Customer Reviews

Tar Heel: North Carolina Football

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To me, Tar Heel: North Carolina Football is one of the greatest all-time classics to ever document the history and development of any college football team. I once had this book when I was a very young, big time Tarheel fan and now wish that I, though now an erstwhile supporter, had it today.

In the book are highlighted stories and photographs about the early days of the Tarheels all the way up to their 1975 season. Included are all the pitfalls and triumphs of a well-storied program. Anyone who is interested in not just Tarheel sports history but sports history in general should get a copy of this and read.

Rappoport did a nice chapter-by-chapter sequence, bringing forth names of the great and not quite so great contributors to the Tar Heel football program. Mixed in are nearly romantic narrations concerning the much beloved Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice during the middle-20th century and the rise to prominence in ACC football with head coach Bill Dooley (who was head coach at the time of publication) and his rivalry with then-NCSU "Cardiac Pack" coach, Lou Holtz.

There are some humorous elements in the book, especially at the beginning. As one thumbs through the photographic pages, especially as the reader proceeds from the 1895 football team to that of 1908, a caption is made under the picture of one of the latter teams stressing the look of the nice varsity sweaters that the team members were able to finally don. And it is quite interesting to see how different the game was then, say nothing of the uniforms and lack of padding.

It is often debated that the Notre Dame football teams of yesteryear have been the last college program of any sport that people all over America would love to hate up until Mike Krzyzewski's Duke Blue Devils of college basketball in the last fifteen years. That bit of controversy might continue, but Rappoport does provide a glimpse of why Notre Dame was disliked, for there were some seasons where, thanks to the Fighting Irish, the Tarheels and vast numbers of other teams were denied the opportunity of finishing undefeated.

And last, but not least, included are all the scores and the names of all the captains and coaches of the North Carolina football team from its very first game in the 1890's to the very last game played in 1975. Though I graduated from NC State, the rival school, and am now a Wolfpack fan, I am objective enough to point out that the Tarheels have a rich history in the sport of football that I think needs to be readdressed, especially since it has, in many ways, been eclipsed in the past few decades by a more prominent basketball program starting under the helm of Frank McGuire and Dean Smith.