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List of North Carolina Tar Heels head football coaches

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Bill Belichick is the current head coach.
Mack Brown led the Tar Heels in two separate stints, the first from 1988–1997, and the second from 2019–2024.

The North Carolina Tar Heels college football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The program has had 35 head coaches, and two interim head coaches, since it began play during the 1888 season. Since December 2024, Bill Belichick has served as North Carolina's head coach.

The Tar Heels have played more than 1,100 games over 122 seasons. In that time, ten coaches have led the Tar Heels in postseason bowl games: Carl Snavely, Jim Hickey, Bill Dooley, Dick Crum, Mack Brown, Carl Torbush, John Bunting, Butch Davis, Everett Withers, and Larry Fedora. Four of those coaches also won conference championships: Snavely's teams captured two as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon), and Hickey, Dooley, and Crum won a combined five in the ACC. Brothers Bill Fetzer and Bob Fetzer, co-head coaches from 1921 to 1925, also led North Carolina to a SoCon title in 1922.

Brown is the leader in games won (113) during his 16 years with the program. Branch Bocock has the highest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .812. Gene McEver has the lowest winning percentage of those who have coached more than one game, with .167. Of the 35 head coaches who have led the Tar Heels, Snavely, Jim Tatum, and Brown have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Key

Key to symbols in coaches list
General Overall Conference Postseason
No. Order of coaches GC Games coached CW Conference wins PW Postseason wins
DC Division championships OW Overall wins CL Conference losses PL Postseason losses
CC Conference championships OL Overall losses CT Conference ties PT Postseason ties
NC National championships OT Overall ties C% Conference winning percentage
† Elected to the College Football Hall of Fame O% Overall winning percentage

Coaches

List of head football coaches showing season(s) coached, overall records, conference records, postseason records, championships and selected awards
No. Name Season(s)
 GC OW OL OT O% CW CL CT C% PW PL PT DC
 CC NC Awards
— No coach 1888, 1889, 1891–1892 17 9 8 0 0.529 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
1 Hector Cowan 1889 2 1 1 0 0.500 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
X William P. Graves 1891 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
2 William J. "Yup" Cook 1893 7 3 4 0 0.429 — — — — — — — — — 0 —
3 Vernon K. Irvine 1894 9 6 3 0 0.666 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
4 Thomas Trenchard 1895, 1913–1915 (4) 37 26 9 2 0.729 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
5 Gordon Johnston 1896 8 3 4 1 0.437 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
6 William Ayres Reynolds 1897–1900 (4) 38 27 7 4 0.763 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
7 Charles O. Jenkins 1901 9 7 2 0 0.777 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
8 Herman Olcott 1902–1903 (2) 18 11 4 3 0.694 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
9 R. R. Brown 1904 9 5 2 2 0.666 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
10 William Warner 1905 8 4 3 1 0.562 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
11 Willis Kienholz 1906 7 1 4 2 0.285 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
12 Otis Lamson 1907 9 4 4 1 0.500 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
13 Edward L. Greene 1908 9 3 3 3 0.500 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
14 Arthur Brides 1909–1910 (2) 16 8 8 0 0.500 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
15 Branch Bocock 1911 8 6 1 1 0.812 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
16 C. W. Martin 1912 8 3 4 1 0.437 — — — — — — — — 0 0 —
17 Thomas J. Campbell 1916, 1919 (2) 17 9 7 1 0.558 — — — — 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
18 Myron Fuller 1920 8 2 6 0 0.250 — — — — 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
19 Bob Fetzer & Bill Fetzer 1921–1925 (5) 46 30 12 4 0.695 13 5 2 0.700 0 0 0 — 1 0 —
20 Chuck Collins 1926–1933 (8) 78 38 31 9 0.544 24 22 8 0.518 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
21 Carl Snavely 1934–1935, 1945–1952 (10) 99 59 35 5 0.621 32 11 2 0.733 0 3 0 — 2 0 —
22 Raymond Wolf 1936–1941 (6) 58 38 17 3 0.681 23 9 1 0.712 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
23 Jim Tatum 1942, 1956–1958 (4) 39 19 17 3 0.525 13 10 2 0.560 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
24 Tom Young 1943 9 6 3 0 0.666 2 2 0 0.500 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
25 Gene McEver 1944 9 1 7 1 0.167 0 3 1 0.125 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
26 George T. Barclay 1953–1955 (3) 30 11 18 1 0.383 9 8 0 0.529 0 0 0 — 0 0 —
27 Jim Hickey 1959–1966 (8) 81 36 45 0 0.444 28 25 0 0.528 1 0 0 — 1 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1963)
28 Bill Dooley 1967–1977 (11) 124 69 53 2 0.560 38 22 2 0.629 1 5 0 — 3 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1971)
29 Dick Crum 1978–1987 (10) 116 72 41 3 0.633 38 23 1 0.620 4 2 0 — 1 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1980)
30 Mack Brown 1988–1997, 2019–2024 (16) 193 113 79 1 0.588 67 58 1 0.536 4 6 0 — 0 0 ACC Coach of the Year (1996)
31 Carl Torbush 1997–2000 (4) 35 17 18 — 0.485 9 15 — 0.375 2 0 — — 0 0 —
32 John Bunting 2001–2006 (6) 72 27 45 — 0.375 18 30 — 0.375 1 1 — 0 0 0 —
33 Butch Davis
 2007–2010 (4) 35 12 23 — 0.342 7 17 — 0.291 1 2 — 0 0 0 —
Int Everett Withers 2011 13 7 6 — 0.538 3 5 — 0.375 0 1 — 0 0 0 —
34 Larry Fedora 2012–2018 (7) 88 45 43 — 0.511 28 28 — .500 1 4 — 2 0 0 —
Int Freddie Kitchens 2024 0 0 0 — 0.000 0 0 — .000 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
35 Bill Belichick 2025–present

