CHAPEL HILL — Armond Hawkins and Thad Dixon wanted a UNC football history lesson, so Reggie Love Sr. made it happen.

Connecting Hawkins and Dixon with the "founding fathers of the rude boys," Love bridged the gap between the Tar Heels ' past and present as the program prepared for the Bill Belichick era.

A defensive back at UNC from 1994-97, Love was a part of the Tar Heels' most successful stretch of football, which included an 11-1 record and a top-5 ranking in 1997 under head coach Mack Brown. The "rude boys," a moniker for UNC's defensive backs created by two-time All-American Dré Bly, played a pivotal role in that success.

“It’s a system or a thought or belief pattern that’s aggressive. It’s competitive. We practiced hard, we worked hard. It was more of an attitude than it was who

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