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2007 North Carolina Tar Heels football
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
DivisionCoastal Division
2007 record4–8 (3–5 ACC)
Head coachButch Davis (1st season)
Offensive coordinatorJohn Shoop (1st season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorChuck Pagano (1st season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumKenan Memorial Stadium
(Capacity: 60,000)
Seasons
← 2006
2008 →
2007 ACC football standings
v · d · e Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Atlantic
#10 Boston College x   6 2         11 3  
#21 Clemson   5 3         9 4  
Wake Forest   5 3         9 4  
Florida State   4 4         7 6  
Maryland   3 5         6 7  
NC State   3 5         5 7  
Coastal
#9 Virginia Tech x   7 1         11 3  
Virginia   6 2         9 4  
Georgia Tech   4 4         7 6  
North Carolina   3 5         4 8  
Miami   2 6         5 7  
Duke   0 8         1 11  

Championship: Virginia Tech 30, Boston College 16
† – BCS representative as champion
‡ – BCS at-large representative
x – Division champion/co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2007 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina in the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tar Heels played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Butch Davis.

Previous season[]

The 2006 North Carolina football team began with the Tar Heels unranked in the AP and coaches' preseason polls. Despite the fact that they were receiving little national attention, there was much optimism in the state of North Carolina. The team got off to a shaky start losing six out of their first seven games. Just days after playing their seventh game of the season, a 23-0 loss to Virginia in Charlottesville, the University of North Carolina announced that head coach John Bunting would be relieved of his duties at the conclusion of the season."[1] After the announcement of Bunting's firing the team arguably became much more competitive and won their last two games of the season, 23–9 against North Carolina State and 45-44 against Duke.

Preseason[]

Immediately after Bunting's firing on October 22, 2006 there was much speculation over who UNC would name their new football coach. Rumors immediately started to circulate that former head coach of the Cleveland Browns and Miami Hurricanes, Butch Davis, was highly interested in the position."[2] Athletic director Dick Baddour confirmed the accuracy of the rumors when he announced on November 13, 2006 that Butch Davis had agreed to become the new head football coach."[3] Soon after his hiring, Butch Davis began to assemble his coaching staff. He was able to lure Offensive Coordinator John Shoop and Defensive Coordinator Chuck Pagano from the Oakland Raiders of the NFL, and Defensive Line Coach John Blake from Nebraska. Blake is regarded by many to be one of the best recruiters in all of college football."[4]

As of March 2007 many publications began releasing preseason rankings for the upcoming football season. Although UNC still ranked in the lower tier of the Atlantic Coast Conference, many publications were impressed with the Tar Heels' hiring of Butch Davis and their top ranked recruiting class."[5]

Recruiting[]

The Tar Heels received 20 letters of intent on National Signing Day, February 7, 2007. Three student athletes had already enrolled before National Signing Day making this class relatively large with 23 commitments.

Coaching staff[]

Name Position[6] Seasons in Position
Butch Davis Head Coach 1st
John Blake Associate Head Coach / Recruiting Coordinator / Defensive Line 1st
Ken Browning Running Backs 14th
Jeff Connors Strength and Conditioning Coordinator 7th
Steve Hagen Tight Ends 1st
John Lovett Special Teams Coordinator / Defensive Assistant 1st
Chuck Pagano Defensive Coordinator / Defensive Backs 1st
Sam Pittman Offensive Line 1st
John Shoop Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks 1st
Tommy Thigpen Linebackers 3rd
Charlie Williams Wide Receivers 1st

Schedule[]

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.James Madison*ESPN360W 37–1458,500
September 86:00 p.m.at East Carolina*CSTVL 31–3443,387
September 1512:00 p.m.Virginia
Raycom/LFSL 20–2258,000
September 2212:00 p.m.at No. 23 South Florida*ESPNL 10–3737,693
September 2912:00 p.m.at No. 17 Virginia TechRaycom/LFSL 10–1766,233
October 612:00 p.m.Miami
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ESPN2W 33–2759,000
October 133:30 p.m.No. 7 South Carolina*
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ABCL 15–2161,000
October 2712:00 p.m.at Wake ForestRaycom/LFSL 10–3733,023
November 33:45 p.m.Marylanddagger
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC
ESPNUW 16–1356,000
November 1012:00 p.m.at North Carolina StateRaycom/LFSL 27–3157,583
November 1712:00 p.m.at Georgia TechRaycom/LFSL 25–2745,490
November 243:30 p.m.Duke
  • Kenan Memorial Stadium
  • Chapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell Game)
ESPNUW 20–14 OT52,000
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time

Did not play: Boston College, Clemson, and Florida State.

Team Statistics[]

    Passing Leader       Cmp     Att     Yds     TD     Int  
T. J. Yates 218 365 2655 14 18
    Rushing Leaders       Car     Yds     Long     TD  
Johnny White 95 399 39 0
Anthony Elzy 92 321 39 5
Greg Little 59 300 38 2
Ryan Houston 44 145 10 1
Brandon Tate 12 131 54 1
    Receiving Leaders       Rec     Yds     Long     TD  
Hakeem Nicks 74 958 53 5
Brandon Tate 25 479 51 5
Brooks Foster 29 417 65 2
    Kicking       XPM     XPA     FGM     FGM     Long     Pts  
Connor Barth 21 23 19 22 51 78

References[]

  1. "Pickeral, Robbi (October 22, 2006). "UNC's Bunting Out at End of Season". The News & Observer (Raleigh). Archived from the original on November 18, 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061118004708/http://www.newsobserver.com/758/story/501763.html. Retrieved March 4, 2007.
  2. "Butch Davis jumps to top of list for North Carolina job." ESPN.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
  3. "Butch Davis hired to coach at UNC Archived 2007-10-02 at the Wayback Machine." sportingnews.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
  4. "John Blake Hired As North Carolina Assistant Football Coach." tarheelblue.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
  5. "Inside Spring Drills: ACC Preview." rivals.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
  6. "North Carolina Coaching Staff Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine." tarheelblue.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
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