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Mack Brown still has some magic within his coaching fiber, as North Carolina fans have seen in the 20 months since he took over the Tar Heels’ program for a second tour of duty in Chapel Hill.

Carolina went just 7-6 a year ago, but considering the losses were by a combined 24 points and one was by a single point to eventual national runner-up Clemson, and that UNC outscored its last three opponents by a score of 152-30, there’s no denying it was a successful season on the field for the Tar Heels.

Then add the program’s amazing work on the recruiting trail, first landing the No. 16 class in the nation for the incoming freshmen and currently having the No. 10 class for 2021, and UNC football is scorching hot and on the national radar right now.

Brown has been here before, though. His first stint at Carolina lasted 10 years and included five teams that finished nationally ranked, including two among the top-10. His teams went 69-46-1.

So, with fall camp almost here and expectations high for what the Tar Heels can accomplish this season and moving forward under Brown and his staff, here is a look at the five best UNC football teams Brown has coached:

Here is Part II of our ranking of Brown’s 10 teams during his first stint at North Carolina:

The Tar Heels opened the season 5-1 and were ranked no lower than No. 18 until Halloween before finally falling out of the poll during the second week of November. Wins over TCU, N.C. State and a thrilling 41-40 escape at Duke highlighted the season, and a 31-18 loss at Florida State didn’t hurt UNC’s growing reputation. But a 35-31 loss to Texas in the Sun Bowl prompted Brown to make some changes to the defense, and after a decent transitional year in 1995, Carolina had the top defense in the nation in 1996 and 1997. UNC finished ranked No. 21 in the coaches’ poll.

This was the team that elevated the program another level early in Brown’s building process. It had attitude, was fast and quick, explosive at times on offense and it was a terrific team. The Heels opened with a lopsided win at Wake Forest and won their first three games. They picked up consecutive home wins over ranked teams (Virginia and Georgia Tech) and entered the national rankings the week of a win at Maryland on Halloween. Decisive losses at FSU and Clemson were opportunities to learn from, which came in handy when the Tar Heels defeated No. 24 Mississippi State in the Peach Bowl. Some might recall it as the night Bracey Walker silenced MSU fans’ noisy cowbells. The Heels won five of their last six games and finished the season ranked No. 19.

A 31-9 season-opening win over Southern Cal in Anaheim, CA, was one of Brown’s best wins and significantly enhanced the program’s national reputation. The Heels scored 44 and 59 points the next two weeks opening with a 3-0 mark. Following a 33-7 home loss to Florida State, the Heels cruised to four consecutive wins scoring 40-plus points three times and 35 in the other. A seven-point loss at ranked UVA was followed by three wins over Clemson (24-0), at Tulane and against Duke before Carolina lost to Alabama in the Gator Bowl. The Heels finished the season ranked No. 19.

Clemson may have been a bit down, but UNC opening that season with a 45-0 win over the Tigers was an enormous statement regardless of where Clemson’s program was at the time. A win at No. 9 Syracuse the following week and shutout of Georgia Tech preceded a 13-0 loss at Florida State on an afternoon the Tar Heels allowed the highly-potent Seminoles to just 213 total yards and seven first downs. Convincing victories at Wake Forest and Houston and at home over Maryland, N.C. State and Louisville had the Heels humming until a 20-17 loss in mid-November at Virginia. UNC, ranked No. 6 in the nation at the time, led 17-3 in the fourth quarter. A win at Duke and over ranked West Virginia in the Gator Bowl pushed Carolina into the top 10 of the final rankings setting up perhaps the most hyped season in UNC football history.

This was supposed to be the year UNC football pushed through and landed squarely in the center of the national landscape. If the Tar Heels were going to contend for a national championship, this was the team to do so.

The Tar Heels were loaded on both sides of the ball, but especially on defense. They were the best defensive team in the nation, had three first-round NFL draft picks the following spring (plus a host of others who played in the NFL), Dre’ Bly turned in perhaps the best season for a freshman on defense ever in the ACC and Carolina lost just once.

Only two teams scored more than 17 points against UNC, and in those games, the Heels overcame a 20-3 deficit to beat Virginia 48-20, and then in the biggest college football game ever played in the state, Carolina lost at home to FSU 20-3. In that game, dubbed “Judgement Day” by ESPN, which included the GameDay crew doing their show in Chapel Hill, the Heels didn’t surrender much to the Seminoles, but didn’t move the ball much, either.

Otherwise, the Heels dominated the competition winning non-ACC games against Indiana, Stanford, at TCU, plus important road league wins a N.C. State, Georgia Tech and Clemson. UNC clobbered Virginia Tech in the Gator Bowl, 42-3, though Brown left for Texas a few weeks before that game was played. Carolina finished Nos. 4 & 6 in the two major polls.