Next man up. Regardless of role, prepare for the unexpected. Practice like a starter, even from the second-unit.
Cliched, sure. Contrived, perhaps. But to North Carolina cornerback Malik Simmons, the age-old adages couldn’t ring truer.
“Oh, it’s real,” he said. “Any second, during the game, during the week — it’s as real as it gets.”
For Simmons, reality set in before the season started.
With a strong showing in the spring, the senior set his sights on a starting spot in the secondary. But two misdemeanor charges in July kept Simmons sidelined for the Tar Heels’ first two games of 2015.