Keeping It Heel
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UNC Football: Is it time to say goodbye to Larry Fedora?

By Brandon Griffin

Sep 3, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart (left) and North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Larry Fedora shake hands after the 2016 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game at Georgia Dome. Georgia won 33-24. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 3, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart (left) and North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Larry Fedora shake hands after the 2016 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game at Georgia Dome. Georgia won 33-24. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 10, 2016; Durham, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Larry Fedora questions an official during a timeout in the first half of their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 10, 2016; Durham, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Larry Fedora questions an official during a timeout in the first half of their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports /

Though Fedora has had the second-most wins in his first five seasons, he’s done it against less than stellar competition.

When those wins get broken down they look much less impressive. Seven of those wins came against FCS schools, four against non Power Five schools, and 18 against ACC schools that finished .500 or worse in ACC play. That means 76 percent of his wins have come against schools that were mediocre at best.

Fedora has also not done well in big games. He is 4-9 against the AP top 25. Only one of those teams, Florida State this season, was ranked in the Top 25 to end the season.

He is 2-6 against Power Five schools. Those two wins both came against Illinois. Finally, he is 1-2 so far in bowl games. When the game has mattered, Fedora has not brought his A-game.

To further emphasize the point, look at Fedora’s record in rivalry games.

He is 5-5 against Duke and State. That includes being 2-3 against the Blue Devils. That is the lowest winning percentage for any UNC coach who coached 10 games against those two schools since Carolina joined the ACC in 1953. The next closest is a .563 win percentage posted by Jim Hickey who stopped coaching in 1966.

To put this into perspective, John Bunting and Carl Torbush went a combined 14-4 against those schools in nine seasons with the Heels. Bunting and Torbush were a combined 44-63 while at UNC. Still, even they knew the value of beating one’s rival.

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