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The History of UNC Football
by Charly Mann
The University of North Carolina has one of the most beautiful campuses in the United States. It also boasts one of the top MBA programs in the nation, as well as one of the best urban planning programs. For the last 65 years UNC has strived to excel at something else, football, and has for the most part failed in this effort. The pinnacle for success in football is getting invited to and winning a major college bowl game. By 1940, there were four major Bowl games: The Rose Bowl, The Orange Bowl, The Sugar Bowl, and the Cotton Bowl. During the late 1940s UNC had a very good football team made up of several all-stars who had played football for the military like Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice. During the Justice era UNC got its first three bowl invitations to the Sugar Bowl in 1947, the Sugar Bowl in 1949, and the Cotton Bowl in 1950. Unfortunately, UNC was not a national contender, and lost all three of these games.
1929 UNC team captain Ray Farris and star halfback Strud Nash. The Tarheels went 9 - 1 for the season and were considered the second best team in the country that year.
UNC desperately wanted to have a great football team, and in 1956 hired Jim Tatum away from Maryland where he had been one of the most successful coaches in the country. He had won the national championship in 1953 and in each of three other years his team had at least ten victories. He had also previously coached Oklahoma to a successful season and a bowl victory in 1947. In Chapel Hill his luck would change. In his first season Carolina won only 2 games, and the following two years his record was a mediocre 6 - 4. There were high hopes for his fourth season in 1959, but he was bitten by a tick and contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and died at the age of 46 before the beginning of the season.
Jim Tatum, UNC football coach 1956 to 1958
Jim Tatum's tombstone is the most prominent in the Chapel Hill cemetery, and reminds those like me of his untimely death and the potential he might have brought to UNC football. Jim Hickey (1920-1997), Tatum's assistant, was UNC's head football coach for the next eight seasons (1959 to 1966). He only managed a single season with a winning record, but in that year UNC did something it had never done before... it won a bowl game.
In 1963 UNC had the best and deepest team it had ever fielded. It featured two All-Americans, halfback Ken Willard and end Bob Lacey. It also had a great quarterback. Junior Edge, who was a brilliant passer and a good runner. UNC went 9-2 that season, losing only one ACC game to Clemson, and to powerful Michigan State on their home field. UNC was invited to play in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida on December 28th against the Air Force Academy.
The UNC - Air Force game was rated a toss-up by sports experts and bookmakers, but the game turned out to be a blowout. The game was dominated by UNC's great fullback, and probably Carolina's best all around athlete, Ken Willard.
UNC fullback Eddie Kesler runs through Air Force defenders at 1963 Gator Bowl game in Jacksonville, Florida
The game began a little inauspiciously with Air Force winning the toss, but after that it was all Tarheels. UNC began its second possession of the game on their own 23. During that drive Willard had runs of 12, 24, and 10 yards. The Big Bull, as he was nicknamed, then smashed it in from three yards for the first score. UNC missed the extra point and with 2:31 left in the first quarter UNC had a 6-0 lead. When Air Force got the ball back they raced down the field to the Carolina 16 before being stopped by an interception at the ten yard line by UNC's Ronnie Jackson. UNC Quarterback Junior Edge then completed a series of long passes to get the ball within a few yards of the end zone and then ran it in himself for the next score. Carolina tried for a two point conversion to make up for the missed extra point but that failed, and UNC now led the game at 12-0 with 9:40 left in the half. The next Air Force drive stalled, and UNC raced down the field for its third touchdown led by second string quarterback Gary Black who threw a series of passes that culminated in a touchdown. Black also tossed another pass for a two point conversion giving Carolina a 20-0 lead. As the first half came to a close the Falcons seemed on the verge of scoring their first touchdown until UNC quarterback Junior Edge, now playing defense, picked off a pass from Air Force Quarterback Terry Issacson at the Carolina two yard line.
Carolina began its second series of the second half with Ken Willard having consecutive runs of 7, 10, and 7 yards. UNC halfback Eddie Kesler then scored from one yard out, and then Edge threw to All American Bob Lacey for another two point conversion giving UNC a 28-0 lead with 4:44 left in the third quarter. Second-string quarterback Black replaced Edge on UNC's next possession and led the team with several long pass plays. The most memorable was a pass to UNC tackle Gene Sigmon, who was made eligible to receive the pass by Carolina's unusual formation. The drive included six consecutive completed passes and ended when Black ran it in from the six yard line. UNC then kicked their first and only extra point of the game making the score 35-0.
