(Note: THI is naming the greatest former UNC football or basketball player from each of the 50 states. The criteria is the player had to live in the state he represents at some point before arriving at UNC. The duration doesn’t matter, he just had to live there. College and pro careers were factored with a lean toward their UNC accomplishments.)
John Bunting went to high school in Maryland and spent most of his years growing up in the Washington, D.C., suburbs, but he was born in Maine and to this day spends his summers in a cottage in the northern most eastern state in the union.
Therefore, Bunting, who starred at UNC as a player, spent 11 years in the NFL as a player, won a Super Bowl as a defensive coordinator and was UNC’s head coach for six seasons, is the Maine representative in this series.
Bunting’s legacy is too tied to his six years as the football program’s head coach, though there are some things he can proudly hang his hat. Bunting remains the only UNC football coach to ever defeat a top five team, and he did it twice.
His first win as UNC’s coach came on Sept. 22, 2001, when the Tar Heels thrashed No. 5 Florida State, 41-9. Then, on Oct. 30, 2004, freshman Connor Barth converted a 42-yard field goal as time expired lifting the Tar Heels to a 31-28 victory over No. 4 Miami. Both wins came at Kenan Stadium.
Now, the Tar Heels suffered some of the worst losses in school history under Bunting, and his final record at his alma mater was 27-45 overall, including 18-30 in ACC play. He led the Heels to a 1-1 record in bowl games.
Bunting understood it was a struggle more often than not as UNC’s head coach, but a few years later he had a sense of humor about it, he was also proud of some positives, too.
“Just getting the opportunity. We maybe didn’t have the greatest program and win enough ball games, but we certainly had the best radio show in the country,” Bunting said, laughing and remembering Rita from South Carolina. “I had a ball… Rita, absolutely, a special lady.
“We did a lot of things great for that program. We got the recruiting turned around, we won some big games. I think it’s important to have a tough schedule, it’s important to play tough teams and not soften up your program.”
As a player, however, Bunting was a big-time winner. In three seasons (freshmen were ineligible at the time), the Tar Heels went 5-5 his sophomore season, 8-4 in 1970 and 9-3 in 1971, which included winning the ACC championship. A three-year starter at linebacker, Bunting was All-ACC as a senior.
While UNC’s head coach, Bunting often appeared more comfortable telling stories about his playing days as a Tar Heel. He even noted his fondest memory as a player during the press conference announcing his hiring as the program’s head coach.
“This ring is very, very important to me," Bunting said, pointing to the Super Bowl ring on his finger. "It represents a lot of hard work and a lot of good people sharing in one common goal to get something done that's important.
"But I can tell you this, this ring right here is just as important to me: my 1971 ACC championship ring that I won with a bunch of hard-working guys who had one common goal. And that's what we're going to look to get done here."
He then spent 11 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles where he started in Super Bowl XV and as a longtime assistant NFL coach, he was the St. Louis Rams’ defensive coordinator when they won Super Bowl XXXIV.
Bunting, who spends half of every year in Maine, wasn’t a great head coach by any means, but he still did something no other UNC coach has, and he was a terrific player who had a very nice pro career. And because he was born there, that makes him the greatest Tar Heel ever from the state of Maine.
