2007 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

2007 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Conference Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal
2007 record 4-8 (3-5 ACC)
Head coach Butch Davis
Offensive coordinator John Shoop
Offensive scheme Pro style
Defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano
Base defense 4-3
Home stadium Kenan Memorial Stadium
Uniform
Seasons
« 2006 2008 »
2007 ACC football standings
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 college football season. The team was led by first year coach Butch Davis.

Contents

Previous season

See also: 2006 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

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 Butch Davis was highly interested in the job vacancy."[2] Athletic director Dick Baddour put the rumors to rest 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 upcomingfootball 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

Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance
September 1 6:00 p.m. James Madison* Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC ESPN360 W 37-14   58,500
September 8 6:00 p.m. at East Carolina* Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium • Greenville, NC CSTV L 34-31   43,387
September 15 12:00 p.m. Virginia Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC (South's Oldest Rivalry) Raycom / LF L 22-20   58,000
September 22 12:00 p.m. at #24 South Florida* Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL ESPN L 37-10   37,693
September 29 12:00 p.m. at #14 Virginia Tech Lane Stadium/Worsham Field • Blacksburg, VA Raycom / LF L 17-10   66,233
October 6 12:00 p.m. Miami Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC ESPN2 W 33-27   59,000
October 13 3:30 p.m. #12 South Carolina* Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC abc L 21-15   61,000
October 27 12:00 p.m. at Wake Forest BB&T Field • Winston-Salem, NC Raycom / LF L 37-10   33,023
November 3 3:45 p.m. Maryland Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC ESPNU W 16-13   56,000
November 10 12:00 p.m. at North Carolina State Carter-Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC Raycom / LF L 31-27   57,583
November 17 12:00 p.m. at Georgia Tech Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field • Atlanta, GA Raycom / LF L 27-25   45,490
November 24 3:30 p.m. Duke Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell Game) ESPNU W 20-14 OT  52,000
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to 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. ^ "UNC's Bunting out at end of season." newsobserver.com. Retrieved on 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." 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." tarheelblue.com. Retrieved on March 4, 2007.
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