Williams, Schoettmer lead Tar Heels brotherhood into ACC final against Clemson

Chris Baird, Triangle Sports Network
Chris Baird, Triangle Sports Network
Chris Baird, Triangle Sports Network

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A few players on the 2015 edition of the North Carolina Tar Heels had a sense they would have a special season.

Quarterback Marquise Williams and linebacker Jeff Schoettmer said it back at the ACC Kickoff that took place at Pinehurst Resort in July.

After stringing together an unprecedented 11-game win streak following a season-opening loss to South Carolina, the 10th-ranked Tar Heels will face the top-ranked Clemson Tigers for the ACC Football Championship at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday.

“The bond is there, the teamwork is there, the chemistry is there,” Williams said at Pinehurst.

“There are still some wrinkles that can be improved, but as far as the team, we’re a brotherhood this year…We’re all as one. We all support each other. Everybody knows, just play your role and we can be a successful football team.”

According to Williams back then, the key to North Carolina’s success would be its up-tempo offense.

“Each year we’ve progressed runnin’ fast tempo,” he said.

“That’s been huge for us. When we’re fast and we’re gettin’ first downs, first downs, first downs, no one can stop us. We noticed that against some teams last year. Once we get that first 1st down, we’re a great offensive football team.”

Yep – he called that.

Schoettmer was asked about Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson at the time, a valid inquiry considering Clemson was selected as the preseason favorite to win the league.

“He’s a special talent,” Schoettmer said of Watson at the time.

“He started as a true freshman. He can run it, he can throw it. He’s gonna do big things, but I think Marquise and him are very similar, they can run and pass. It’ll be an interesting year for them.”

Indeed, it has been an interesting year for both pivots, particularly for Williams as his passing and rushing have helped North Carolina to score points and win games.

Helping to lead a new defense that lived in the ACC’s cellar a year earlier, Schoettmer indicated that things were different coming out of Spring ball and leading into the 2015 season.

“We’ve moved on from last year,” Schoettmer said.

“We’re confident that we can be a top-50 defense. The coaches are instilling confidence in us. To play at the college level you have to be confident. If you go out there thinkin’ that they’re better than you, then you’re gonna get beat every time. You’ve gotta play like you’re the best defense in the country. Just believin’ in each other – that’s where the confidence comes from.”

Yes, the defense has definitely improved under coordinator Gene Chizik, but the intangible for both players that translated into heightened confidence was what they would do differently as leaders on the team this season.

“We had little to no little leadership last year,” Schoettmer said.

“I think guys have stepped up. I’ve tried to take leadership role in that sense. I think leadership for our whole team in general was not good enough, and that’s why we’re starting from the ground up.”

“It was more about I than team last year,” Williams added.

“Certain guys were thinkin’ about, ‘Man, I gotta get drafted, so I’m gonna do my own thing. I’m gonna go out every night and party than come in to practice’. Now it’s like, guys are workin’ and competin’. Guys are comin’ in on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays to get extra work in.”

They developed a brotherhood, as Williams described it back in July.

He and Schoettmer had that feeling, the confidence that their team would do something special.

It’s hard to say things like that and back it up, and at the time, it all echoed as edible sound bites to use for those listening to write and talk about.

After following the journey that the brotherhood of this year’s North Carolina Tar Heels has made to this point, seeing them step onto the field in locked arms will at least show that their talk was not cheap or hype.

Winning a Coastal Division championship has been impressive, particularly in the manner that they’ve done it.

But the confidence and belief that this Tar Heels team will play with against the Atlantic Division-champion Tigers could make the outcome to this year’s championship even more impressive.

There was meaning to what Williams and Schoettmer said, what they wanted to do, and to what they and the team have done up until now.

The UNC brotherhood will get another opportunity to do something special and speak of it later on – just like they have done all season.