2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

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.

2018 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Division	Coastal
Record	2–9 (1–7 ACC)
Head coach	Larry Fedora (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Chris Kapilovic (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	John Papuchis (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captain	Malik Carney, Michael Carter, Nathan Elliott, Cole Holcomb, Thomas Jackson
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
Uniform
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings

v t e	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

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

Award	Player	Position	Year
Doak Walker Award[3]	Michael Carter	RB	SO
John Mackey Award[4]	Carl Tucker	TE	JR
Paul Hornung Award[5]	Anthony Ratliff-Williams	WR/KR	JR
Wuerffel Trophy[6]	Kyle Murphy	LS	SR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award[7]	Nathan Elliott	QB	JR

ACC media poll

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

Media poll (Coastal)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Miami	998 (122)
2	Virginia Tech	838 (16)
3	Georgia Tech	654 (8)
4	Duke	607 (1)
5	Pittsburgh	420
6	North Carolina	370 (1)
7	Virginia	257

Schedule

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

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	4:00 p.m.	at California*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA	FOX	L 17–24	42,168[9]
September 8	3:30 p.m.	at East Carolina*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPNU	L 19–41	39,268[9]
September 15	12:00 p.m.	No. 18 UCF*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPNU	Cancelled[a]
September 22	12:20 p.m.	Pittsburgh	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN	W 38–35	44,168[9]
September 27	8:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Miami (FL)	Hard Rock Stadium Miami Gardens, FL	ESPN	L 10–47	60,845[9]
October 13	7:00 p.m.	Virginia Tech	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ESPNU	L 19–22	50,500[9]
October 20	12:20 p.m.	at Syracuse	Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY	ACCN	L 37–40 2OT	35,210[9]
October 27	12:20 p.m.	at Virginia	Scott Stadium Charlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry)	ACCN	L 21–31	43,128[9]
November 3	12:00 p.m.	Georgia Tech	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN	L 28–38	40,782[9]
November 10	12:20 p.m.	at Duke	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC (Victory Bell)	ACCN	L 35–42	35,493[9]
November 17	3:00 p.m.	Western Carolina*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCN Extra	W 49–26	41,151[9]
November 24	12:20 p.m.	NC State	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	ACCN	L 28–34 OT	41,510[9]
*Non-conference game Homecoming 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

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	0	0	3	14	17
Golden Bears	7	10	7	0	24

See also: 2018 California Golden Bears football team

At East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	6	13	0	0	19
Pirates	7	14	7	13	41

See also: 2018 East Carolina Pirates football team

Pittsburgh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	21	0	7	35
Tar Heels	7	14	17	0	38

See also: 2018 Pittsburgh Panthers football team

At Miami (FL)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	10	0	0	0	10
No. 16 Hurricanes	14	19	0	14	47

See also: 2018 Miami Hurricanes football team

Virginia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hokies	7	0	7	8	22
Tar Heels	6	3	7	3	19

See also: 2018 Virginia Tech Hokies football team

At Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Tar Heels	7	0	17	3	7	3	37
Orange	0	13	7	7	7	6	40

See also: 2018 Syracuse Orange football team

At Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	7	7	0	7	21
Cavaliers	14	3	7	7	31

See also: 2018 Virginia Cavaliers football team and South's Oldest Rivalry

Georgia Tech

	1	2	3	4	Total
Yellow Jackets	7	14	7	10	38
Tar Heels	7	3	10	8	28

See also: 2018 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team

At Duke

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tar Heels	14	14	0	7	35
Blue Devils	14	21	7	0	42

See also: 2018 Duke Blue Devils football team and Victory Bell (Duke–North Carolina)

Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	7	9	3	7	26
Tar Heels	14	21	14	0	49

See also: 2018 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

NC State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Wolfpack	7	0	14	7	6	34
Tar Heels	0	6	15	7	0	28

See also: 2018 NC State Wolfpack football team and North Carolina–NC State football rivalry

Coaching staff

North Carolina Tar Heels
Name	Position	Consecutive season at North Carolina in current position	Previous position
Larry Fedora	Head coach	7th	Southern Miss head coach (2008–2011)
Deke Adams	Defensive line coach	2nd	East Carolina defensive line coach (2016)
Henry Baker	Cornerbacks coach	1st	Rutgers cornerbacks coach (2017)
Mike Ekeler	Linebackers coach	2nd	North Texas defensive coordinator and linebackers coach (2016)
Robert Gillespie	Running backs coach	1st	Tennessee running backs coach (2013–2017)
Keith Heckendorf	Quarterbacks coach	5th	Arkansas State tight ends coach (2014)
Chris Kapilovic	Associate head coach, offensive coordinator, and offensive line coach	4th	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 coach	1st	Arkansas State special teams coordinator and outside wide receivers coach (2017)
Chad Scott	Tight ends coach	3rd	Kentucky running backs coach (2014–2015)
Tommy Thigpen	Safeties coach	1st	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

See also: 2019 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
5	173	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. "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.