Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 42. North Carolina
North Carolina is the Meaning of Life
Might as well knock off all the ACC teams in one go. Sources say that North Carolina gets credit for the birth of the forward pass, using it (illegally) in 1895 against Georgia. It’s obviously worked out well for them with QBs like Drake Maye, Sam Howell, Mitch Trubisky, and TJ Yates. UNC comes in as the 9th ranked ACC team, just ahead of Boston College, NC State, and Pitt, and well above Wake Forest and Duke. They’re also the best program in the state of North Carolina, beating out 6 other FBS teams on this list.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+----------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+----------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 9 | North Carolina | 1997 | 34.278 | 11-1 |
| 10 | North Carolina | 1996 | 31.401 | 10-2 |
| 15 | North Carolina | 2015 | 27.679 | 11-3 |
| 18 | North Carolina | 1993 | 22.249 | 10-3 |
| 24 | North Carolina | 2020 | 14.956 | 8-4 |
| 20 | North Carolina | 1992 | 14.775 | 9-3 |
| 30 | North Carolina | 2008 | 13.641 | 8-5 |
| 31 | North Carolina | 2009 | 12.622 | 8-5 |
| 25 | North Carolina | 1994 | 11.781 | 8-4 |
| 35 | North Carolina | 2016 | 11.533 | 8-5 |
| 26 | North Carolina | 2022 | 10.859 | 9-5 |
| 36 | North Carolina | 2012 | 10.39 | 8-4 |
| 30 | North Carolina | 2001 | 9.974 | 8-5 |
| 30 | North Carolina | 1986 | 6.103 | 7-4-1 |
| 35 | North Carolina | 1995 | 6.066 | 7-5 |
| 42 | North Carolina | 2010 | 3.475 | 8-5 |
| 40 | North Carolina | 1983 | 2.828 | 8-4 |
| 51 | North Carolina | 2013 | 1.963 | 7-6 |
| 41 | North Carolina | 1990 | 1.366 | 6-4-1 |
| 44 | North Carolina | 2019 | 1.322 | 7-6 |
| 46 | North Carolina | 2011 | 1.259 | 7-6 |
| 37 | North Carolina | 1991 | 0.91 | 7-4 |
| 43 | North Carolina | 1998 | -1.415 | 7-5 |
| 48 | North Carolina | 2000 | -3.06 | 6-5 |
| 45 | North Carolina | 2004 | -4.787 | 6-6 |
| 52 | North Carolina | 1984 | -5.071 | 5-5-1 |
| 61 | North Carolina | 2021 | -5.555 | 6-7 |
| 55 | North Carolina | 2005 | -6.73 | 5-6 |
| 67 | North Carolina | 2014 | -10.082 | 6-7 |
| 51 | North Carolina | 1985 | -11.91 | 5-6 |
| 57 | North Carolina | 1987 | -12.337 | 5-6 |
| 84 | North Carolina | 2007 | -22.692 | 4-8 |
| 92 | North Carolina | 1999 | -30.475 | 3-8 |
| 105 | North Carolina | 2017 | -33.086 | 3-9 |
| 99 | North Carolina | 2006 | -34.891 | 3-9 |
| 92 | North Carolina | 2002 | -35.936 | 3-9 |
| 107 | North Carolina | 2018 | -37.84 | 2-9 |
| 99 | North Carolina | 2003 | -41.523 | 2-10 |
| 91 | North Carolina | 1988 | -44.71 | 1-10 |
| 97 | North Carolina | 1989 | -53.841 | 1-10 |
+------+----------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 22811 (42nd)253-228-3 record
0 conference titles
9-12 bowl record
8 consensus All-Americans
135 NFL players drafted
JESUS North Carolina, how many NFL players do you produce? UNC beats out Cal (121 players drafted) for the most NFL draft picks we’ve seen so far in the last 40 years, averaging 3.4 selections per draft. In the 2011 NFL Draft they led the NCAA with 9 players selected, including 4 picks in the first 2 rounds. It turned out UNC was running an academic fraud operation for its players at the time, but those players and wins count for this series damn it. LET THE BOYS PLAY BALL. Sorry, got a little bit worked up there, don’t let it happen again UNC. Consensus All-Americans we won’t talk about below are DL William Fuller (1983) and DL Marcus Jones (1985) who were both 1st round NFL Draft picks, DL Julius Peppers (2001) who could have a whole post dedicated to him and was the 2nd overall pick, and OL Jonathan Cooper (2012) who was the 7th overall pick. Top NFL players include DE Julius Peppers, C Jeff Saturday, DE Robert Quinn, OL Harris Barton, DE William Fuller, DB Dre Bly, RB Willie Parker, and TE Alge Crumpler.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 1989 (1-10 overall, 0-7 ACC)
It was a REALLY rough start to Mack Brown’s UNC tenure. This was not only the worst season of the last 40 years, it was the worst season in school history. And the year before, 1988, was the second worst in school history. Mack went just 2-20 in his first 2 seasons at UNC, but would eventually lead UNC to their 2 best seasons in his last 2 years (1996 and 1997). North Carolina blew out VMI 49-7 to kick off the season, but didn’t win another game. 3 of their first 4 losses were close (6-13 to Kentucky, 7-12 to Navy, 16-17 to Wake Forest), but things got out of hand in the second half of the year, losing their last 6 by an average score of 9-35. The 16-17 loss to Wake was for the ACC cellar, with the Deacs finishing just 2-8-1 and 1-6 in the conference. UNC’s offense was the 4th worst in the country (12.5 PPG), and I had them as the 10th worst team in the NCAA in 1989. QB Chuckie Burnette had an…interesting statline, completing 33% of passes for 520 yards and 2 TD 14 INT. On the shortlist for worst season in NCAA history. The other quarterbacks on the roster weren’t any better, combining for 2 TD 8 INT for a total of 4 TD 22 INT as a team.
