College Sports
Email
Print
Some Lofty Goals: Little wants to be Tar Heels' next 1,000-yard rusher
AP File Photo
Greg Little (8) shown running against Georgia Tech last November, has been named UNC's starting tailback.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: August 7, 2008
CHAPEL HILL
Early August's heat and humidity can be draining at North Carolina's football practice fields, but Greg Little still moves with purpose and determination each day.
He has firmly set his sights on his sophomore season, and what he can do for his team and his career.
"I want to be a 1,000-yard back," Little said. "I know I want to be the best running back in the nation and that's what I'm setting my sights for."
The Tar Heels will give him the opportunity to succeed on both counts. The starting tailback's job is his, and he will be asked to supply the rushing game that his team desperately needs for a chance at a winning season.
"I know it's a very bold statement, but that's what you want to do," Little said. "This makes it better for people watching. This makes it better for people who are playing, to be competitive in that way."
Little is stronger and a bit faster this season. His role is more clearly defined. A year ago, Coach Butch Davis thought of using Little at receiver, running back and even H-Back, putting him at spots across the field to keep defenses guessing.
All those plans changed late last November after Little spent most of the season at receiver. Little moved to tailback for the Tar Heels' last two games and fit in immediately. He rushed for 247 yards and scored two touchdowns in the games.
The possibility of what Little can do for the running game was shown on the final play of the season. He took a handoff from quarterback T.J. Yates, burst through the blocking and ran 25 yards for the winning touchdown in overtime in a 20-14 win over Duke.
He had 154 yards rushing that day, the only 100-yard rushing game of the season for a North Carolina running back. He carried 26 times, a factor that helped sell him on a future in the backfield.
"I'm very excited," Little said. "It's four wide receivers and one ball. It's one running back and one ball. That pretty much is self-explanatory.
"You're going to get the ball directly. You're going to get it more often, 20 or 25 times a game. That's what I'm excited about. I'm going to touch it more and that's going to give me more opportunities to make plays."
He still wants to do as much as possible at tailback, however, in any role that offensive coordinator John Shoop creates for him. Little said that Shoop will stop him in the Kenan Football Center and diagram on a piece of paper the plays he is devising.
"I believe I can concentrate mostly on this but I feel like, being the player I am, I still want to be versatile," Little said. "I would still want to be able to flex out wide and create disadvantages for the defense."
A consistent ground game is needed to help Yates, who is coming off surgery to his right (passing) shoulder that kept him out of spring practice. He said he is 100 percent but the fewer passes that he has to throw, the less strain on the shoulder.
Davis is confident that Little can give North Carolina the tailback that it needs and be the program's first 1,000-yard rusher since 1997. Davis also understands that Little is still mastering the position after carrying only 59 times last season.
Davis has said that maybe he should have moved Little to tailback earlier last season. Little missed a handful of the early spring-football practices while playing on the Tar Heels' basketball team as a walk-on but after the ACC Tournament was at every football practice.
"Greg Little has two games as a running back under his belt," Davis said. "I think everybody's extraordinarily excited about the potential and the possibility but he's still got a long ways to go. By no stretch of the imagination is he a finished, refined, polished running back. He's got a lot to learn."
Little's weight is back to 225 pounds after dropping slightly during basketball season. Little knows that Davis prefers that he not play basketball and work only on football. Little loves basketball but said that he probably will not play it again and will concentrate on playing tailback.
He considers his time with Coach Roy Williams' basketball program last winter invaluable. He said that he learned how to practice more efficiently by working with the basketball team and is sure that the experience will make him a better football player.
"I learned a lot from those guys and how they go about winning and their tradition," Little said. "Hopefully I can bring that back over here and we can start a tradition of our own."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
N.C. Politics
Federal Politics
Advertisement
