Let’s face it, things were just downright weird in Chapel Hill, N.C., this winter. It was as if the universe didn’t know how to react to the worst basketball season in North Carolina history, and it took everything out on Tar Heel football coach John Bunting.

The basketball team won only eight games, which was about the same number of off-the-field incidents that Bunting had to deal with on the heels of his remarkable 8-5 debut. The coach, who took over at his alma mater in December, 2000, brought his team back from an 0-3 start, turning things around with one of the most important victories in school history, a home win over Florida State. That victory enabled the Heels to win eight of their last 10 games, including a 16-10 victory over Auburn in the Peach Bowl.

"There have been some things that have happened," Bunting said in one of the great understatements of the off-season. "Overall, I think we have weathered them."

Here’s the abbreviated list:

• Two assistant coaches left the program, including defensive coordinator John Tenuta, in part because he didn’t think Bunting’s program was big-time enough. Tenuta joined Chan Gailey’s staff at Georgia Tech.

• Record-setting quarterback Darian Durant , who forced his way into a platoon situation with four-year starter Ronald Curry, decided in February that he was dissatisfied in Chapel Hill and announced that he was transferring, something Bunting had talked him out of doing twice before. On April 1, Durant announced that he missed his teammates and planned to return to UNC in the fall. He was back for half of spring practice, but lost the designation of starting quarterback to Florida transfer C.J. Stephens .

• The Tar Heels’ best playmaker, wide receiver and punt returner Bosley Allen, continued to get into trouble. The player who had to be sent home from the Peach Bowl for breaking team rules was arrested after a routine traffic stop when he falsely claimed to be one of his teammates. Allen, after missing half of spring practice with a broken foot, was dismissed from the team in May after breaking another team rule.

• Starting left tackle Greg Woofter, one of three sophomores who started on the offensive line last year for the Heels, had a spat with Bunting after Woofter decided he wanted to pursue a masters degree in accounting rather than play football anymore.

• Finally, Bunting watched helplessly on signing day as seven players who made commitments to his staff, including an All-America defensive back in Bunting’s own back yard, reneged on those commitments and signed letters of intent to play elsewhere.

Bunting, who spent 11 years tackling opponents as an NFL linebacker, growled at all the setbacks and moved forward, refusing to let any of those incidents affect his players for the coming season.

"I think our kids are really excited about getting back to summer camp," Bunting said.

Nothing epitomized the Tar Heels’ tumultuous and downright weird off-season more than the switcheroo pulled by Durant, the talented passer who shared time running the offense last year with Curry, a starter for four consecutive seasons with the Tar Heels.

Durant (5-11, 226) was instant offense coming off the bench. He set UNC freshman passing records, completing 142-of-223 passes for 1,843 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. It was obvious that he would be firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback for the next three years.

Apparently, that wasn’t obvious to Durant. In late February, Durant shocked the coaching staff by announcing that he wanted to transfer elsewhere, possibly somewhere close to his home town of Florence, S.C. But because he had already red-shirted a year, Durant would have to burn one year of eligibility sitting out under NCAA transfer rules, leaving him only one year of eligibility at a Division I-A school.

So he found few takers, except for one in Chapel Hill. Durant called Bunting, said he had made a mistake and asked to return to UNC. Bunting welcomed him back, announcing Durant’s return at an April 1 announcement that seemed like a really bad April Fools joke.

"You never know how much you miss something until you are away from it, and that is how I feel about this," Durant said in explaining his decision.

Bunting made it clear that Durant was not coming back to a cushy starting position. He returned for the second half of the Tar Heels’ spring practice to compete with junior Stephens (6-3, 216), a transfer from Florida whose presence on the roster appeared to have rattled Durant. Durant was rusty in the spring and threw for only 33 yards in the spring game, but it is clear that Bunting still likes what the sophomore passer can do with the football.

Stephens, a highly regarded recruit coming out of Gainesville, Fla., took exactly one snap during his career at Florida. He red-shirted the 1999 season, was a red-shirt freshman reserve in 2000 and sat out during 2001.

Another factor at quarterback will be red-shirt freshman Matt Baker (6-2, 209), a pure drop-back passer.

North Carolina likes to trumpet the fact that it has produced more 1,000-yard rushers than any Division I school, but it has been five years since Jonathan Linton became the school’s 24th player to reach that milestone.

Last year, the Tar Heels relied on three tailbacks in a shaky rotation to gain a little more than 1,100 yards. All three return this year to battle again for time on the field, though the position will likely be no more settled this year than it was last.

