CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – With three starting offensive linemen limited entering No. 21 North Carolina's matchup with Virginia last weekend, William Barnes stepped into his first career start and delivered for the Tar Heels.
Barnes, a junior from Apopka, Fla., has had a shaky career in his time at Chapel Hill. He arrived as a highly-ranked recruit in the Tar Heels’ 2018 recruiting class. Despite the Top-100 ranking, his playing time has been slim since arriving on campus. His development has taken longer and had him questioning if he really still wanted to play.
“I had to talk to my parents and pray about it for a while and get stronger in my faith,” Barnes said this week. “I had to understand that this is a business and I have to get on track and keep working for it. After a while, the hard work paid off. I lost a lot of weight and I started going to more meetings with my O-line coach, just learning more of what I need to do so I’d be able to play like a did Saturday night.”
Offensive coordinator Phil Longo was familiar with Barnes before his time at North Carolina as the 6-foot-4, 325-pound tackle was one of the players that he recruited during his time at Ole Miss. Longo has seen Barnes’ journey firsthand.
“William is very athletic and he kind of had to work through the mental curve," Longo said. "As he has cleaned up the mental aspect of his game, he's become a very effective, very athletic lineman for us. And he performed very well in the game on Saturday as well. So we're thrilled about them... I still remember sitting in William Barnes' living room, recruiting with the O-line coach, dancing in the living room with his mom trying to get this kid to be interested in Ole Miss. And now I'm happy that coach didn't do a very good job and he came to North Carolina.”
While Barnes knew that he was going to be starting before game day, the reality of the moment weighed on him, but once the ball was snapped, he was able to lock in.
“Getting my first career start, there were still a little pregame jitters,” Barnes admitted. “After the first play, we started rolling. It kind of got easier as I started playing out there. I knew the responsibility that I had to do when I got out there on Saturday. Going through the week, practicing, coaches telling me what I need to do and my teammates also helping me. Jordan Tucker and Marcus McKethan were telling me what I needed to do and what I needed to focus on so that way once I got out there, there was no fall off.”
Even though Barnes hasn't always played consistently, his energy and impact on his teammates has always been a major contribution. The spirit he brings not only has helped keep things light for his teammates but has helped out his personal game as well.
“I love William Barnes, one of the funniest dudes, if not the funniest dude on the team,” tight end Garrett Walston said. “I don't know if you saw some of his touchdown celebrations this past week. But if you go back and look at the highlights, he's got some unbelievable ones. But Will’s really mature. I think when he first came, I don't know if he particularly loved the process, but now, I think within the last year and a half, you really see him grow and be more confident in his ability. He's a freakishly strong kid, a great athlete. He's just had so much more fun with the game like he was very animated out there this weekend and just had a blast. I think when Will's having fun is when he's playing his best football.”
While Barnes was thrilled about the opportunity to start, he was most happy about the team picking up the victory.
“The best feeling was beating Virginia,” Barnes said. “After four years, we’ve been working hard to beat them for a while. They were a great team, they fought with everything they had but in the end we came out victorious. I’m just happy we came out with the win.”
The Link LonkSeptember 24, 2021 at 08:12PM
https://247sports.com/college/north-carolina/Article/William-Barnes-UNC-Football-Tar-Heels-Hard-Work-Pays-Off-171593264/
Hard Work Pays Off for William Barnes - 247Sports
https://news.google.com/search?q=hard&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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