Position in the Spotlight: North Carolina

The next stop on our Position in the Spotlight tour takes us to North Carolina. Like Nashville, North Carolina is relatively new in the pro sports world. They have 3 teams: the Carolina Panthers, who started in 1995, the Carolina Hurricanes, who moved to North Carolina in 1997, and the Charlotte Bobcats, who started in 2004. They also had the Hornets in the NBA from 1988-2002 before they moved to New Orleans. In their short existences, the Panthers and Hurricanes have enjoyed some success, with the Panthers going to the Super Bowl in 2003 and the Hurricanes winning the 2006 Stanley Cup. But we are forgetting something very important....

North Carolina is crazy about college basketball. The ACC revolves around the state, which has 4 colleges as members. The biggest rivalry in college basketball is Duke and North Carolina, and both teams have large national followings. Both have enjoyed an amazing amount of success, and have had several, long tenured, iconic coaches. So my choice for position in the spotlight is a tie (because they are so tied together), Duke and North Carolina Basketball Head Coaches.

Let's start with Duke. Their first big name head coach was none other than Eddie Cameron, who coached the team from 1929-1942. During his tenure, he won 3 conference championships and Duke's current stadium is named for him. Even more amazing, Cameron coached Duke's football team for a short time as well and was instrumental in helping to create the ACC.

Gerry Gerard and Harold Bradley followed Cameron and won some additional conference championships, but it was Vic Bubas that brought them to the national stage, leading the Blue Devils to 3 Final Four appearances and 4 ACC championships in the 60s. After some rough years in the early 70s, Bill Foster took Duke to the 1978 Final Four.

Duke became a force to be reckoned when current "Coach K" Mike Krzyzewski took over in 1980. In an extremely competitive conference, Coach K has led Duke to 11 conference championships in 29 seasons. Even more impressive, he has taken Duke to the Final Four 10 times and has won 3 national championships. Coach K has become a celebrity of sorts in sports, and he even coached the 2008 USA Olympic basketball team to the gold medal. Whoever replaces Coach K one day will most definitely be in the spotlight.

Now lets head down Tobacco Road to an even more successful ACC program, North Carolina. North Carolina has only had 5 head coaches since 1953, and those coaches have combined to win 27 regular season ACC titles, 17 ACC tournaments, 17 Final Four appearances, and 5 National Championships. The first was Frank McGuire, who coached the team from 1953-1961, and brought home the Tar Heels' first NCAA championship in 1957.

Replacing McGuire was one of the most famous college basketball coaches of all time, Dean Smith. Smith coached the team for 37 years until 1997, leading his team to 11 Final Fours and 2 National Championships. Smith also posted 879 wins as North Carolina head coach, and was able to recruit a ton of spectacular players to play for him, including Michael Jordan. Like Coach K, Smith also led the USA Basketball team to a gold medal.

After Smith retired, he was replaced by his long time assistant Bill Guthridge. Guthridge was already an old man when he took over the team, and only coached them for 3 years, but he still led his team to 2 Final Four appearances in 1998 and 2000. North Carolina hit a shocking low point after Guthridge retired, hiring inexperienced Matt Doherty out of Notre Dame. Doherty caved under the tremendous pressure, and was fired after only 3 seasons. The Tar Heels needed another coach with big-time experience, and they found it in Roy Williams.

When you can steal the Kansas basketball head coach away to coach your team, you know your program is a big deal. Williams came to Carolina after winning 10 conference championships in 15 years at Kansas, including 4 Final Four appearances. After only 1 season to turn around the team in 2003-04, he was cutting down the nets as a national champion in 2004-05. He hasn't stopped there, either. He also took the Heels to the 2008 Final Four and won the national championship just this year. At 58 years old, he won't be coaching the team for 37 years like Dean Smith, but he will definitely leave the next North Carolina coach with lofty expectations to meet.

Honorable Mention:
Dale Earnahrdt, Jr. and his unborn children - I know its kind of a strange one, but after #3 died at Daytona in 2001, Little E inherited his entire fan base in NASCAR, hoping he can perform as well as his legendary old man. If any of his future children want to get into racing, watch out. I put this here because the Earnhardt family is from North Carolina.