jdaly@heraldsun.com; 419-6672
CHAPEL HILL -- Donovan Tate is expected to show up at North Carolina's training camp today, keeping the door open on what could be a two-sport career for the Tar Heels.
The high school All-American football player also was the third overall pick in June's Major League Baseball draft. But negotiations between Tate -- who is represented by agent Scott Boras -- and the San Diego Padres haven't gone anywhere, leading Tate to decide to make the trek north from his native Georgia to Chapel Hill.
The deadline for Tate and the Padres to agree to a contract is Aug. 17, though UNC's preseason football drills began on Friday.
If the two sides don't strike a deal by then, Tate would be a reserve quarterback on UNC's football team and an outfielder for the baseball team.
Tar Heel cornerback Kendric Burney is friends with Tate and has talked with him regularly over the past month.
Even if he hopes he's wrong, Burney doesn't think Tate still will be in Chapel Hill on Aug. 18.
"If it was me, I definitely wouldn't be in school," Burney said.
Whether it's wishful thinking -- ESPN.com had Tate as the No. 7 athlete in the country -- UNC coach Butch Davis struck a slightly more optimistic tone.
"He has stated emphatically that the reason he chose North Carolina -- he wanted to be a college student, he wanted an opportunity to play big-time college football and to play on a big-time college baseball team," Davis said Friday shortly before UNC held its first practice. "He still is in love with Carolina, but he doesn't know right now.
"It's still kind of up in the air."
Other than the Tate news, it was a relatively quiet first day of practice for the Tar Heels.
Davis said his speech Thursday night to open UNC's training camp was similar to the ones he gave in his first two years on the job.
"The central message for me has always been -- and I don't think it'll ever change -- your football team is about us," Davis said. "It's not about the opponents. It's about us being as good as we possibly can be by everybody doing what they can do to help you win games."
The fact that this was the third time some of UNC's players had heard Davis' message made it sound a bit different.
At least that was defensive tackle Marvin Austin's take.
"Basically, he said we've been here for three years now," Austin said. "We know what's expected of us. They're going to coach their best -- we need to take it not as criticism, but as constructive criticism.
"He basically said, 'It's on us.' We've got to become the face of our team. We've got to take our team over."
The Tar Heels made clear strides under Davis during his second season, posting eight wins for the first time since 2001 while reaching a bowl game for the first time since 2004. Now, UNC wants more -- the Tar Heels were ranked No. 20 in the coaches' poll that was released Friday, and there was a sense on the first day of camp that what was good enough last year will no longer suffice.
Davis has a laundry list of things he wants the Tar Heels to get out of training camp -- the big thing he wants is more internal competition at positions to develop depth.
Now's when it all begins.
"This is a time to be totally unselfish," Davis said. "This is a time -- they're going to compete, they're going to challenge each other, they're going to push each other to be good. But this is not about how many plays you played, this is about Carolina winning football games."
EXTRA POINTS -- Linebacker Zach Brown and offensive guard Kevin Bryant weren't at practice Friday for personal reasons, but Davis said he expects them to report to camp in the next couple of days. ... UNC has awarded scholarships to tight end Nelson Hurst and punter Grant Schallock, bringing their total scholarship count to 83.
