# 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.
On November 25, one day after the conclusion of the season, Fedora was fired. 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.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Doak Walker Award | Michael Carter | RB | SO |
| John Mackey Award | Carl Tucker | TE | JR |
| Paul Hornung Award | Anthony Ratliff-Williams | WR/KR | JR |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Kyle Murphy | LS | SR |
| Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award | 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.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 4:00 p.m. | at California* | California Memorial StadiumBerkeley, CA | FOX | L 17–24 | 42,168 |
| September 8 | 3:30 p.m. | at East Carolina* | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNU | L 19–41 | 39,268 |
| September 15 | 12:00 p.m. | No. 18 UCF* | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ESPNU | Cancelled | |
| September 22 | 12:20 p.m. | Pittsburgh | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ACCN | W 38–35 | 44,168 |
| September 27 | 8:00 p.m. | at No. 16 Miami (FL) | Hard Rock StadiumMiami Gardens, FL | ESPN | L 10–47 | 60,845 |
| October 13 | 7:00 p.m. | Virginia Tech | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ESPNU | L 19–22 | 50,500 |
| October 20 | 12:20 p.m. | at Syracuse | Carrier DomeSyracuse, NY | ACCN | L 37–40 $^{2OT}$ | 35,210 |
| October 27 | 12:20 p.m. | at Virginia | Scott StadiumCharlottesville, VA (South's Oldest Rivalry) | ACCN | L 21–31 | 43,128 |
| November 3 | 12:00 p.m. | Georgia Tech | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ACCN | L 28–38 | 40,782 |
| November 10 | 12:20 p.m. | at Duke | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC (Victory Bell) | ACCN | L 35–42 | 35,493 |
| November 17 | 3:00 p.m. | Western Carolina* | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC | ACCN Extra | W 49–26 | 41,151 |
| November 24 | 12:20 p.m. | NC State | Kenan Memorial StadiumChapel Hill, NC (rivalry) | ACCN | L 28–34 $^{OT}$ | 41,510 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||
* ↑ This game was cancelled in anticipation of Hurricane Florence.

## Game summaries
### At California

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

### At East Carolina

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

### Pittsburgh

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

### At Miami (FL)

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

### Virginia Tech

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

### 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 |

### At Virginia

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

### Georgia Tech

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

### At Duke

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

### Western Carolina

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

### NC State

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

## 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

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 5 | 173 | Cole Holcomb | LB | Washington Redskins |