Junior Andre Williams (6-0, 215) started eight games last season, but suffered a back injury late in the year that required off-season surgery to repair a disk. He missed all of spring practice, but should be healthy for the fall.

Williams was the team’s leading rusher last year with 520 yards and four touchdowns. But junior Willie Parker (5-11, 201), the Tar Heels starter in the last two season-openers, stated his case for reclaiming the starting job by rushing for 131 yards on 19 carries in the Tar Heels’ 16-0 victory over Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Parker has already had an odd career at UNC, including a three-game stretch last year when he didn’t set foot on the field.

During that time, Jacque Lewis (5-10, 184), a freshman, came off the bench and added an exciting element to the Tar Heels’ offense. He’s small, but fast and he had more receptions out of the backfield than any UNC running back. For the season, he gained 241 yards on 56 carries and caught eight passes for 63 yards.

For a team that has such uncertainty on the offensive line, it will be important to have a strong blocking fullback in the backfield. Bunting found that guy in sophomore Madison Hedgecock (6-3, 250) last season.

Hedgecock started in the Tar Heels’ last 10 games, but carried the ball only once. His primary responsibility was to help open holes behind an inexperienced offensive line. Bunting says Hedgecock could carry the ball more often this year, thanks to some depth at tight end that will allow a two-tight end, single-back set.

The off-field problems of Bosley Allen may have cut into the Tar Heels’ depth at wide receiver, but his departure should result in a lot fewer distractions for his coaches and teammates. Allen was arrested once before Bunting arrived, a late night-episode that he didn’t bother to tell former coach Carl Torbush about until after it was uncovered by a reporter.

Allen was sent home from the Peach Bowl for breaking team rules (apparently the one that mandated only one person per bed), then arrested in a later incident after he claimed to be one of his teammates when he was pulled over on a routine traffic violation.

He missed half of spring practice with a broken foot, but the final straw came after the spring game when he again ran afoul of Bunting’s team rules and was finally dismissed for good.

"He’s been a black eye to my program," Bunting said.

So now, the Tar Heels must find someone else to replace Allen’s big-play potential. The erratic Allen never led his team in catches, but he did find a way to make unforgettable plays.

The team’s top receiver returns in senior Sam Aiken (6-2, 205), who arose from anonymity last year to catch a team-leading 46 passes for 789 yards and eight touchdowns. He contributed big plays, with 12 catches longer than 20 yards and three more than 65.

But Aiken just may be pushed by sophomore Jaworski Pollock (5-8, 166), a diminutive receiver from the same Bradenton, Fla., high school that produced Allen and former Florida State All-American Peter Warrick.

Pollock, who sat out last season as a partial qualifier, is a speedy, elusive guy who can make big plays on offense and on special teams, and reminds Tar Heel fans of former mighty-mite Marcus Wall, a talented receiver and kick returner who played for UNC in the mid-1990s.

Senior Chesley Borders (6-0, 190) will step into Allen’s spot on the field, but there are a number of young players who could win the job away from him in the fall. Borders quadrupled his career reception total last year, catching 27 passes for 448 yards and four touchdowns, including a 52-yard scoring reception in UNC’s upset of Florida State.

Junior Brandon Russell (5-11, 190), who was converted from tailback to wide receiver before last season, suffered a wrist injury prior to the Peach Bowl and missed spring drills, but he should return in the fall.

At tight end, senior Zach Hilton (6-7, 276) returns after starting the final eight games of the regular season and the Peach Bowl. While he was never a big offensive threat -- he didn’t have his first career reception until last year and caught only a dozen passes all season -- Hilton impressed the coaches with his play in the spring.

He will have some competition for the position in the fall, however, when junior Bobby Blizzard (6-3, 276) is finally available to play after sitting out last season following his transfer from Kentucky. Blizzard played both tight end and wide receiver for the Wildcats, catching 23 passes as a sophomore.

It has been more than 10 years since North Carolina had an offensive lineman taken in the NFL draft, one indication of how relatively weak that position has been during the two previous coaching regimes. From 1973-92, a total of 17 former Tar Heel blockers were taken in the draft, including first-round picks such as Harris Barton, Brian Blados and Ken Huff.

Bunting believes the Tar Heels are on their way to ending that drought after hiring veteran assistant coach Hal Hunter to coach the Tar Heels’ young offensive line, which relied on three sophomores and a freshman most of last year.

The responsibility at left tackle will fall to sophomore Skip Seagraves (6-5, 282), a former all-state and Shrine Bowl selection who played six games as a freshman behind Woofter last year.

