For the Tar Heel faithful:

I truly think that college football is one of the best sports in the world. It is my favorite sport by far, and I never get tired of it. The rivalries, the traditions all make it worth it, IMO.
My team has been a football school ever since college football has been around really. While I do wish that UGa basketball would catch on a little more, I freely admit that UGa is a football school first and foremost.
Having said all of this, why aren't you Tar Heels more into football? I know that your basketball team is the non-probation riddled version of Alabama's football team, but why doesn't your football team get more support? Why aren't you guys fanatical about beating FSU, Clemson, GT, and NC State in football like you are fanatical about beating Duke, Maryland, and Wake Forest in basketball? It is possible to support both sports with a passion. Just look at the Gators. They have a good football and a good basketball team. Why can't UNC be like that? I'd love it if UGa basketball was as popular as UGa football, and we tried to hurry along the process by hiring one of the best basketball minds Jim Harrick. However, that wound up as a fiasco when his son starting putting basketball ahead of grades. I won't condone that action at all. But at least we are trying to make our basketball team more popular. Will UNC try to do with football or will it be viewed as a lost cause with Roy Williams coming aboard for basketball?

Good question. There are a few theories on this....

1. Basketball school -- We've always been a basketball school, in the middle of basketball country. The people around here just seem to care about basketball a little bit more.

2. The # of schools in the state -- The state of North Carolina has 5 Division 1-A football programs, and it also has some strong 1-AA schools. What that means -- in effect -- is that all the public schools in the state split the population for their fanbases. Compare this to, say, Tennessee -- where there is really just UT and then a dook-like Vandy -- and it should be no surprise that UT football is such an institution in Tennessee. There's nobody else to cheer for.

3. "The ratio" -- The girl-to-guy ratio among the student body is over 2-1. That doesn't necessarily mean anything in itself, but a lot of girls (in this area, at least) don't seem to get too excited about football.

4. Inconsistency -- We go through stretches of good and mediocrity, but we haven't hit a really long stretch of greatness. Mack Brown had us on the cusp of greatness when he left.

5. Tailgating -- It seems that a lot of fans are labeled as "true football fans" because of great tailgating. We just don't have a lot of that here. It's not that people here don't love to tailgate (because we do)... but Chapel Hill has an open-container law, and they won't allow tailgating on school property. Thus, people have to find private lots around here to tailgate.

6. UNC marketing department -- They stink. In the last few years, the NC State marketing department has really done a good job of pumping up its football program... which is often at our expense.

Even with all of that, though, the fans here love football more than it seems. I think we get labeled a "basketball school" at the expense of the football program, which isn't exactly fair. We have a good football fanbase even in the shadow of the basketball program. Proof of that should be the fact that our stadium holds 60,000 people. It's not Death Valley, but it ain't exactly shabby either.

Also, our tradition is surprisingly good. We have a good overall record, and we've done relatively well in the ACC. Throughout the 90's, we were the program to beat behind FSU. We also have one of the best venues in college football (Kenan Stadium). Many people consider it one of the most beautiful places to watch a football game.

And, personally, I'm a huge football fan. I love UNC basketball and football equally. There's nothing like going to a UNC football game. I can't wait for next season....

-JD

JD Heel Wrote:Good question.  There are a few theories on this....

1.  Basketball school -- We've always been a basketball school, in the middle of basketball country.  The people around here just seem to care about basketball a little bit more.

2.  The # of schools in the state -- The state of North Carolina has 5 Division 1-A football programs, and it also has some strong 1-AA schools.  What that means -- in effect -- is that all the public schools in the state split the population for their fanbases.  Compare this to, say, Tennessee -- where there is really just UT and then a dook-like Vandy -- and it should be no surprise that UT football is such an institution in Tennessee.  There's nobody else to cheer for.

3.  "The ratio" -- The girl-to-guy ratio among the student body is over 2-1.  That doesn't necessarily mean anything in itself, but a lot of girls (in this area, at least) don't seem to get too excited about football.

4. Inconsistency -- We go through stretches of good and mediocrity, but we haven't hit a really long stretch of greatness.  Mack Brown had us on the cusp of greatness when he left.

5. Tailgating -- It seems that a lot of fans are labeled as "true football fans" because of great tailgating.  We just don't have a lot of that here.  It's not that people here don't love to tailgate (because we do)... but Chapel Hill has an open-container law, and they won't allow tailgating on school property.  Thus, people have to find private lots around here to tailgate.

6. UNC marketing department -- They stink.  In the last few years, the NC State marketing department has really done a good job of pumping up its football program... which is often at our expense.

