A year ago, new coach Butch Davis said the University of North Carolina football team had spent the first part of spring practice trying to catch a pass and snap the ball without fumbling.

Spring practice had more to do with coaches and players getting acquainted and installing a new system than teaching fundamentals, Davis said.

Yet in a testament to the dedication of the players and the teaching skills of the new coaching staff, a team filled with many first-time collegiate performers made so much progress by the time the season rolled around that Carolina had a legitimate chance to win most of the games on its schedule. The fact that the Tar Heels fell a few points short in so many of those should provide fuel for this team.

This group of players is no longer young, and the coaching staff is not unfamiliar with its roster. So when spring practice begins on Monday, the goals and expectations of the players and coaches will be greater for 2008.

"We're going to roll the clock back a little bit," Davis said. "Last year we were trying to hit the ground running. None of the coaches on the staff had any idea of the specific, unique skills and talents of our team. We didn't know anything about our players. We spent a significant amount of spring practice just trying to install formations and plays and schemes and defenses and coverages. We probably did not spend as much time on techniques as maybe we needed to.

"There is going to be a little bit of a rollback in all three phases of the game now that we know the players and have identified their strengths. We can say: 'You're doing this really, really well. Here are some areas we have to get better.' Hopefully we'll come out of spring practice with a much better foundation and fundamentals of the things it is going to take to win."

There is one new coach on a staff that otherwise remains the same. Everett Withers replaces Chuck Pagano as defensive coordinator. Pagano did an outstanding job with the secondary and in guiding a defense that improved throughout the season, but he decided to return to coaching pro football.

Withers, who is originally from Charlotte and still has family there in North Carolina's largest city, played at Appalachian State, and has coached in college and in the National Football League. His ties to UNC extend beyond the state itself as he played for former Carolina coach Mack Brown during Brown's one season at Appalachian State and later coached the secondary at Texas under Brown.

Withers said that he has dreamed of becoming a Tar Heel.

"I had a teammate of mine in high school that walked on here," Withers said. "I was so jealous of him playing here. He was a walk-on, and I had a scholarship at Appalachian State.

"This is the place I've always wanted to coach," Withers said. "This is a dream come true for me and my family. I'm so excited. We're going to try to put together a defense that will play smart, fast and have fun playing it."

Withers inherits a defense with some talent. Eight starters return, including freshman All-Americans Deunta Williams at safety, Marvin Austin at defensive tackle and Quan Sturdivant at linebacker. The unit also includes such talented performers as safety Trimane Goddard, cornerback Kendric Burney, Bruce Carter at linebacker, E.J. Wilson at defensive end, Greg Elleby at defensive end, Cam Thomas at tackle, Aleric Mullins at tackle, Charles Brown at cornerback and more.

On offense, 10 starters return. Unfortunately, quarterback T.J. Yates will not have the chance to build on his first season because he underwent shoulder surgery during the off-season and will not practice.

This opens the door for red-shirt freshman Mike Paulus and rising junior Cam Sexton to compete for the job.

The good news for both those quarterbacks is the offensive line will be experienced and deep. The line will be anchored by rising senior Garrett Reynolds (6-7, 300 or so pounds). Reynolds had an outstanding junior season and is a potential all-conference and maybe even All-American candidate.

Carolina's wide receivers, led by Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate and Brooks Foster, may be among the most talented group ever at the school.

Then there is rising sophomore Greg Little, who moved from wide receiver to tailback at the end of last season and became an instant success. Newcomer Devon Ramsay and rising sophomore Ryan Houston join rising sophomore Anthony Elzy in the backfield with Little. Johnny White played running back last season, but he is apparently moving to defense this spring, or at least going to try it.

Richie Rich moved from tailback to cornerback near the end of last season and seems to have found a home.

The time now has come for all these kids to build on what they learned and experienced last fall.

"You're going to always look back at what you did and evaluate what was successful and what wasn't," Davis said. "The things that weren't successful, what was it? The things that were not successful, was it personnel, inexperience? Can you improve it and get better? If you can't, you have to get rid of it. You have to stay on the cutting edge. ... Always be looking at what is the next new thing coming down the pipe."