CHAPEL HILL – The greatest North Carolina football team isn’t exactly etched in stone, though general thinking says the 1948 Tar Heels who are the only UNC team to earn a No. 1 ranking and also had the program’s most decorated player, Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice.
The 1997 UNC team that finished No. 6 in the national rankings with an 11-1 overall mark and spent the entire season ranked in the top 10 would certainly get some votes.
It also could be the 1980 Tar Heels. They are UNC's last ACC football championship squad and had the greatest defensive player the sport has ever seen.
Lawrence Taylor changed the game of football unlike anyone who has played the game. And his first position coach in the NFL is now the head coach at Carolina. Bill Belichick probably owes a lot to Taylor for his own percent success.
Taylor was an instant impact player as a rookie with the New York Giants in 1981. In scouting him before the Giants drafted Taylor with the second overall selection in NFL Draft, Belichick scouted him hard. On film and some in person.
“We drafted ‘LT’ in 1981 after the 1980 season,” Belichick said in a press conference in Chapel Hill. “We talked about all the success that they had, especially, defensively with Buddy Curry and Donnell Thompson, all those guys, Paul Davis, amongst guys on the team and those are great teams.
“So, a ton of respect for what's been done here at Carolina. And certainly, that 1980 team gave up 120 points on defense. I mean, pretty good.”
Carolina turned out plenty of NFL players during that period from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s. The 1980 club with Taylor was a landmark group for the UNC program, but again, for Belichick.
Taylor became a star and Belichick got plenty of credit. Two Super Bowl championships as the LB coach and defensive coordinator for the Giants are among Belichick’s many unmatched accomplishments. And who knows, maybe if Belichick spent less time in Chapel Hill and more time elsewhere, New York would have selected someone else.
At the time, that was considered a good year for projected linebackers in the league. Four were selected in the top 10. In addition to Taylor at No. 2 was E.J. Junior (from Alabama) at No. 4, Hugh Green (from Pittsburgh) at No. 7, and Mel Owens (from Michigan) at No. 9. What if Belichick spent more time in Tuscaloosa, Pitt, or Ann Arbor instead of Chapel Hill?
So, it’s not a stretch to say that connection still runs deep for Belichick, along with his longstanding close friendship with Taylor, is partly why he targeted North Carolina at age 72 and canonized for life after winning six more Super Bowls as an NFL head coach.
“You take the trip to Carolina, take some of the other better trips,” Belichick said. “But (UNC General Manager) Michael (Lombardi) and I have made many trips down here to the scout players. I'd say the overall impression is a great place to go to school, great program. But it's been a while since 1980, that was the hay day, really.
“And we got Taylor right after that, the Giants and talked so much about the Tar Heels and their great program. And it kind of hasn't been to that point since. I think there's a lot of pride in this program, and I want to do everything I can here to help take it to the highest level."
That level is one Belichick has experienced firsthand. Plucking the plummest plum from that group was the flint for his historic success, and in a way why he’s a Tar Heel now.
