The 2016 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

2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 26, 2016 and ended on Dec ...

. The team was led by fifth-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 Kenan Memorial Stadium is a stadium located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and is the home field of the North Carolina Tar Heels. It is primarily used for football. The stadium opened in 1927 and holds 50,500 people. It is located near the center ...

. The Tar Heels finished the season 8–5 overall and 5–3 in ACC play to place in a three-way tie for second in the Coastal Division. They were invited to the

Sun Bowl The Sun Bowl is a college football bowl game that has been played since 1935 in the southwestern United States at El Paso, Texas. Along with the Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl, it is the second-oldest bowl game in the country, behind the Rose Bowl. ...

, where they lost to

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

Recruiting

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association ( ...

was on February 3, 2016 and was the first chance for high school seniors to officially declare which university or college they will be attending for their college career. North Carolina had 26 high school seniors sign a

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 football with them. Of the class, 7 athletes enrolled early to UNC. ^These signees will not be enrolling at UNC in 2016 due to not being admitted into the school.

Schedule

Personnel

North Carolina head coach

enters his fifth year as the North Carolina's head coach for the 2016 season. At the end of the 2015 season, assistant head coach,

Seth Littrell James Seth Littrell (born July 24, 1978) is an American football coach and former player. He was the head coach of the North Texas Mean Green football team from 2016–2022. Early life Littrell was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and attended Musk ...

, was hired as the head coach at

North Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

. As a result, co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, Chris Kapilovic, was promoted to offensive coordinator, and will retain his role as offensive line coach. Former Tar Heel player, Chad Scott, was hired to replace Littrell as the tight ends/hybrids coach.

Roster

Game summaries

vs. Georgia

at Illinois

James Madison

Pittsburgh

at Florida State

Virginia Tech

at Miami (FL)

at Virginia

Georgia Tech

at Duke

The Citadel

NC State

Stanford–Sun Bowl

Rankings

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

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 ...