Rank’ Em: UNC Football Coaches Since 1959

#1 – Bill Dooley (1967-1977) Record 69-53 (.560) – ACC Coach of the Year 1971 – 3 Conference championships (1971, 1972, 1977).

Dooley is the most decorated of the Carolina coaches on this list with three conference championships and six bowl game appearances. The team struggled the first few seasons under him until the 1970 squad went

8-4 and qualified for the Peach Bowl. The next two seasons saw UNC win the ACC with a 9-3 record in ’71 and 11-1 record in ’72. The ’72 team was the only team under Dooley to win a bowl game with a 32-28 victory over Texas Tech in the Sun Bowl. That team was the most successful of the Dooley era with a final ranking of #12 in the Associated Press and #14 in the coaches’ poll. The Tar Heels won the ACC in Dooley’s final season of 1977 with a final record of 8-3-1.

Dooley went on to have a successful run in coaching after his time in UNC was over. He finished his career with 162 victories overall. He coached at Virginia Tech from 1978-1986 where he went 63-38-1 and followed it with a sub-par run at Wake Forest from 1987-1992 going 29-36-2. He finished tied with the second most victories of any coach (Mack Brown) in Carolina history and won three conference titles in 11 seasons. His resume builds the strongest argument for “best coach” since 1959 to the North Carolina football program.

As always I want to hear the UNC football die-hard fans’ opinions of this list. What you like, what you dislike, how you rank ’em, etc.