UNC Quarterback Junior Edge scores a touchdown for UNC at 1963 Gator Bowl
Throughout most of the fourth quarter UNC used players with names even few loyal fans were familiar with. They were the Carolina third string team, and while they were prevented from running up the score, their defense continued to hold Air Force scoreless for the rest of the game, giving UNC its first ever bowl victory 35 - 0. UNC would not win another bowl game until 1972.
At the end of that day UNC Coach Jim Hickey was the most popular man in Chapel Hill. Ken Willard was voted the game's most valuable player. Hickey had three more seasons at UNC, all with losing records and in 1967 was replaced by Bill Dooley.
A victorious Gator Bowl UNC football team carry coach Jim Hickey on their shoulders
It was not long ago when a UNC college football coach's salary was not that different from that of most professors. Jim Hickey lived in a very modest house on Greenwood Road across from where it intersects with Stagecoach Road. Jim Tatum also had a modest house on Laurel Hill Road, and after he died his wife became a teacher at Durham Academy to make ends meet. In the 1930s the greatest football coach of all time, Knute Rockne, was paid only $10,000 a year at Notre Dame. Today UNC's head football coach Paul Davis has a contract through 2015 that is worth more than $2,000,000 a year, several times higher than any administrator or faculty member at UNC. I love Carolina football but I would rather see UNC recruiting top faculty for its students than spending millions on a football coach.
Contract for UNC football coach Paul Davis: Nov. 27, 2006 – Jan. 15, 2015
Annual Salary: $315,000
Bonuses/Perks:
• In order for UNC-CH to provide the coach with a compensation package that is competitive with other institutions, UNC-CH agrees to make supplemental compensation payments to coach in the following amounts:
o Sept. 2007: $750,000
o Dec. 2007: $250,000
o March 2008: $287,500
o June 2008: $287,500
o Sept. 2008: $287,500
o Dec. 2008: $287,500
o March 2009: $300,000
o June 2009: $300,000
o Sept. 2009: $300,000
o Dec. 2009: $300,000
o March 2010: $312,500
o June 2010: $312,500
o Sept. 2010: $312,500
o Dec. 2010: $312,500
o March 2011: $325,000
o June 2011: $325,000
o Sept. 2011: $325,000
o Dec. 2011: $325,000
o March 2012: $337,500
o June 2012: $337,500
o Sept. 2012: $337,500
o Dec. 2012: $337,500
o March 2013: $350,000
o June 2013: $350,000
o Sept. 2013: $350,000
o Dec. 2013: $350,000
o March 2014: $362,500
o June 2014: $362,500
o Sept. 2014: $362,500
o Dec. 2014: $362,500
• Coach shall receive a $157,000 retention bonus each year
• 1/12 his salary if the football team is invited to participate in the ACC Conference Championship
• 1/12 his salary if football team is invited to participate in a post-season bowl game other than an ACC first or second choice (non-BCS) bowl game or a BCS game
• 1/12 his salary if football team's graduation rate equals that of the undergraduate student body
• $30,000 annual expense allowance per year for entertainment and other purposes to advance the university's football program
• Coach shall be entitled to operate a summer football camp, for which he could receive outside compensation
• Coach shall be entitled to advise and comment on all proposed scheduling of university football games
Comments:
Sue Whitaker
8:30 AM Tue 12/15/2009
I remember that UNC 50...Duke 0. I was bittersweet after the death of Jim Tatum. Both of his kids went to school in Chapel Hill & it was so sad when they returned to school after their father's sudden death. Great kids, his son was sort of a mini version of him.
Brent Crosby
3:09 PM Mon 12/14/2009
This is a fabulous overview for a novice like me in Carolina football. I think I prefer the 1929 uniforms over those worn today.
Glen Rankin
3:47 PM Sun 12/13/2009
The best part of the Hickey era for me was his first year. I think Duke had beat Carolina most of the last eight years, and UNC had had a disappointing season, and that year, 1959, the game was played at Duke on Thanksgiving day - and surprise UNC demolished the Blue Devils 50 - 0. I do not think any other Tarheel victory has been so sweet or surprising.
Steve Johnson
6:17 PM Sat 12/12/2009
Great tribute to Carolina football. For me it is not the number of victories that is important, but enjoying the beautiful autumn days in Kenan Stadium. For most of my life all that really mattered was that UNC beak Duke and got the "victory bell".
