Extra Points: Proving Grounds

Madrid Tucker
University of North Carolina Football v Virginia
Kenan Stadium
Chapel Hill, NC
Saturday, October 25, 2025

Photo by: DALTON T. WAINSCOTT

November 20, 2025 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace, Extra Points

By: Lee Pace

It's been a scant 19 hours since Carolina's football team walked off the field following a 28-12 loss to Wake Forest Saturday night. That's now ancient history. This Sunday afternoon is a new day. It's sunny in Kenan Stadium, though there's a stout wind circling the bowl.

High energy music including the NBC theme for Sunday Night Football wafts through the arena.

"I've been waiting all day for Sunday night, the tough get rough in a primetime fight."

At 3:20 p.m., just over two dozen players who did not participate or travel to the game in Winston-Salem are dressed in full pads. The players who did play are dressed in shorts and jerseys and have just gone through 20 minutes of walk-through review of significant coaching points from the night before.

Now it's time for the young guys to perform, for the old guys to have some fun as spectators.

Tar Heel Coach Bill Belichick wields his whistle behind the offense as it lines up for the first play from scrimmage. It's time for the session that Belichick billed at the start of the season in September as "Sunday Night Football" (allowing for the semantical license that it's actually afternoon, the schedule set that way so the players can have meetings, practice, treatments and dinner and get home for a relaxed evening).

It's an opportunity for the players who form the nucleus of the "scout team"—the unit that runs the upcoming opponent's plays for the benefit of the offense and defense during game-week preparation—to run the Tar Heels' offensive plays and defensive schemes. It's an off shoot of Belichick's routine in the NFL of staging scrimmages to let practice squad players execute high-speed snaps and show the coaches what they might be capable of.

"It's a great opportunity," cornerback Jaiden Patterson says. "All the coaches are watching you and then they also have meetings going over the film, so you're really getting a lot of direct one-on-one talking points and coaching."

"It's amazing and a lot of fun," slot receiver Madrid Tucker adds. "We all came out today competing. Everyone is having a good time. We bring a game-like mentality, and our teammates are on the sideline supporting us."

The Sunday schedule begins at noon with Belichick running a meeting with the young players to review the previous week's SNF scrimmage. He delves into intricate detail on each snap of the ball—footwork, handwork, stance, ball security, block shredding, tackling.

"It's just Bill and the graduate assistants spending an hour with players who didn't play in the game," says receivers coach Garrick McGee. "I have coached a lot of places and never seen that level of hands-on instruction from the head coach."

"The meetings are really important," says Tucker. "You learn a lot. You've got a legendary coach giving us bits and pieces of things that can make us play better. He says things you've never heard before or wouldn't think of. It inspires you to do better."

The scrimmage runs 45 minutes to an hour, live tackling except for quarterbacks in the pocket. Offense vs. defense, no special teams. The offense gets seven points for a touchdown, the defense gets seven for a turnover or fourth-down stop.

It's high energy and uber competitive.

Freshmen quarterbacks Bryce Baker and Tori Newkirk take turns running the offense.

You might see productive runs from Jo Jo Troupe, a freshman from Tampa, or Jaylon Nichols, a freshman from Monroe, La. There's a nice catch from Shanard Clower, freshman wide receiver from Lakeland, Fla.

On defense there's Nicco Maggio, a freshman defensive lineman from Buford, Ga., making a demonstrative tackle and batting a pass down. There's Peyton Waters, sophomore defensive back from Northridge, Calif., and a Washington transfer, with a quarterback hurry and moments later an interception in the red zone. Jake Bauer, a freshman linebacker from West Chester, Pa., pummels a ball carrier inside the five yard-line to the hoots and hollers of his defensive teammates.

"It's full speed and high tempo," says Tucker. "It prepares you for a game. All the energy and strategy and effort are the same as a game."

Tucker is one of a handful of Tar Heels who have earned more playing time as the 2025 season has evolved resulting from impressive performances in Sunday Night Football. Others include Patterson, Clower, running back Jaylen McGill and offensive tackle Jordan Hall.

Tucker's debut came against Virginia, when he started the game and had eight catches for 41 yards from his slot receiver position.

"We knew Madrid was a good player when he got here," says McGee. "He kept growing and developing. He made a bunch of plays on Sundays, stuck with it and now is in a position to help us.

"Sunday Night Football keeps guys more engaged, gives them the understanding that we watch everything they do. The head coach is watching. They want to put on film that they are getting better and developing. It keeps them grinding and keeps them developing."

Chapel Hill writer Lee Pace (Carolina '79) has been writing about Tar Heel football under the "Extra Points" banner since 1990 and reporting from the sidelines on radio broadcasts since 2004. Write him at leepace7@gmail.com and follow him @LeePaceTweet.