronger and harder to understand," Little says.
Their friendship and bond was one reason they came for a fifth year, with No. 91 hitting the kind of bombs that averaged 46.8 yards a kick in 2022 and No. 61 sprinting downfield to cover punts like the former linebacker at North Stanley High who notched 270 tackles as four-year starter.
"I've made so many friends here over four years," Kiernan says. "It's a brotherhood with Drew and everyone on the team. And I had a pretty good year last year. If I could build on that with another good year, it would help me move on to the next level."
Adds Little, "I was not ready to leave this place. Covid gave me another year of eligibility. I've been a die-hard Tar Heel since I was kid. I figured if I could stay another year and help this team, why not?"
The Tar Heels' special teams as Brown says were efficient in most areas last year. They were No. 17 in net punting at 41.43 yards per punt. Kiernan could have placed No. 4 nationally in yards per punt, but his 48 kicks over 14 games fell just shy of the 3.6 kicks-per-game threshold established by the NCAA statistics department. With the now-departed Josh Downs returning punts, the Tar Heels were No. 13 nationally at 13.31 yards per return, and the kickoff return unit was No. 9 nationally with 23.7 yards per return.
Two newcomers via the transfer portal who have been productive in spring are punt returner Nate McCollum and placekicker Ryan Coe. McCollum, a receiver on offense, returned kicks during his career at Georgia Tech, posting an 11.3 yard return average in 2022. Coe has kicked at Delaware and Cincinnati and has made 45 of 57 career field goal attempts, including kicks of 52 and 54 yards, and has sent more than half of his kickoff attempts into touchback range.
Plus there are a handful of second-year players and true freshmen who have staked a claim to finding time on the field in the kicking game.
"The main goal this spring has been to build depth," says special teams coordinator Larry Porter. "We've worked hard to find guys who can play fundamentally sound and create havoc. We're building depth not just for September, but for October and November. That's when you need it when injuries start to pile up."
"Everyone on the team has embraced the idea that every rep is a game rep," Little says. "We have starters down to the young guys who want to be on special teams. Everybody has bought in."
Exhibits A and A-1 over the last few years of the kind of production and fervor Brown and his staff want on special teams have been British Brooks and D.J. Jones, who have the speed to cover kicks and the girth to block on returns. Brooks has been legendary for blowing up opponent blockers on kickoff cover and for two years has been named Special Teams MVP and Special Teams captain. Jones has found the kicking game fertile area for playing time given a crowded running back roster.
"British has been the standard since I got here of going hard, knowing your job, doing your job and putting in the extra work," Jones says. "He studies every position, he gets everything perfect in the film room. Then he carries it out on the field. He's 'the guy,' he's where everyone on the team wants to go in terms of making an impact."
Brooks' eyes light up when he thinks of barreling downfield full tilt on a kickoff cover snap. Legend is he's never been snared by a double-team block in his career. Like Kiernan and Little, he is making use of an extra year of eligibility and is hoping to have made a full recovery from a knee injury by September so that he can resume his mantle as lord of the kicking game.
"Kickoff cover, that's where the action is," Brooks says. "We take pride in covering kicks, and I take pride in busting double teams. The kicking game is where you build a foundation of football—going as hard as you can, blocking, tackling and being aggressive."
That's certainly an apt recipe for Carolina's special teams evolving from the status quo to routinely changing field position with punts, nailing long field goals in overtime and taking that kick return to the house.
Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace is entering his 34th year writing features on the Carolina football program under the "Extra Points" banner. He is the author of "Football in a Forest" and reports from the sidelines of Tar Heel Sports Network broadcasts. Follow him at @LeePaceTweet and write him at leepace7@gmail.com.
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