5. 2020 (8-4 overall, 7-3 ACC)
The year is 2020, and Mack Brown is still coaching at North Carolina. Except he was elsewhere from 1998-2018, and returned in 2019. Unlike his first go-around, this time his success was immediate, taking UNC from a 2-9 record in 2018 to 7-6 and 8-4 in his first 2 years. 2020 was the weird covid season, but it didn’t affect UNC much. They started #18 and because of the lack of teams playing, immediately rose to #5 with a 3-0 record, beating #19 Virginia Tech. They’d keep alternating wins and losses, sometimes winning 2 in a row, finishing the regular season 8-3 and 4th in the 15 team ACC. Top 25 wins included Virginia Tech, 48-21 over #23 NC State, and 62-26 over #10 Miami (FL), where RB Michael Carter ran for 308 yards and Javonte Williams for 236. The Tar Heels’ 778 yards of total offense was the most in school history, and they were the first team in ACC history to have two 200+ rushers in one game. They lost in the Orange Bowl to #5 Texas A&M, their first major bowl appearance since 1949.
Michael Carter and Javonte Williams formed one of the best RB tandems I’ve seen in my 14 years of following college football. Williams was a 2nd Team All-American, rushing for 1140 yards and 19 TD on 7.3 YPC, while Carter was a 3rd Team All-American, rushing for 1245 yards and 9 TD on 8.0 YPC. Future NFL starting QB Sam Howell led the ACC in passer rating, completing 68% of passes for 3586 yards 30 TD and 7 INT. WR Dyami Brown was a 3rd Team All-American, averaging 100 receiving yards per game with 20.0 yards per catch. LB Chazz Surratt, who began his career as a much maligned QB, had converted to LB in 2019, and was a 1st Team All-American in 2020, getting 91 tackles and 6 sacks.
4. 1993 (10-3 overall, 6-2 ACC)
#20 UNC announced themselves with a 31-9 win over #18 USC in the Pigskin Classic to start the year. A 7-33 loss to #1 Florida State a few weeks later showed that there were still levels to this football thing that the North Carolina School of Basketball And Good Academics was trying out, but they were still 3-1. A big time game between #18 UNC and #19 NC State erupted into a brawl close to halftime, and after the game, assistant coaches had to be separated after tackling each other. UNC came away with a huge 35-14 win, Mack Brown’s first against the Wolfpack in 6 tries. They improved to 7-1 and #12 in the nation, and then despite a loss to #21 Virginia in the South’s Oldest Rivalry, took a BYE week to get ready to wallop eventual ACC 3rd place finisher Clemson 24-0. UNC finished the regular season 10-2 and with a loss in the Gator Bowl to #18 Alabama, finished ranked #19. QB Jason Stanicek threw for 1878 yards 12 TD 10 INT and ran for 406 yards and 4 TD, eventually leaving as UNC’s all-time yardage leader. The RB tandem of “Johnson & Johnson, no more tears”, Curtis Johnson and Leon Johnson, both ran for 1000+ yards and 10+ TD each. DB Bracy Walker was a 2nd Team All-American.