Jeff Dye
8:55 AM Sat 12/12/2009
I do not think in our current culture in the United States that academic success will ever rival that of having a great sports team in a major sport. I lived in Europe and Japan for many years, and there "college" sports are only a minor part of university life.
John Green
2:15 PM Fri 12/11/2009
I now live in Pawhuska, Oklahoma where Paul "Butch" Davis was an assisant high school football coach in 1973 and 74. I have heard that his salary then was about $8800 a year. I think his amazing record and career since then make $2,000,000 a year a reasonable salary for Davis now.
If he stays at UNC and does not take on a job with a bigger program, or his alma mater, Arkansas, UNC should be a top 10 team within three years.
Charly Mann
12:21 PM Fri 12/11/2009
There are many organizations which rank universities by academic standing. Overall UNC averages #39 for the United States and #78 worldwide. As a state supported college it is considered #5 in the US.
Ben Barnes
11:53 AM Fri 12/11/2009
I think UNC should focus on their academic rankings instead of those in football and basketball. Do you know how UNC is ranked overall in that area now?
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Chapel Hill is located on a hill whose only distinguishing feature in the 18th century was a small chapel on top called New Hope Chapel. This church was built in 1752 and is currently the location of The Carolina Inn. The town was founded in 1819, and chartered in 1851.
What is it that binds us to this place as to no other? It is not the well or the bell or the stone walls. or the crisp October nights. No, our love for this place is based upon the fact that it is as it was meant to be, The University of the People.
-- Charles Kuralt
Dark Side of the Hill -- Pink Floyd, the creators of the most popular album in history, Dark Side of the Moon, took the second half of their name from Floyd Council, a Chapel Hill native, and great blues singer and guitarist. He once belonged to a group called "The Chapel Hillbillies".
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Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
Oklahoma Birds and Butterflies
http://oklahomabirdsandbutterflies.com
There would probably be no Chapel Hill if the University of North Carolina Board of Trustees in 1793 had not chosen land across from New Hope Chapel for the location of the university. By 1800 there were about 100 people living in thirty houses surrounding the campus.
The University North Carolina's first student was Hinton James, who enrolled in February, 1795. There is now a dormitory on the campus named in his honor.
The University of North Carolina was closed from 1870 to 1875 because of lack of state funding.
William Ackland left his art collection and $1.25 million to Duke University in 1940 on the condition that he would be buried in the art museum that the University was to build with his bequest. Duke rejected this condition even though members of the Duke Family are buried in Duke Chapel. What followed was a long and acrimonious legal battle between Ackland relatives who now wanted the inheritance, Rollins College, and the University of North Carolina, each attempting to receive the funds. The case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and in 1949 UNC was awarded the money for the museum. Ackland is buried near the museum's entrance. When the museum first opened, in the early sixties, there were rumors that his remains were leaking out of the mausoleum.
The official name of the Arboretum on the University of North Carolina campus is the Coker Arboretum. It is named after Dr. William Cocker, the University's first botany professor. It occupies a little more than five acres. It was founded in 1903.
Chapel Hill's main street has always been called Franklin Street. It was named after Benjamin Franklin in the early 1790s.
Chapel Hill High School and Chapel Hill Junior High were on Franklin Street in the same location as University Square until the mid 1960s.
The Colonial Drug Store at 450 West Franklin Street was owned and operated by John Carswell. It was famous for a fresh-squeezed carbonated orange beverage called a "Big O". In the early 1970s, I managed the Record and Tape Center next door, and must have had over 100 of those drinks. The Colonial Drug Store closed in 1996.
Sutton's Drugstore, which opened in 1923, has one of the last soda fountains in the South. It is one of the few businesses remaining on Franklin Street that was in operation when I was growing up in the 1950s.
Future President Gerald Ford lived in Chapel Hill twice. First when he was 24, in 1938, he took a law couse in summer school at UNC. He lived in the Carr Building, which was a law school dormitory. At the same time, Richard Nixon, the man he served under as Vice President, was attending law school at Duke. In 1942, Ford returned to Chapel Hill to attend the U.S. Navy's Pre-Flight School training program. He lived in a rental house on Hidden Hills Drive.
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I attended that Gator Bowl game. At halftime, the Air Force folks put on a show with two trained falcons. Many of those paying attention, as I was, may have noticed that near the end of the program, one of the falcons flew off ... and never came back to his handler! At least not during halftime.