CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- For the past few years, North Carolina has been talking about getting back to its famed pressure defense. You remember, the kind of pressure the Tar Heels put on an opponent when Matt Doherty was a starting forward for Carolina.

The Tar Heels were revered for their trapping, run-and-jump defense that kept opponents off balance, and led to numerous easy scores and 117 victories in the four seasons Doherty wore the UNC uniform from 1981-84.

So, when Doherty was hired this past summer as the new coach at Carolina, many expected Doherty to bring back that on-court pressure he helped create as a player. Not so fast. Doherty may have other plans.

	Matt Doherty is ready to lace 'em up as UNC's head coach, returning to his alma mater in Chapel Hill.

"I want us to play to our highest level. I'm not going to worry, though, about what others expect," said Doherty prior his first official practice on "Midnight Mattness."

"As long as we, as coach (Dean) Smith always said, play hard, play smart and play together, we will be in a position to win.

"I think you have to know who you are," Doherty said in his new office, occupied previously by Smith. "We're big and strong, so we don't want Brendan Haywood or Kris Lang out on the perimeter in passing lanes. We want them protecting the basket. Our goal is to force our opponents to shoot contested jump shots, box out and rebound the miss."

Doherty is going to tailor a system around the personnel he has, rather than make them fit a system he and fans may be familiar with.

"Look, I'd love to put guys like Michael Jordan, Kenny Smith and Vince Carter on the floor and run, press and dunk, but that's not who we are right now," Doherty said. "Any coach would want those type of athletes. Would I like to see us to get to that point? Yes, but we will be very good doing things to our current strengths."

Doherty is not just making the most out of the hand he's been dealt. Rather, he believes in the players he's coaching.

"I want to recruit quickness and athleticism, yes. But I don't want to do it at the expense of skill, savvy and basketball ability," Doherty explains.

Doherty is not wedded to any one style or system, only what gives his players the best opportunity to be successful.

"You have to adjust. Last year at Notre Dame, we played 99 percent zone defense. I never played or coached that way in my life," Doherty said.

To devise a defense that would work for his Irish team, Doherty bounced ideas off of Smith at an annual "X" and "O" convention of the Tar Heel coaching tree.

"I asked Coach Smith, 'If you didn't play the Point Zone, what would you do?' He said, 'I'd play a 3-2 zone and hustle.' I toyed with it, and that's what we did, and it worked for that (Notre Dame) team," Doherty said. "We may play some of that this year. There's no one way."

Doherty knows exactly who he is, as well, although those around him may not have him all figured out quite yet. Doherty is perceived by some as being laid back and mild-mannered when he is sitting in his office for an interview, or fielding questions from the media. But don't be fooled.

"I'm an intense person, and I am emotional. I like to push buttons, rattle cages, get guys out of their comfort zones," Doherty said. "I've been told that I'm laid back. Well, put me in a competitive situation. If we want to see who can get to that coffee cup across the room the quickest, I'll be different to you."

	“	Look, I'd love to put guys like Michael Jordan, Kenny Smith and Vince Carter on the floor and run, press and dunk, but that's not who we are right now. Any coach would want those type of athletes. Would I like to see us to get to that point? Yes, but we will be very good doing things to our current strengths. ”
		— Matt Doherty, UNC head coach

Doherty is intense and competitive and proud of it. He feels that his competitive drive fuels his energy level, and his energy is evident when you watch him coach. It's also evident when you talk to him about what he wants for one of the most storied programs in basketball history.

He is inheriting a program that has gone to six Final Fours in the past 10 years. But Doherty seems to exude the attitude, without saying so, that he wants the Heels to do better. And he's willing to work to achieve more.

Doherty has been putting in longer hours in the office preparing for this season. But talking to Doherty, except for spending time with his family, there's nothing he'd rather be doing.

"I went to Wall Street after I graduated, but I didn't like what I was doing, and got competitive," Doherty said. "I felt that basketball had let me down when I didn't make the NBA. I had been a player since fourth grade, and put all of my dreams and goals into the game. Then I was hit with the finality of it, and it hurt."

Doherty wanted to get away from the game, and Wall Street was a "cool option." It gave him a feeling of pride that he was doing something of value.

"It made me feel good about myself, but when it came right down to it, I didn't like it."

So, Doherty took up broadcasting, doing commentary for college games on the radio and high school on television.

"I enjoyed that, and I worked at it, and even had an audition for ESPN with Tim Brando. But when I was on the air talking about the game, I really wanted to be inside the huddle, and that's not a pun for ESPN, but that's where my head was, into the X's and O's."

Doherty started coaching an AAU team, and it didn't take more than a few games for him to get hooked on coaching.

"Here I was, making no money coaching kids, and all I was thinking about was preparing practice plans, designing drills, organizing the gym, and driving kids to and from practice and games. I realized then, this is my passion," Doherty said.

Doherty's passion for the game has led him back to coach at the place where he displayed that same passion and competitiveness as a player. His passion is palpable when you are around Doherty. It may just be the ingredient that drives Doherty to lead Carolina to a higher level he and fans remember from a time not so long ago.