Another sophomore, Justin Barton (6-6, 307), will play behind Seagraves.

The right side should be set for another couple of years, thanks to the experience of sophomore Willie McNeill (6-5, 285), who played as a freshman last year. He opened the season as the starter in the Tar Heels’ game at Oklahoma and made eight more starts during the year, becoming the first freshman to start on the offensive line in seven years.

Sophomore Jonas Seawright (6-6, 343) and red-shirt freshman Drew Hunter (6-7, 290) are behind McNeill.

Bunting is fairly confident about the other spots up front, particularly at center, where one of Hunter’s first moves was to convert sophomore Jason Brown (6-3, 311) from a guard to center. The massive Brown started three games last year as a true freshman and his efforts in the spring had Bunting agog at his potential.

It won’t hurt that Brown will have a pair of veterans playing beside him at guard. Junior Jupiter Wilson (6-3, 312) started 10 games at left guard last year and junior Jeb Terry (6-6, 305) started every game. Terry was converted from a defensive tackle during his red-shirt season of 2000, while recovering from a fractured ankle.

It is always difficult to replace a reliable kicker, as the Tar Heels have to do now that Jeff Reed has finished his eligibility and is trying to make it professionally. But it’s even tougher when you have limited options.

Reed was consistent, if not very long. He made 11-of-12 field goals inside 40 yards last year, but only one of four attempts longer than that. He had a strong leg kicking off, knocking 20 of his 53 kicks into the end zone.

Bunting bluntly says that he will keep looking for Reed’s replacement, even though walk-on Dan Orner (5-7, 170) is listed as the starter going into the season. He edged out senior walk-on Jonathan Cork (5-10, 171) for that honor in the spring. Neither has ever kicked in a game.

But the Tar Heels have an incoming freshman, David Wooldridge (6-3, 185), who might get an opportunity to kick shortly after he arrives.

Other than Tennessee, which lost its entire defensive line, no team in the country will have to fill the kind of gaping holes that were left by defensive end Julius Peppers and tackle Ryan Sims, who were among the top six players taken in the NFL draft. That will take a big bite out of the ACC’s stingiest defense going into next year.

Bunting is counting on a collection of no-name role players to take over for Peppers’ and Sims’ productivity.

At the ends, junior Isaac Mooring (6-3, 272) and Jocques Dumas (6-6, 253) are the two new starters, with sophomore Jermicus Banks (6-4, 265) and Larry Jessup (6-6, 239) on the second team. Red-shirt freshman Tommy Davis (6-2, 250) and Tony Pigford (6-3, 256) could also contribute.

Bunting went looking for some immediate help at the defensive end in his second recruiting class, signing three players at that position who could serve as backups this season -- Alden Blizzard (6-4, 225), Brian Rackley (6-4, 230) and Xavier Rainey (6-5, 230).

Rainey may be moved to linebacker, where the Tar Heels need even more help, in the fall, but Bunting expects Blizzard to play at end immediately.

The Tar Heels have more depth on the defensive interior, thanks to the return of senior tackle Will Chapman (6-4, 272), who suffered a severe knee injury last season against Clemson and had to sit out of spring drills. But he is expected to be healthy by the start of fall practice.

Senior Eric Davis (6-3, 268) appears to have won the other starting tackle position, but Bunting has several other options to choose from.

Bunting says junior Donti Coats (6-3, 295) will have a break-out season this year, and he was similarly impressed with sophomore Chase Page (6-5, 272), who moved from offensive line to the defense in the spring.

Nothing stings Bunting, who played linebacker for 13 seasons in the NFL, more than to see a linebacker corps devoid of experience, depth and, to be quite honest, talent. The Tar Heels lost David Thornton, the former walk-on who became one of college football’s best stories last year in leading the team with 131 tackles. They also lost the other two starters, Quincy Monk and Merceda Perry, to graduation and the team’s top reserve linebacker, Robert Harris, to an off-season conditioning injury.

It didn’t help that just before national signing day, the Tar Heels lost out on three high school players who they thought were headed to Chapel Hill. Losing prep All-American A.J. Nicholson from Winston-Salem, N.C., the son of a former UNC player who had committed to the Tar Heels but signed with Florida State, stung the most, and left a position that was lacking in depth to begin with even shorter in numbers.

UNC did sign two linebackers, Victor Worsley (6-2, 220) and Melik Brown (6-2, 225), and will likely convert defensive end Xavier Rainey to the position once he arrives in the fall. Worsley could win a starting job in the woefully thin corps.

