By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino detailed his philosophy on running backs, and the message was clear: pass protection comes before everything else.
Petrino said that a deep and versatile group gives him a foundation for what he wants to build.
“Offensively, I’m very encouraged about what type of offense we can have. I think we’ve got to be a team that can run the ball physically. We’re talented in the backfield. We’ve got a good group of tight ends. Our receivers are very willing and tough blockers,” he said during a press conference at the Kenan Football Center on Thursday after the Tar Heels’ first practice. “So we’ve got to be able to run the football. And once we run the football, it’ll open up our passing game and allow us to do the things that we want to do in the passing game.”
That commitment to the ground game, Petrino explained, is not new. It is a philosophy he has carried throughout his career, regardless of the era or the scheme in vogue around him.
“I think everybody’s got to be able to run to win. That’s what I’ve always believed throughout my career,” he said. “Sometimes you throw the ball first. Some people have spread out open formations, and their identity is to throw the ball first.
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“But, eventually, you need to run the football to win,” Petrino said. “Whether that’s in the red zone, whether that’s in the fourth quarter, whether that’s to kill the clock, you have to be able to run the football to win games.”
He added that the two approaches, running first or throwing first, can each set up the other depending on personnel and game plan.
“There’s been years where we ran the ball first, and that set up our deep play-action pass, and your passing game off of your ability to physically run the ball gets you a bigger box and fewer guys in the secondary, so it opens up the pass that way,” Petrino said. “We’re working to see which way we’re going to be right now. But I’ve just been impressed with the running backs and the tight end group and their ability to make plays.”
Petrino said the encouraging part of watching this year’s backfield has been the absence of a steep talent gap between the top options and the rest of the rotation, something that isn’t always the case.
“Sometimes when you’re rotating guys in spring football, it’s a difference when this running back goes in,” he said. “I’ve kind of felt like this crew is pretty even, and I didn’t see any drop-offs like that. So that’s been impressive to me.”
Petrino said he likes to divide carries among several players because running backs, like linebackers and safeties, give or take a lot of hits.
“It’d be nice for us if our running backs were always the hammer, not the nail, because then they’re giving the hits,” Petrino said, “but there’s going to be times where they’re taking the hits from the linebackers or the safeties, and sometimes they get nicked up, and sometimes they get injured, maybe they’re not at full speed.”
Because of that physical toll, most seasons, he likes to settle on two or three backs whom he trusts in pass protection, calling that “the No. 1 thing.” It is a lesson he drives home with players from the moment he starts coaching them.
“I know I told a young man once when he was 17 years old, if you don’t protect the quarterback, you’re never going to play,” Petrino said. “He ended up being a great player for me, coached for me for a long time, and he remembers it too. But they have to protect the quarterback.”
Petrino was direct about how that standard translates to playing time, describing it as close to an absolute rule regardless of how talented a back might be as a runner or receiver.
“We do have to have different packages,” he said. “We do have to understand what the different skills that they have in the passing game, and in what runs they do, but if you don’t protect the quarterback, you can’t get in the game.”
He added that the coaching staff spent part of the summer specifically evaluating that trait.
“That’s one of the things we did this summer. Went back, watched all the pass protection, and graded the running backs on protecting the quarterback,” he said.
With that standard established, Petrino said the summer grading sets up what he expects to be a genuine competition for carries during preseason camp.
“I think we’ll have a great competition here in camp, on who’s going to be the starter, who’s going to be the bell cow, who’s going to get the majority of the carries early in the year, and then see how it goes from there,” he said.
He went on to praise several backs by name, including redshirt junior Benjamin Hall, sophomore Jaylen McGill, sophomore Demon “Juju” June (top photo) and redshirt junior LSU transfer Kaleb Jackson.
“I like a number of them, but Ben Hall is a guy that is a tremendous leader for us and does a good job. He’s made really good plays in spring. J-Mac is a guy that has tremendous talent and upside. Juju has done a real nice job,” Petrino said.
He also pointed to a fullback-type option who brings a different dimension in Jackson.
“Kaleb’s kind of a different flavor, and sometimes it’s good to have a different flavor,” Petrino said. “We just got to get him at the right weight, because at the right weight he’s super-fast. Here’s a guy that can really, really run at that size, catch the ball out of the backfield.”
Petrino said the staff also envisions using multiple backs on the field simultaneously at times, given the group’s overall physical profile.
“They’re all big enough to block and run,” he said. “So, I think we have some talent there that we have to utilize.”
Petrino said that a good power running game serves a broader purpose, tying it directly to situational football rather than a stylistic preference.
“The best way to run the ball when you have to is to be able to run the ball when you want to,” he said. “There’s going to be games where we’re going to have to go run the ball in the end zone to score, we’re going to have to run the ball to run out the clock, or we’re going to have to run the ball to keep their quarterback off the field. So, [there are] different plans.”
Photo via @UNCFootball
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