No. 16: 1963
Our series ranking the 20 best UNC football teams of all time continues today. Once this series concludes, we will rank the best UNC basketball teams of all time:
No. 16: 1963
Record: 9-2 (6-1)
Bowl: Gator Bowl, beat Air Force 35-0
Ranking: 19
Coach: Jim Hickey
All-Americans: Bob Lacey (E)
First-Team All-ACC: Bob Lacey, E, Ken Willard, HB, Chris Hanburger, C, Junior Edge, QB
Honors: Jim Hickey ACC Coach of the Year
What's To Know: The worst decade in UNC football history occurred in the 1950s with the 60s a close second. The only quality team Carolina put on the field that decade also won the ACC title in 1963 and cruised to an impressive bowl victory. With eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer Chris Hanburger at linebacker on defense and center on offense and All-America end Bob Lacey and running back Ken Willard, the overall No. 2 pick in the 1965 NFL draft, on offense, the veteran Tar Heels won the ACC championship by handling most of their foes with relative ease. They were a tough, smart, experienced bunch that was seemingly built over time for such success.
The '63 Heels lost at home to Clemson, 11-7, but allowed total 38 points in their other six ACC games. Nonconference wins included over Georgia and Miami. The notable blemish on the schedule was a 31-0 loss at Michigan State, which finished the season No. 10 in the nation, and that was a stretch in which the Spartans were entering their most successful run in program history.
The importance of the 1963 Tar Heels might be a bit lost in time to many UNC fans, but between the end of the Charlie Justice era to the start of the Bill Dooley regime, this was the only real bright spot in Carolina football, and for that they should be widely celebrated.
1964 NFL Draft
6th Rnd: Bob Lacey, WR, Vikings
16th Rnd: Ed Kesler, FB, Steelers