The walls of one first-floor hallway of Kenan Football Center are decorated with large, colorful photos of Tar Heel players who went on to noteworthy careers in the NFL. There are plenty of defensive ends, tackles and nose men in the mix, including Julius Peppers, Ebenezer Ekuban, Greg Ellis, Vonnie Holliday, Marcus Jones, Robert Quinn, Ryan Sims, Kentwan Balmer and Sylvester Williams. So vaunted was Carolina's production of defensive front men during a decade-long run from 1993 to 2002 of having 13 NFL draft picks that Sports Illustrated declared Carolina as "D-Line U."
Now with three recruiting classes coalescing in Chapel Hill upon Coach Mack Brown's return, the Tar Heels emerge from spring practice with a cupboard well-stocked of guys with the bulk to stop the run, twitchiness to harass the quarterback, size to bat balls from the air and speed to chase receivers out of the backfield—and do so for four quarters on a hot afternoon in September.