Extra Points: The Big O

The stories are legendary around the town of Clayton and Johnston County of Omarion Hampton's evolution as a top-flight running back and a player that would draw national recruiting interest beginning in the fall of 2019.

The locals remember at least two entire games at Cleveland Middle School when Hampton was never actually tackled to the ground. Every carry resulted in a touchdown or being knocked out-of-bounds.

There was the day his sophomore year when "The Big O," as he was known around his Cleveland High Ram teammates, set a school record among running backs and linebackers by squatting 560 pounds. But that was the apex of Hampton's squatting prowess in high school.

"The bar was rated for 600 pounds, but this one bent," says Scott Riley, the head football coach since 2014. "It couldn't handle the weight. We didn't have the resources to buy another bar every time he lifted. He could have gone well beyond that the next two years."

And there was the track meet in the spring of 2020 when Hampton took his stance in the blocks for the 100-meter dash and exploded with such force the foot petal cracked out of the base of the apparatus. Hampton stumbled to the ground, rolled back up, then used his 4.4 speed to catch up with all but one runner to finish second.

A weight bar and a set of starting blocks. Did Hampton break anything else?

"Not that I can remember," Riley says. "Well, maybe a few linebackers."

Defensive players on Carolina's 2023 football schedule are getting a taste of that Hampton elixir—the power that breaks tackles at the line of scrimmage and the speed that turns into a blur downfield. With 931 yards rushing in 2023, Hampton could eclipse the thousand-yard mark Saturday against Campbell.

"That power and breakaway speed are a deadly combination," Riley says. "There are a lot of 200-pound backs, but with that speed to outrun everybody, we knew he was going to be special."

No mistake about that.

Hampton's stats at Cleveland High from 2018-21 were staggering: 5,370 yards rushing yards and 88 rushing touchdowns over 42 games; 127.9 rushing yards per game and 29 games of 100-plus rushing yards; 503 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns, plus touchdowns returning a kick-off and a punt.

And all accomplished with a quiet, business-like demeanor.

"When your best player's that talented and works that hard, it's hard for other people to be lazy," Riley says. "Omarion pushed the other kids. He tries to improve everyone's work ethic. But at the end of the day, he's a humble, likable young man."

Hampton was ranked in the 247Sports composite as the No. 3 player in North Carolina in 2021 and was The Charlotte Observer's Mr. Football. He visited Penn State, Auburn and Florida on successive weekends in June 2021 but then announced for the Tar Heels in early July. As a freshman in Chapel Hill in 2022, he rushed for 401 yards, including 101 yards in his debut against Florida A&M, and set himself up to be the starting tailback in 2023 with a year's physical development and improving his running skills as well as those for picking up blitzing linebackers in pass protection.

"I'm being more patient in the backfield, reading the offense, reading the defense," he said during preseason camp. "Once the hole opens, you hit it. You keep your head up and your eyes open. I'm reading the linebackers better. I just have to stay in the film room and study more."

"He just runs through contact," offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey says. "The improvement with his vision is huge, how well he runs the ball with angles and where we attack the line of scrimmage. He does a really good job using his eyes most of the time."

Hampton had 236 yards and a nine-yard per carry average against Appalachian State in week two, leaving his teammates effusive in their views. Tar Heel quarterback Drake Maye is glad Hampton's on his team. And linebacker Cedric Gray is happy he doesn't have to tackle Hampton in a real game.

"Just keep feeding him the rock," Maye says. "He's a tough dude to tackle for four quarters."

"He's going to have a crazy season," Gray said. "He's just going to keep getting better. The sky's the limit for him. I see him playing on Sundays."

Hampton broke initial contact on both of his touchdown runs Saturday at Georgia Tech. From the 17 yard line in the first quarter, he was hit two yards behind the line by a Yellow Jacket tackle and wrapped up, but he slid through the opponents' arms and darted in for the score. Late in the second quarter, a Tech safety had a good angle on Hampton on a run from the three, but Hampton lowered his shoulder to the left, sloughed off the contact and notched another touchdown.

"I saw him wrapped up and thought, 'Oh, that's a loss of yards,'" receiver J.J. Jones says of that first touchdown. "Then I heard people booing. What's going on? Next thing, I look up and see him in the end zone. He's so capable of making plays like that. He's come a long way."

Hampton's teammates at Cleveland High knew him as a man of few words and considerable action, and he's no different in the fish bowl of college football. He'll shrug off talk of stats and accolades and focus on trying to get better each week.

"I don't really talk about goals," he says. "I just want to make every play my best play and see where it gets me."

With that, Hampton excused himself after practice Wednesday morning for a weight-lifting session. And the Carolina weight room does have a bar that allows him to squat more than 560 pounds.

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (Carolina '79) is in his 34th season writing about Tar Heel football under the "Extra Points" banner. Look for his columns throughout the season. Write him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him @LeePaceTweet.

Players Mentioned

Cedric Gray

Omarion Hampton

J.J. Jones

Drake Maye

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