Even with all of that, though, the fans here love football more than it seems.  I think we get labeled a "basketball school" at the expense of the football program, which isn't exactly fair.  We have a good football fanbase even in the shadow of the basketball program.  Proof of that should be the fact that our stadium holds 60,000 people.  It's not Death Valley, but it ain't exactly shabby either.

Also, our tradition is surprisingly good.  We have a good overall record, and we've done relatively well in the ACC.  Throughout the 90's, we were the program to beat behind FSU.  We also have one of the best venues in college football (Kenan Stadium).  Many people consider it one of the most beautiful places to watch a football game.

And, personally, I'm a huge football fan.  I love UNC basketball and football equally.  There's nothing like going to a UNC football game.  I can't wait for next season....

-JD

What I-AA schools are strong in the state? In Alabama, we really don't have any strong I-AA schools, unless you want to count Alabama A&M, which is more of a mediocre team than a strong team.
Alabama currently has 4 Div IA schools in the state, but in fairness to North Carolina, this has become a recent phenomenon in Alabama. I believe you guys have been dealing with this for some 30 years now, if I'm not mistaken.
I think UNC's biggest problem has been inconsistency. Maybe that's a problem that Coach Bunting can fix??
As for tailgating, it truly is a great experience. Having traveled to Bryant-Denny Stadium for the Tennessee game, I got to see scores and scores of tailgaters. My fraternity brothers and I had to park waaay out of our way due to all of the people on the campus!!! UGa is also known for this. :D
What is the open container law? Is the no tailgating on school property an administration rule or this a Chapel Hill ordinance? Either way, I'd really push to get that changed pronto!!! Maybe that push will come once UNC hits a prolonged stretch of greatness. :)
As for the marketing department, maybe you need to grab some of ours. Just don't take our really good marketers. :)
Glad to hear you're a football fan, JD. Feel free to hang out at the UGa board sometime. :wave:



<!--EDIT|DawgNBama|Apr 23 2003, 06:42 PM-->

Appalachian State is a pretty strong 1-AA program (always in the final four or so of the 1-AA playoffs). And I'm not sure about how good they are, but WCU seems to draw a lot of people in the western part of the state.

As for 1-A.... just looking at other states around the NC, it seems very rare that they have more than two public schools with big fanbases. I mentioned Tennessee, which really has one institution for the entire state. Georgia has UGA and Tech. SC has USC and Clemson. Virginia has UVa and Virginia Tech.

North Carolina has UNC, NC State, and ECU. ECU throws just enough of a wrench in everything to take fans away from both UNC and State, but not quite be a big-time program. And then you can throw in private schools Wake and dook, who -- combined -- would have a pretty decent fanbase. Basically, our state's strong school system has doomed the perception of football in NC.

The open container law is actually a Chapel Hill law -- which says that all open containers of alcohol are prohibited on public property in the town. So, that includes all school property, too. You can get a citation walking from one frat house to another with a cup of beer once you step off the property of the frat and onto public property.

Obviously, this causes a few problems on game-day. Fans want to drink at and around football games. Luckily, Chapel Hill police has lightened up a bit about it on tailgaters. The unwritten rule is that they usually won't bother you if you put it in a cup. Basically, don't flaunt it in front of them and they won't mess with you. As for inside the stadium, a lot of folks just smuggle alcohol in -- tiny airplane bottles, etc.

All in all, it's not a huge deal for those that really want to tailgate except for the fact that it's an annoyance. They'll find a way to make it happen. But, it really causes a lot of folks to not even bother because of all the trouble.

Another thing about tailgating is that Kenan is right in the middle of campus, surrounded by beautiful pine trees. That's great for beauty's sake and convenience to students... but it hurts tailgating and parking. There's just no good place to tailgate near the stadium, so you have to find a place well away from the stadium to do it (and you have to park well away from the stadium anyway). Combine that with the open-container law, and it just kills tailgating.

-JD

How was the fan support in the mid nineties when you had a 10-1 and 8-3 season back to back it seemed really rowdy then, I do know about the 'basketball school' label, that kinda sucks but not for the hoopsters, you campus and stadium seem very cool! I was under the impression Football was pretty big there, perhaps I was wrong, what type of atmosphere do you think will be there when the ASU Sun Devils come to town next season, I guess some of it will depend on the records of both squads, it seems like it will be an exciting and intriguing inter-sectional out of conf matchup, not exactly a team your used to seeing , especially in person, and ASU will bring a style of play different from many of the ACC teams, I think they are probably most like FSU or NC State , Defensively they run the 4-2-5 man D, I think Va Tech runs it as well. Good Luck and I can't wait for the trip to Chapel Hill, unfortunately I probably won't have the time or money to make the roadie, but I will see the game!!