3. 2015 (11-3 overall, 8-0 ACC)
The year where North Carolina was a zombie, refusing to let their unexpected playoff contention die until the final week. What was expected to be another normal North Carolina season started, somewhat expectedly, with a 13-17 loss to South Carolina. That’d be the last loss they took for the next 3 months. UNC just kept winning, finally cracking the Top 25 at 8-1 and #23. No one really thought of them as an ACC contender let alone playoff contender, but if they kept winning, well…UNC blew out Miami (FL) 59-21 to go to 9-1 and #17. The subsequent 30-27 OT win over Virginia Tech clinched the ACC Coastal, and UNC improved to 10-1 and #14. Again, if they just kept winning…They capped off their most unexpected regular season in a long time with a 45-34 win over NC State to get to 11-1. Facing #1 Clemson in the ACC Championship game as the #10 team, North Carolina was only 5 point underdogs, but nobody REALLY expected them to beat Clemson, who had been #1 for 5 straight weeks at that point. UNC did put up an admirable performance, only losing 37-45, and if they won, there’s a solid chance they would’ve made the playoff. Instead, they went to the Russell Athletic Bowl and gave up 651 rushing yards to Baylor in a 38-49 loss.
QB Marquise Williams was 2nd Team All-ACC, throwing for 3072 yards 24 TD 10 INT with 948 rushing yards and 13 TD on 6.0 YPC. Future 2nd overall pick Mitch Trubisky also threw 6 TD 0 INT. RB Elijah Hood was 1st Team All-ACC, racking up 1463 rushing yards and 17 TD on 6.7 YPC. WR Ryan Switzer, who set the NCAA record for punt return touchdowns in a season in 2013 with 5, had 54 catches for 693 yards and 6 TD, and was yet again an All-American returner with 2 punt return TD. All 3 of North Carolina’s WRs made 2nd/3rd Team All-ACC. OG Landon Turner was a 1st Team All-American.
2. 1996 (10-2 overall, 6-2 ACC)
From 1996-97, it was Florida State as the clear #1 team in the ACC, North Carolina as the clear #2 team, and then a huge drop. UNC had the best defense in the country, giving up just 10.2 PPG while their worst performance was giving up just 20 points in a 52-20 win over rival NC State. Mack Brown took them from unranked to #11 with a dominant 45-0 win over Clemson and 27-10 upset over #9 Syracuse. North Carolina allowed just 211 yards to #2 Florida State in a 0-13 loss, and eventually rose to #6 in the country despite having a loss, at 8-1. UNC had allowed 10 points or less in 6 of their 9 games up to that point. An upset loss at #24 Virginia was their last on the year, winning their last 2 against Duke (handing them their final loss to finish 0-11) and #25 West Virginia in the Gator Bowl. As expected from a defense that ranked first in the country, they were LOADED with players. DB Dre Bly, just a freshman, led the NCAA with 11 interceptions and was a consensus All-American. LB Brian Simmons and DL Greg Ellis were 2nd and 3rd Team All-Americans, respectively. And they weren’t done yet.
1. 1997 (11-1 overall, 7-1 ACC)
The team as a whole was even better in 1997, tying a school record with 11 wins. Funnily enough, even in their best season, they still weren’t better than the men’s basketball team (1996-97 team finished #4 in the Coaches Poll, 1997-98 finished #3). The Avengers returned on defense, and after giving up just 10.2 PPG in 1996, ranked 2nd in the country in 1997 giving up just 12.2 PPG. Starting as the preseason #7, North Carolina lived up to the hype, getting to an 8-0 record. That set up #5 North Carolina vs #3 Florida State in a game dubbed “Judgement Day” by the national media. ESPN College GameDay was in Chapel Hill for the game, in front of a school record 62,000 fans. UNC lost 3-20, and if they had won, may have been national champions. Instead, they finished 11-1, thumping Virginia Tech 42-3 in the Gator Bowl, finishing #6 in the AP Poll. DB Dre Bly, DL Greg Ellis, and LB Brian Simmons were all consensus All-Americans. LB Kivuusama Mays was also a 3rd Team All-American, and C Jeff Saturday was 1st Team All-ACC. In total, there were 5 1st Team All-ACC players on defense. The best, most loaded, UNC team of the last 40 years.
5th Quarter
Does North Carolina (#42) deserve to be above NC State (#44) on this list? If 1997 North Carolina beat Florida State, would they have been national champion over at least one of Nebraska or Michigan? If 2015 North Carolina beat #1 Clemson in the ACC title game, would they have made the playoff? Who was the better college player, Dre Bly or Julius Peppers? Who’s an underrated player I didn’t mention? What’d UNC/ACC fans think when Chazz Surratt transformed from a mediocre QB to an NFL 3rd round pick at LB?
Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years - Main Hub
