A Look Back
North Carolina finished the year with a 5-6 record overall and a 4-4 mark in league play, good for fourth in the Coastal Division … 2005 marked the second straight .500 or better season in the ACC and the third overall in the five years under head coach John Bunting … Kyle Ralph started all 11 games at the guard position for the Tar Heels en route to being named first team All-ACC … UNC’s schedule was ranked the fifth-toughest in the country according to Sagarin.
Who’s Gone
The Tar Heels will be without the services of 10 starters from a year ago, including six offensive and four defensive players … eight of those players started in all 11 games for the Tar Heels last season … QB Matt Baker made every start behind center for the Tar Heels, completing 52 percent of his passes for 2,345 yards and nine touchdowns … WR Jarwarski Pollock leaves as UNC’s all-time leading receiver with 177 career catches … on the defensive side, Chase Page, Tommy Davis, Cedrick Holt and Tommy Richardson made a combined 112 career starts … Davis led the team in tackles for loss (10.0) and sacks (8.0), while Richardson tied for the team lead in tackles with 91.
Senior Tailback
Ronnie McGill
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A Look Ahead
A total of 37 lettermen including 12 starters return for North Carolina in 2006 … the team’s top three leading rushers are back in Ronnie McGill (530), Barrington Edwards (397) and Cooter Arnold (187), who were responsible for 99 percent of the total rushing yards (1,116) gained a season ago … seven defensive starters return with at least six career starts including last season’s leading tackler in Larry Edwards and the team’s top two leaders in interceptions - Trimane Goddard (3), Kareen Taylor (2) … Connor Barth and David Wooldridge return handling the field goal kicking and punting responsibilities, respectively.
Numbers
2 – North Carolina was one of two schools in the ACC last season to register a touchdown on kickoff returns and the only school with two … finished second in the ACC averaging 24.9 yards per kickoff return.
14 – Dating back to the 2004 season, UNC has squared-off against 14 ranked opponents over its last 23 games.
42.09 - Career punting average of senior David Wooldridge - good for 14th all-time in ACC annals.
60.9 – WR Jesse Holley led the Tar Heels and ranked sixth in the ACC in receiving yards per game at 60.9 … also led the team in receptions (47) and receiving yards (670) … the senior from Roselle, N.J. is averaging 14.5 yards per reception for his career.
75.7 – After missing the first four games of the 2005 season with an injury, TB Ronnie McGill averaged 75.7 yards per game over the remaining seven games – the fifth highest average in the ACC.
91 – The defensive tandem of Tommy Richardson and Larry Edwards each recorded a team-high 91 tackles a season ago, tying for the seventh most stops in the league … Edwards posted 10 or more tackles in five games last year and 12 times over his three-year career with the Tar Heels.
809 – Brandon Tate was the only freshman in the ACC to rank in the top 10 in both kickoff and punt return average last season … Tate registered 809 total return yards (542 kick return, 267 punt return), the second highest return combination in the league.
On December 11, 2000, John Bunting was named the 32nd head football coach at the University of North Carolina. In his first year as the school’s head coach in 2001, Bunting led the Tar Heels to an 8-5 season, winning eight of their last 10 games and capping the year with a 16-10 victory in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl. Bunting’s eight wins were the most by a first year coach in UNC history and he became only the second coach in school annals to recieve a bowl bid in his first year at the helm. Picked to finish fifth in the 2005 preseason predictions, Bunting led North Carolina to consecutive home wins over ranked opponents for the first time since 1992 and a 4-4 ACC record (5-6 overall), good for fourth in the standings. In 2004, Bunting led the Tar Heels to a 6-6 overall mark, including a 5-3 conference record, tying them for third place in the league. North Carolina concluded the 2004 regular season by winning three of its final four games, including a 31-28 victory over Miami. Bunting is the first Carolina alum and first UNC football letterwinner to become the Tar Heel football coach since Jim Tatum in 1956. As a linebacker, Bunting was a three-year starter who helped lead Carolina to back-to-back bowl games in 1970 and 1971. After earning All-ACC and honorable-mention All-America honors in 1971, Bunting was drafted in the 10th round by the Philadelphia Eagles. Bunting went on to start 119 of 133 career NFL games. In 1980, he was a key factor as the Eagles played in Super Bowl XV against the Oakland Raiders. In 1987, Bunting became an assistant at Division III Glassboro State (now Rowan). The following season he was elevated to head coach, a position he held for five years, and led the Profs to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in school history. In 1992, Bunting’s final season, Rowan finished 12-1 and advanced to the semifinals before falling to Washington and Jefferson. Bunting started his NFL coaching career in 1993 with the Kansas City Chiefs. In 1997, Bunting became the linebackers coach with the St. Louis Rams, where one year later he was promoted to the co-defensive coordinator position. Following the 1999 season, Bunting moved on to New Orleans as the linebackers coach.
