Kaimon Rucker reveals the biggest differences between new DC Geoff Collins, Gene Chizik

Former Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins became the third new defensive coordinator at North Carolina this offseason since Mack Brown‘s return to the program in 2019. As the Tar Heels continue to strive towards improving on the defensive side of the ball.

Apparently Collins has been doing just that during his short time in Chapel Hill, revealed by defensive back Kaimon Rucker at ACC Media Days on Thursday. Who opened up about what Collins has been brining to the table compared to former defensive coordinator Gene Chizik.

“I feel like he’s bringing two things, I feel like he’s bringing a lot of energy and a lot of aggressiveness. And I feel like for the guys that we have on our defensive side man, these are two things that we need,” Rucker said. “Not only just myself, but just other guys on the defensive side: Power Echols, Amare Campbell, to Jakeen Harris, Stick Lane, Alijah Huzzie, Marcus Allen. I might as well just go ahead and name them all.”

“I feel like just the energy and aggressiveness that Coach Collins has brought with him man, I feel like he just set the standard day one,” Rucker added. “The second that he stepped into the building, he was just like, we need to set a standard and the standard was that we want to be the best defense college football. And I feel like in the past, we never really had a specific goal.”

Offense has come quite easy for the Tar Heels under Brown, highlighted by quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye playing at an elite level and taking their talents to the NFL. But that hasn’t been the same case for the defense, allowing 29.7 points per game in the past four seasons.

But apparently Collings has been providing exactly what the Tar Heels has been lacking on defense.

“Honestly, the one thing is just the aggressiveness part of it. I feel like we got a lot of guys on the defensive side that can make plays, we got a lot of talent. But I feel like there’s been some times where it’s just like some reason, just everything didn’t click like it needed to,” Rucker explained. “But I feel like that’s why we brought in Coach Collins, because I feel like he’s the guy that we need to put the puzzle pieces together to get the full picture and I feel like this was what we’ve been kind of lacking. We’ve been lacking energy, a lot of aggressiveness, we needed somebody that can set the standard, and I feel like Coach Collins has done that for us.”

Rucker also touched on communication being a shortcoming of North Carolina’s defense in the past. A unit that he’s been a part of for the last four seasons as a Second-Team All-ACC selection looking to end out his career on a high note after posting a career-high 8.5 sacks and 15 tackles for loss last season.

“I feel like it also was communication, it’s a whole different array of things,” Rucker admitted. “I’m obviously not an expert on how it is on the offensive side, but just as much as it is on the offensive side, just on defense communication is always key. There’s no such thing as over communicating and I feel like there’s a lot of times where communication was an issue a lot at times. But I feel like now the way that Coach Collins has our defense established, we have to communicate.”

It sounds clear that North Carolina’s defenses of the past had some deficiencies, and it will be fascinating to see if Collins is the key to overcoming those this upcoming season.