Senior Malcolm Stewart (6-3, 223) hopes to have the same kind of all-star senior season as Thornton, because he is finally healthy after three seasons of various injuries. He is the Tar Heels’ most experienced linebacker, but the only start of his career was in the Peach Bowl against Auburn.

"He had a David Thornton-type spring," Bunting said.

The Tar Heels were expecting a David Thornton-type season for Robert Harris (6-1, 223), a former walk-on like Thornton who played in every game last season as the top reserve. But Harris tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during strength and conditioning exercises this winter and is expected to miss the entire season.

Coming out of spring, the other two starters weren’t exactly settled, though sophomore Clarence Gaddy (6-2, 225) and senior Sean Williams (6-1, 238) are listed there.

The Tar Heels do have some experience in the secondary, which will allow Bunting to be somewhat aggressive on defense.

"We should be able to do a lot of things," Bunting said. "We should be able to play a lot of variable coverage. We should be able to blitz."

The main reason the coach is so confident about his secondary is the performance of junior free safety Dexter Reid (6-0, 187), a big hitter who was third on the team with 99 tackles last season, his first as a starter.

Reid had five tackles for loss, two sacks, five pass breakups and two interceptions. His biggest play of the season was a victory-sealing interception against Virginia that he returned 67 yards for a touchdown.

"Dexter Reid is going to be an All-ACC performer," Bunting said.

Junior Michael Harris (5-10, 194) plays behind Reid.

At strong safety, sophomore Chris Curry (6-1, 196) will battle senior DeFonte Coleman (6-1, 219) for the starting position. Bunting hopes the competition will make both better.

Sophomore Bryant Macklin (6-0, 214) is also a possibility at safety, but two incoming freshmen could work their way up the depth chart. Bunting has high expectations for Tommy Richardson (6-3, 205) and Rashaad Tindall (6-4, 195).

The Tar Heels have some experience at cornerback, with senior Michael Wadell (5-11, 173) returning at the position where he earned second-team All-ACC honors last year and the respect of most teams in the league for his cover capabilities.

Senior Kevin Knight (5-8, 186) will start at the other cornerback, after serving as the top nickel back last season. He played in every game last year, making 49 tackles. Knight is experienced, but he has only one career start and no interceptions in his three previous years of play.

It is hard to imagine a player being thrown into a more difficult situation than senior John Lafferty (5-10, 193) was last year. The walk-on punter was cruising along, trying to compete for a little playing time, when just 13 days before UNC’s season-opener, starting punter Blake Ferguson decided to leave camp and transfer elsewhere.

That left Lafferty as the Tar Heels’ best choice to handle punts. He made a rousing debut, averaging 44 yards per kick against Oklahoma and finished the season ranked fifth among ACC punters.

Losing Allen, who was dismissed in the spring for repeatedly violating team rules, not only hurts the Tar Heels’ offense, but also the special teams. Allen was one of the most exciting players in the ACC, for his ability to churn out big plays after catching a pass or a punt.

He returned 32 punts last season, averaging 10.3 per return. That was down from his sophomore season, when he set a school record for punt return yards and scored two touchdowns. But Allen was still capable of breaking free on any return and the Tar Heels still managed to finish second in the ACC with a punt return average of 11.3 yards.

Late in the spring, Bunting selected defensive backs coach Jim Fleming as the team’s special teams coordinator, hoping to maintain the kind of strong special teams the Tar Heels had last year.

Like the rest of the Tar Heels off-season, recruiting was a wild, crazy ride. Bunting and his staff lost seven players who previously had made commitments to the school, including a pair of A.J.s that could have really helped UNC’s depleted defense as soon as they stepped on campus.

A.J. Nicholson, an in-state gem whose father had played at UNC, succumbed to a late push by Florida State. One by one, the Tar Heels lost three highly regarded offensive linemen, a receiver and a defensive end. The Heels even lost a defensive end to its own basketball program, when David Noel of Durham, N.C., was convinced to play basketball for Matt Doherty instead of football for Bunting.

The capper to it all was on the morning of Feb. 6, the day high school players could sign national letters-of-intent. Early that morning, All-America defensive back A.J. Davis faxed his letter to rival N.C. State, kicking off a gloat-fest in Raleigh, N.C., and making Bunting steam.

It has been a rugged off-season for Bunting, who is still getting acclimated to the college football calendar of recruiting, spring football, fundraising and preparation for the coming year. Toss in all the other things Bunting has had to deal with since January, and you can understand why the coach sounded awfully tired before he went on vacation in June.

But one thing that the 11-year veteran of the NFL proved last year is that he can take a few punches to the gut and still thrive.