Summer Camps Have Been Good To Carolina

CHAPEL HILL – Most North Carolina football fans likely don’t view June as a noteworthy month on their gridiron calendar.

Hitting the beaches or local pools, family vacations, gardens, cookouts, and a slower pace is usually the norm for most people as spring turns into summer. But in Chapel Hill, there’s annually a 15-day window that has become quite important to the Tar Heels’ football future.

UNC will run seven non-specific day camps from June 7 to June 18, plus a couple of positional camps and then Fedora’s Freak Show, welcoming in approximately 1,400 high school football players to town. Among the campers will be most of the prospects that eventually sign with UNC, if recent history is any indication of the future.

The program’s day camps culminate in the Freak Show at the conclusion of the camps, have become tremendous opportunities for prospects and the UNC staff.

A decade ago, camp sessions were 2-3 days and overall attracted fewer kids. Many high school teams would camp at one or two colleges and that was it. Some individuals would be there, too. But with most schools moving to the one-day camp structure, it enables prospects to visit more schools than before. And for the programs, they get to see more prospects than previously. It’s a win-win for both parties.

“That gives us an opportunity to show off this place. It’s a beautiful place for kids to come,” said Jason Tudryn, UNC’s Director of High School Relations, and who also happens to organize and run the camps.

“They can see our facilities, they get to see the campus, they get to see the town… When they get to tangibly see it and be a part of it, I think it helps us going forward.”

The players get more than that, though, and this is where Carolina’s camps have stood out from so many others since Larry Fedora took over the program five years ago. They also get to sample what it might be like being taught by their probable position coaches.

As an example, a defensive lineman will be coached by Carolina’s defensive line coach Tray Scott. Wide Receivers are coached by Gunter Brewer, and so on.

And they are coached.

There is no difference in the energy and passion a camper gets from Brewer than what Ryan Switzer or Mack Hollins get on a daily basis during their season.

“With me being a (former) high school coach and traveled to a bunch of camps and seeing it done a lot of different ways, I think our staff is really unique in how much time they invest during camp and actually coaching the kids,” Tudryn said. “So, I think a kid can generally walk away and say, ‘I just got coached by UNC’s (position coach) for two hours. That’s a real practice.’”

The experience is invaluable to a camper.

“I think it shows to a high school coach and a high school prospect that they can walk away from camp and they can say, ‘Man, these guys are different,’ because they weren’t pawned off to a high school coach that maybe had to coach the position because there were 400 wide receivers at camp that day,” Tudryn said.

This is also part of the program’s culture, and it’s something that has been Fedora’s model for some time.

The kids aren’t just there to be evaluated and taught some fundamentals, they learn things that can help them wherever they go. They learn how to run the 40 the correct way, as an example, plus everything else that is taught.

“There’s nothing revolutionary about what we’re teaching,” Tudryn said, “but they’re getting coached the same way our players would be.”

K.J. Sails, a defensive back from Gibsonton, FL, and part of Carolina’s class of 2016, attended one of the day camps last summer. He said the experience played an important role in his decision to attend UNC, even though he didn’t commit until just before signing day in February.

“I think about how much I enjoyed it,” he said last winter, some two months before committing. “The coaches were into it, coaching us like we were on the team, and that everyone worked so hard like if we were getting ready for a game. I still think about that.”

UNC’s staff benefits as well having the one-day camps because it might see 1,400 different kids in the next couple of weeks, whereas 12 years ago the staff maybe saw 500. Make no mistake, this is a recruiting tool, and every school has these camps, or something similar.

The campers’ experience through the UNC program are limited to the several hours they are there for camp, but most come with their parents and take the time to see the facilities and campus. So, it’s absolutely a great situation for both the athletes and Carolina.

As for the staff, it helps them because they get to see how the higher rated prospects handle coaching, their work ethic, and get a general idea of their football DNA. As for being a boon for the program, the facts bear that out.

In the last three recruiting classes, 54 of the 66 kids that signed with UNC attended at least one of the day camps. That’s an amazing 81.8 percent. Here’s the breakdown:

2016: 21 of 26

2015: 17 of 19

2014: 16 of 21

The staff doesn’t go into June with a quota in mind, they believe by continuing to do things the same way the process will work in their favor.

The average session typically includes between 125-150 campers, including the quarterbacks, kickers, and 7-on-7 camps, and anyone can attend, as long as they will be in high school the following fall. The high for a day camp last summer was 240.

There are also no special admissions for campers. Each session is $45 and there are no group rates or discounts, though it’s not uncommon to see numerous players from a specific high school at a session. In addition, none of the sessions are free camps, not even for highly regarded prospects from out of state.

While this is a recruiting mechanism, staffs cannot offer scholarships to prospects while they are on campus for the camp. But an offer can be extended later in the day provided the camper is off campus.

Another tool for the schools hosting the camps is that the more high profile prospects that attend, the more it helps the program. Most camps are covered to a degree by websites and publications that focus on recruiting, so when 4-star and 5-star prospects are in town for a day feeling out a program it’s big news and usually will be reported.

And even if a school doesn’t land the 4-star linebacker or 5-star tailback from wherever, just being worthy enough to be associated with them to a degree and that they camped at the school can help elevate a program’s stature among other prospects.

“No question,” Tudryn said. “The more positive buzz we create the better it speaks for our program.”

Camp opens June 7, and for two weeks many future Tar Heels will work out with some of the position coaches that will guide them once they arrive as college football players. Who they are right now, nobody really knows, and that’s why this process is so important.