North Carolina Tar Heels football
2025 North Carolina Tar Heels football team
First season	1888; 137 years ago
Athletic director	Bubba Cunningham
General manager	Michael Lombardi
Head coach	Bill Belichick 1st season, 1–1 (.500)
Stadium	Kenan Stadium (capacity: 50,500[1])
Field	Chris Smith Field
Field surface	Tahoma 31 Grass
Location	Chapel Hill, North Carolina
NCAA division	Division I FBS
Conference	ACC (since 1953)
Division	Coastal (2005–2019, 2021–2022)
Past conferences	Independent (1888–1921, discontinuously) SIAA (1892–1893, part of 1894, 1899–1902) SoCon (1922–1952)
All-time record	736–577–54 (.558)
Bowl record	15–22 (.405)
Conference titles	8 (5 ACC: 1963, 1971, 1972, 1977, 1980 3 SoCon: 1922, 1946, 1949)
Division titles	2 (2015, 2022)
Rivalries	NC State (rivalry) Duke (rivalry) Virginia (rivalry) Wake Forest (rivalry) South Carolina (rivalry)
Consensus All-Americans	15
Current uniform
Colors	Carolina blue and white[2]
Fight song	I'm a Tar Heel Born
Mascot	Rameses
Marching band	The Marching Tar Heels
Outfitter	Jordan Brand[3]
Website	goheels.com

The North Carolina Tar Heels football team (often known as the "Tar Heels", "North Carolina" or simply "Carolina") represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in the sport of American football. They are members of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

North Carolina has played in 37 bowl games in its history, winning three Southern Conference championships and five Atlantic Coast Conference titles. Thirty Tar Heel players have been honored as first-team All-Americans. Carolina had 32 All-Southern Conference selections when it played in that league until 1952 and since joining the ACC in 1953, has had 174 first-team All-ACC choices.^[4] Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953, the team has won five conference championships, with the most recent title coming in 1980.

One of the first uses of the forward pass occurred in an 1895 Carolina game against the Georgia Bulldogs. This was one of the play's first uses prior to its legalization in 1906. The team uses "I'm a Tar Heel Born" as its official fight song and Rameses as its mascot. Carolina football's fiercest and most important rivalry is with the NC State Wolfpack. Their rivalry with the Virginia Cavaliers, referred to as the "South's Oldest Rivalry", is also significant.

While not a consistent football powerhouse, the Carolina football program has had intermittent success and has featured a number of players who have gone on to play in the National Football League, including Lawrence Taylor, Charlie Justice, Chris Hanburger, Ken Willard, Don McCauley, William Fuller, Harris Barton, Jeff Saturday, Alge Crumpler, Willie Parker, Greg Ellis, Dré Bly, Julius Peppers, Hakeem Nicks, T.J. Yates, Mitch Trubisky, Sam Howell, Javonte Williams, Josh Downs and Drake Maye.^[5]