2003 North Carolina Tar Heels football team

2003 North Carolina Tar Heels football
2003 North Carolina Tar Heels football
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
Record	2–10 (1–7 ACC)
Head coach	John Bunting (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Gary Tranquill (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Dave Huxtable (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captain	Dexter Reid, Jeb Terry, D. J. Walker
Home stadium	Kenan Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach John Bunting, the Tar Heels played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. North Carolina finished the season 2–10 overall and 1–7 in ACC play to place last out of nine teams.

2003 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 11 Florida State $	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 17 Maryland	6	–	2	10	–	3
No. 22 Clemson	5	–	3	9	–	4
NC State	4	–	4	8	–	5
Virginia	4	–	4	8	–	5
Georgia Tech	4	–	4	7	–	6
Wake Forest	3	–	5	5	–	7
Duke	2	–	6	4	–	8
North Carolina	1	–	7	2	–	10

$ – BCS representative as conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	8:00 p.m.	No. 13 Florida State	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ABC	L 0–37	59,800
September 6	1:30 p.m.	Syracuse*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		L 47–49 ^3OT	47,000
September 20	11:00 a.m.	at Wisconsin*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	L 27–38	77,439
September 27	2:00 p.m.	at NC State	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC (rivalry)		L 34–47	53,800
October 4	1:30 p.m.	Virginia	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (South's Oldest Rivalry)		L 13–38	51,000
October 11	3:30 p.m.	at East Carolina*	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC		W 28–17	44,040	^[1]
October 18	1:30 p.m.	Arizona State*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC		L 31–33	42,000
October 25	12:00 p.m.	at Clemson	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	JPS	L 28–36	77,512
November 1	12:00 p.m.	at Maryland	Byrd Stadium College Park, MD	JPS	L 21–59	51,195
November 8	12:00 p.m.	Wake Forest	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (rivalry)	JPS	W 42–34	35,000
November 15	12:00 p.m.	at Georgia Tech	Bobby Dodd Stadium Atlanta, GA	JPS	L 24–41	52,346
November 22	1:00 p.m.	Duke	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC (Victory Bell)		L 22–30	48,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Name	Position ^[2]	Seasons in Position
John Bunting	Head coach	3rd
Gunter Brewer	Wide Receivers	4th
Ken Browning	Tight Ends	10th
Jeff Connors	Strength and conditioning coordinator	3rd
Jim Fleming	Defensive Backs	2nd
Hal Hunter	Offensive Line	2nd
Dave Huxtable	Defensive coordinator / Linebackers	3rd
Brad Lawing	Defensive Line / recruiting coordinator	1st
Andre' Powell	Running backs	3rd
Gary Tranquill	Offensive coordinator / quarterbacks	3rd
James Webster, Jr.	Assistant head coach/ special teams coordinator	3rd
Matt House	Defensive Assistant	1st

^ "Heels step up". The News and Observer. October 12, 2003. Retrieved March 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ""2003 North Carolina Football Media Guide". University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Department of Athletics. July 29, 2003. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved February 16, 2008.