For senior linebacker Kevin Reddick the 2012 pre season has been long, from being put on the watch list for Bednarik Award, presented to the college defensive player of the year by the Maxwell Football Club, being part of the North Carolina Football entourage at the ACC Kickoff and also being named to the Butkus Award watch list, which lists the top 51 linebackers by the Butkus Foundation. Definitely a lot of things for a player that is in his last season in college and has to learn a whole new playbook.
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For the 6’3″/240 lbs LB out of New Bern, N.C., who head coach Larry Fedora is looking to shore up the middle his new 4-2-5 hybrid defense, this off season must have been a sort of marathon that he is probably happy its ending and so that he can concentrate on the pre season. Along with Reddick, who has a junior was second on the team with 71 tackles (39 solos), six tackles for losses and a sack, other four linebackers from the Atlantic Coast Conference are on the watch list, two being from Florida State, and one each from Maryland and Virginia Tech.
In the end will Reddick be the one taking home the hardware when the season is all over? I doubt it, but it is nice that in the first year of the Fedora regime players from the North Carolina Football program are being noted for their talents on the gridiron. With a whole new look on both sides of the ball it’s going to be tough to know until the season plays out if the senior linebacker can match or surpass his stats from a season ago, but if he was to it would be both good for himself and the program both on the field and off of it. As I do with all the present and former Heels let me congratulate Kevin Reddick and wish him the best of luck in the upcoming season. And of course, for all things UNC make sure to check back to isportsweb often.