2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

Last updated

2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football
North Carolina Tar Heels logo.svg
Conference Atlantic Coast Conference
DivisionCoastal
Record2–9 (1–7 ACC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator Chris Kapilovic (5th season)
Offensive scheme Spread
Defensive coordinator John Papuchis (2nd season)
Base defense 4–3
Captains
Home stadium Kenan Memorial Stadium
Uniform
North carolina football unif17.png
Seasons
  2017
2019  
2018 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf.Overall
Team W L  W L 
Atlantic Division
No. 1 Clemson x$#^  8 0   15 0  
No. 15 Syracuse  6 2   10 3  
NC State  5 3   9 4  
Boston College  4 4   7 5  
Wake Forest  3 5   7 6  
Florida State  3 5   5 7  
Louisville  0 8   2 10  
Coastal Division
Pittsburgh x  6 2   7 7  
Georgia Tech  5 3   7 6  
Miami (FL)  4 4   7 6  
Virginia  4 4   8 5  
Virginia Tech  4 4   6 7  
Duke  3 5   8 5  
North Carolina  1 7   2 9  
Championship: Clemson 42, Pittsburgh 10
  • # College Football Playoff champion
  • ^ College Football Playoff participant
  • $ Conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tar Heels were led by seventh-year head coach Larry Fedora and played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium. They finished the season 2–9 overall and 1–7 in ACC play to place last out of seven teams in the Coastal Division.

Contents

On November 25, one day after the conclusion of the season, Fedora was fired. [1] He finished at North Carolina with a seven-year record of 45–43. On November 27, the school rehired Mack Brown, who had previously helmed the program from 1988 to 1997, as head coach. [2]

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

AwardPlayerPositionYear
Doak Walker Award [3] Michael Carter RBSO
John Mackey Award [4] Carl TuckerTEJR
Paul Hornung Award [5] Anthony Ratliff-Williams WR/KRJR
Wuerffel Trophy [6] Kyle MurphyLSSR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award [7] Nathan ElliottQBJR

ACC media poll

The ACC media poll was released on July 24, 2018.

Media poll (Coastal)
Predicted finishTeamVotes (1st place)
1Miami998 (122)
2Virginia Tech838 (16)
3Georgia Tech654 (8)
4Duke607 (1)
5Pittsburgh420
6North Carolina370 (1)
7Virginia257

Schedule

The Tar Heels' schedule was released on January 17, 2018. [8]

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 14:00 p.m.at California * FOX L 17–2442,168 [9]
September 83:30 p.m.at East Carolina * ESPNU L 19–4139,268 [9]
September 1512:00 p.m.No. 18 UCF *ESPNU Cancelled [a]
September 2212:20 p.m. Pittsburgh
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ACCN W 38–3544,168 [9]
September 278:00 p.m.at No. 16 Miami (FL) ESPN L 10–4760,845 [9]
October 137:00 p.m. Virginia Tech
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ESPNUL 19–2250,500 [9]
October 2012:20 p.m.at Syracuse ACCNL 37–40 2OT35,210 [9]
October 2712:20 p.m.at Virginia ACCNL 21–3143,128 [9]
November 312:00 p.m. Georgia Tech Dagger-14-plain.png
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ACCNL 28–3840,782 [9]
November 1012:20 p.m.at Duke ACCNL 35–4235,493 [9]
November 173:00 p.m. Western Carolina *
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ACCN Extra W 49–2641,151 [9]
November 2412:20 p.m. NC State
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)
ACCNL 28–34 OT41,510 [9]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Dagger-14-plain.pngHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time
  1. This game was cancelled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence. [10]

Game summaries

At California

1234Total
Tar Heels0031417
Golden Bears7107024

At East Carolina

1234Total
Tar Heels6130019
Pirates71471341

Pittsburgh

1234Total
Panthers7210735
Tar Heels71417038

At Miami (FL)

1234Total
Tar Heels1000010
No. 16 Hurricanes141901447

Virginia Tech

1234Total
Hokies707822
Tar Heels637319

At Syracuse

1234OT2OTTotal
Tar Heels701737337
Orange013777640

At Virginia

1234Total
Tar Heels770721
Cavaliers1437731

Georgia Tech

1234Total
Yellow Jackets71471038
Tar Heels7310828

At Duke

1234Total
Tar Heels14140735
Blue Devils14217042

Western Carolina

1234Total
Catamounts793726
Tar Heels142114049

NC State

1234OTTotal
Wolfpack70147634
Tar Heels06157028

Coaching staff

North Carolina Tar Heels
NamePositionConsecutive season at North Carolina in current positionPrevious position
Larry Fedora Head coach 7th Southern Miss head coach (2008–2011)
Deke Adams Defensive line coach2nd East Carolina defensive line coach (2016)
Henry Baker Cornerbacks coach1st Rutgers cornerbacks coach (2017)
Mike Ekeler Linebackers coach2nd North Texas defensive coordinator and linebackers coach (2016)
Robert Gillespie Running backs coach1st Tennessee running backs coach (2013–2017)
Keith Heckendorf Quarterbacks coach5th Arkansas State tight ends coach (2014)
Chris Kapilovic Associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and offensive line coach4th North Carolina co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach (2014)
John Papuchis Defensive coordinator 2nd North Carolina linebackers coach (2015–2016)
Luke Paschall Special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach1st Arkansas State special teams coordinator and outside wide receivers coach (2017)
Chad Scott Tight ends coach3rd Kentucky running backs coach (2014–2015)
Tommy Thigpen Safeties coach1st Tennessee linebackers coach (2016–2017)
Quinshad Davis Graduate assistant 1st Winnipeg Blue Bombers wide receiver (player) (2017)
Sam Dunnam Graduate assistant 1st Ouachita Baptist defensive line coach (2014–2017)
Jordan Marsh Graduate assistant 1st Hickory Ridge HS (NC) assistant coach (2014–2017)
Jeff Schoettmer Graduate assistant 1st New Orleans Saints linebacker (player) (2016)

2019 NFL draft

RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL club
5173 Cole Holcomb LB Washington Redskins

References

  1. "North Carolina fires Fedora after 2-9 season". November 25, 2018.
  2. Kirshner, Alex. "UNC's really, officially bringing back Mack Brown". SB Nation . Retrieved December 26, 2018.
  3. "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  4. "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  5. "43 PLAYERS NAMED TO 2018 PAUL HORNUNG AWARD WATCH LIST". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  6. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  7. "2018 Nominations The Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award" (PDF). August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  8. Pearson, Zack (January 17, 2018). "UNC Football: Full 2018 Tar Heels football schedule released". KeepingItHeel. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "2019 UNC Football Media Guide" (PDF).
  10. "UCF Football Game, Other Events Will Not Be Played Due To Storm - University of North Carolina". University of North Carolina (Press release). September 11, 2018.