The 2013 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...

as a member of Coastal Division of the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC) during the

2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 29, 2013 and ended on Dece ...

. The team was led by second-year head coach

Larry Fedora Herbert Lawrence Fedora (born September 10, 1962) is an American football coach and former player who is the former coach and general manager for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL). He previously served as head c ...

and played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium. The Tar Heels finished the season 7–6 overall and 4–4 in ACC play to place fifth in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the

Belk Bowl The Duke’s Mayo Bowl is an annual college football bowl game that has been played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2002. The game currently features a matchup between a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) ...

, where they defeated

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Before the season

Previous season

In his first year as head coach in a season that the UNC football team was ineligible for the ACC title, a bowl game and a ranking in the USA Today Coaches' Poll,

led the team to an 8–4 record. The offense finished the season ranked 14th out of 120 teams in terms of total yards per game. The defense finished the season ranked 56th out of 120 teams in terms of opponent total yards per game. North Carolina had at least eight victories in four of the five years from 2008 to 2012. The eight wins in 2008 and 2009 were vacated due to NCAA penalty. The last time North Carolina had more than eight victories was in 1997.

Spring practice

Marquise Williams, Bryn Renner's backup quarterback in the 2012 season, was not enrolled in classes at UNC in the spring semester. UNC coach Larry Fedora said Williams may re-enroll at UNC during the summer. After the spring football game in April 2013, Fedora said that if the season started, early enrollee freshman quarterback

Mitch Trubisky Mitchell David Trubisky (born August 20, 1994) is an American football quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina and was drafted second overall by the Chicago ...

would be the second-string quarterback.

Recruiting

Prior to National Signing Day, four high school players that graduated early and received scholarship offers to play football at North Carolina enrolled for the spring semester, allowing them to participate in spring practice. These included: quarterback Mitch Trubisky, wide receiver Jordan Fieulleteau, running back Kris Francis, and offensive tackle

R. J. Prince Roger Darin "R. J." Prince Jr. (born April 19, 1995) is an American football offensive guard who is a free agent. He played college at North Carolina before going undrafted to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2018. Professional career Pittsburgh Stee ...

. On February 6, 2013 thirteen additional players signed their

National Letter of Intent National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

to play at North Carolina that completed the 2013 recruiting class. Based on the March 2012 sanctions from the NCAA, North Carolina could only sign a maximum of 20 players per year for the next two years versus the regular limit of 25. North Carolina's recruiting class was highlighted by five players from the "

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

300": No. 118 Brian Walker (CB); No. 159 Greg Webb (DT); No. 194 Johnathan Howard (WR); No. 219 Mitch Trubisky (QB); No. 275 Jordan Fieulleteau (WR). The Tar Heels signed the No. 42 recruiting class according to ''

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

'' and the No. 29 recruiting class according to ''

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

''. ESPN had North Carolina's class as the No. 21 recruiting class in the nation.

Personnel

Coaching staff

North Carolina head coach

entered his second year as the North Carolina's head coach for the 2013 season. After his first year of coaching, Fedora led the Tar Heels to an eight wins and four losses, but post season ineligibility ended their season after their final regular season game. Defensive line coach Deke Adams left the Tar Heels to coach the same position at

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. On February 5, 2013, Illinois defensive line coach Keith Gilmore was hired to replace Deke Adams. David Duggan the outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator left North Carolina for Southern Mississippi after one season of coaching. Larry Fedora then hired Arizona State coach Ron West to become the new co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Returning starters

Depth chart

Schedule

NFL Draft

Five former players were selected in the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

References

{{North Carolina Tar Heels football navbox

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

North Carolina Tar Heels football seasons Duke's Mayo Bowl champion seasons

North Carolina Tar Heels football The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the sport of American football or Gridiron Football. The Tar Heels play in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate ...