Carl Torbush
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Carl William Torbush (born October 11, 1951 in East Spencer, North Carolina)[1] is a former college football head coach for Louisiana Tech University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is currently the assistant head coach at Carson-Newman College, an NCAA Div. II school in Jefferson City, TN.
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[edit] Assistant positions
He began his career as an assistant coach for the Baylor Bears, and later coached for the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, the Ole Miss Rebels, the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs, the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas A&M Aggies.
[edit] University of North Carolina
After only one year as head coach at Louisiana Tech, Torbush joined the UNC coaching staff in 1988 as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. He was the only member of Mack Brown's original coaching staff to stay throughout Brown's 10-year tenure. He recruited and coached many defensive standouts; his 1995, 1996 and 1997 units led the nation in total defense three years in a row and were often regarded as the best in the country. During his time at UNC, at least one of his linebackers went pro every year. Among his more notable players were Julius Peppers, Brian Simmons, Greg Ellis, and Dré Bly.
After the 1997 season, Brown announced he was moving to the University of Texas. He left the team immediately, and Torbush was named to replace him. He coached the team in the 1997 Gator Bowl, capping off one of the Tar Heels' best seasons ever--an 11-1 season (only the third 11-win season in school history), and their highest ranking in the major media polls in half a century.
Unfortunately, this didn't last. The team never really recovered from an unexpected loss to Miami University to open the 1998 season, in which they barely managed to qualify for the Las Vegas Bowl. The next year was an unmitigated disaster. The team was riddled with injuries, the most devastating one occurring when quarterback Ronald Curry tore his Achilles tendon. The Tar Heels were so thin at quarterback that they were forced to convert safety Antwon Black to quarterback, but he was lost after two games to mononucleosis. After starting the season 1-1, the Tar Heels didn't win another game until beating North Carolina State in November. They finished 3-8. School officials actually planned to fire him after the season, but an outpouring of support from players and fans led to a change of heart. He was, however, forced to fire several members of his staff, including unpopular offensive coordinator Steve Marshall (who had been criticized for being too conservative in his play calling).
The Tar Heels rebounded to finish 6-5 in 2000, but it wasn't enough to save his job; he was fired at the end of the season.
| Year | Record | Bowl game attended |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | *1-0 | Gator Bowl (W) |
| 1998 | 7-5 | Las Vegas Bowl (W) |
| 1999 | 3-8 | |
| 2000 | 6-5 |
*Torbush was the head coach for the final game of the 1997 season as a result of Mack Brown leaving UNC for Texas the week prior to the New Years Day Gator Bowl. North Carolina credits the 1997 regular season to Brown and the Gator Bowl to Torbush.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Mack Brown |
University of North Carolina Head Football Coach 1997– 2000 |
Succeeded by John Bunting |
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