Rank’ Em: UNC Football Coaches Since 1959

#5 – Jim Hickey (1959-1966) Record: 36-45 (.444) ACC Coach of the Year 1963 – 1 Conference championship (1963)

Hickey took over for North Carolina in 1959 after the death of Jim Tatum in the summer of 1959. He spent eight seasons as head coach seeing a decent amount of success during his tenure. The team finished the season in 1963 as the ACC champions with a 9-2 overall record. They defeated Air Force 35-0 in the Gator Bowl.

Following the 1963 season where he was the ACC coach-of-the-year and the team won the conference they had three straight sub-par seasons (1964: 5-5, 1965: 4-6, 1966: 2-8).  The team finished in 8th place in the ACC with a 2-8 record in 1966 which ultimately led the Hickey being dismissed.

He was the fifth UNC head coach to win a conference championship, but first when the team moved to the ACC. He was also the first to win  a coach-of-the-year award. He never coached again after he finished at North Carolina, but did serve as the athletic director at the University of Connecticut from 1966-1969. His overall coaching record was 63-56-4.