The Tar Heels are the football team of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the NCAA and play in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
North Carolina has won 8 conference titles, including 3 Southern Conference Championships and 5 ACC Championships. The College Football Hall of Fame has seen 8 Tar Heel players and coaches inducted, and the team has contested 35 bowl games in its history.
American football history was made in North Carolina in in 1895, when the Tar Heels became the first team to use the forward pass in a game against the Georgia Bulldogs.
The nickname "Tar Heel" is widely used for the state of North Carolina as a whole, and for all the sports teams at the University. It dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries, when the state was a major producer of tar and turpentine. "Tar heel" became a common way to refer to the poor labourers in these industries, and was embraced by North Carolina soldiers during the Civil War.
The Tar Heels play their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium.