Notes

  1. Although the first Rose Bowl Game was played in 1902, it has been continuously played since the 1916 game, and is recognized as the oldest bowl game by the NCAA. "—" indicates any season prior to 1916 when postseason games were not played.
  2. A running total of the number of head coaches, with coaches who served separate tenures being counted only once. Interim head coaches are represented with "Int" and are not counted in the running total. "—" indicates the team played but either without a coach or no coach is on record. "X" indicates an interim year without play.
  3. Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.
  4. When computing the win–loss percentage, a tie counts as half a win and half a loss.
  5. Statistics correct as of the end of the 2012 college football season.
  6. North Carolina did not field teams in 1890 after the faculty voted to discontinue the sport and in 1917 and 1918 due to World War I.
  7. Divisional champions advanced to the ACC Championship Game since the institution of divisional play beginning in the 2005 season through 2019, and again from 2021-2022. During that time, North Carolina competed as a member of the Coastal division.
  8. The ACC Coach of the Year is voted by Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA).
  9. Davis' record at the conclusion of the 2008 season was eight wins and five losses (8–5, 4–4 ACC) and eight wins and five losses (8–5, 4–4 ACC) in 2009. In September 2011, North Carolina vacated their 16 victories due to sanctions stemming from academic misconduct and accepting illegal benefits discovered during the 2010 season for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. As the penalty to vacate victories does not result in a loss (or forfeiture) of the affected contests or award a victory to the opponent, the official NCAA record for these years are 0–5 and 0–5 respectively.
  10. Everett Withers was named interim head coach for the 2011 season, following the termination of Butch Davis as head coach.
  11. Freddie Kitchens was named interim head coach for the Tar Heels' upcoming Fenway Bowl game following the termination of Mack Brown as head coach.

References

General

Specific

  1. ^ 2011 North Carolina Football Media Guide, p. 174-179
  2. ^ UNC Athletic Communications Office. "History" (PDF). University Directories. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  3. Kelly Parson (January 9, 2012). "Trustees approve Larry Fedora as UNC football coach". The Daily Tar Heel. DTH Publishing Corp. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  4. "Carl "The Grey Fox" Snavely". National Football Foundation. The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, INC. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  5. "Jim "Big Jim" Tatum". National Football Foundation. The National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame, INC. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  6. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2011). Bowl/All-Star Game Records (PDF). Indianapolis, Indiana: NCAA. pp. 5–10. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 5, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2011.
  7. Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. McLean, Virginia. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved September 25, 2009.
  8. Finder, Chuck (September 6, 1987). "Big plays help Paterno to 200th". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  9. "ACC Unveils Future League Seal, Divisional Names". The ACC. CBS Interactive. October 18, 2004. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  10. "New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, November 19, 1893, Image 4". November 19, 1893. p. 4.
  11. "The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, November 24, 1893, Image 8". November 24, 1893. p. 8.
  12. "The Hellenian [1898], University of North Carolina". North Carolina Yearbooks. 1898.
  13. "The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina on January 31, 1937 · 2".
  14. ^ 2011 North Carolina Football Media Guide, p. 116-117
  15. "2010 ACC Football Information Guide" (PDF). The ACC. Office of the Commissioner and the Communications Office of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
  16. "North Carolina Response to Notice of NCAA Allegations" (PDF). September 19, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2011.
  17. "UNC files response to NCAA notice of allegations". Sports Illustrated. Time Inc. September 19, 2011. Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  18. Heather Dinich (July 28, 2011). "UNC names Everett Withers interim coach". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
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