University of North Carolina Athletics
Extra Points: Bunting, Ten Years Later
April 24, 2016 | Football, Featured Writers, Lee Pace
by Lee Pace
It's been 45 years since John Bunting co-captained Carolina's 1971 ACC championship team. It's been 15 since he coached his Tar Heel squad to one of the school's most memorable wins ever—that 41-9 shellacking of Florida State in the home opener in 2001. And this fall it will be one decade since his tenure as Carolina's head coach came to an end.
Each of those junctures will be connected when Bunting is inducted into the Greater Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame. The likes of Alge Crumpler, Sonny Jurgensen and Roman Gabriel have already been honored, and now it's Bunting's turn to be among those feted around a golf tournament on Saturday, April 30, and a banquet the following night at the Burney Center on the campus of UNC-Wilmington.
Attending that weekend will be at least two dozen former Tar Heel players who played with or for Bunting during his years as a Tar Heel linebacker from 1968-71 and as head coach from 2001-06.
Up for auction with proceeds to go a scholarship fund will be the game ball Bunting has donated from the Florida State game in 2001.
And the Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame and the people who've helped it grow over the last decade have been important in the lives of Bunting and his wife Dawn in establishing roots in the Wilmington area (they have a home in Hampstead) since Bunting left coaching in 2006. Of particular note to Bunting is the golf tournament now named for the late Joe Miller, the long-time New Hanover High football coach.
“This fall will be 10 years since our exit from UNC,” Bunting says. “It's hard to believe that much time has gone past. This Hall of Fame has been wonderful to me. I've met so many great people. Joe Miller was one of the first guys I met when we moved here. What a wonderful human being and a great coach. He really took me under his wing and helped get me out of my funk after losing our job at UNC. This organization has been a blessing to me and Dawn.”
Bunting has been active along with former Tar Heel Coach Bill Dooley and Joe Robinson, an end of the 1963 Gator Bowl-winning team, in the evolution of the Wilmington Sports Hall of Fame. It was created in 2005 under the guiding hand of Dooley, and the first inductees were made in 2006. Since then, four or five individuals have been tapped per year.
“John has meant so much to this city and our Hall of Fame,” says Robinson, a Wilmington resident since the early 1990s. “He's a wonderful guy and has a huge heart. He loves the game and still loves to coach. He's done wonders with NFL prospects like Luke Kuechly.
“He's elevated this club so much, opening doors for us with so many people in the world of sports. I'm excited for John and I can't wait to see a lot of Tar Heels in town on May 1.”
Joining Bunting this year as inductees will be basketball player Gwen Austin, legendary football and basketball official Larry Honeycutt, and three-sport standout from New Hanover High, Charlie Niven. Carolina grad and former radio color commentator Mick Mixon, now the radio voice of the Carolina Panthers, will be the master of ceremonies.
Among Bunting's highlights as a Tar Heel was being co-captain along with QB Paul Miller of the Tar Heels' ACC championship team in his senior year of 1971. The Tar Heels were 9-2 and earned a bid to the Gator Bowl, where they dropped a 7-3 decision to Georgia.
Bunting went on to a lengthy and distinguished career in the NFL and was a lynchpin of the Philadelphia Eagles' defense during the team's Super Bowl run of 1980. He won a Super Bowl ring as an assistant coach on the St. Louis Rams team that won the title game after its outstanding 1999 season.
Another highlight was his first victory as the Tar Heels' head coach. Carolina opened the 2001 season with a murderous schedule—at Oklahoma, Maryland and Texas—and lost all three games. The Tar Heels were slated to open their home schedule on Sept. 15 against SMU, the but the 9/11 terrorist attack led to postponing the game until December. So Bunting & Co. got Coach Bobby Bowden and the six-ranked Seminoles.
“We knew we had a great defense, and we'd played pretty well on defense those first three games,” Bunting says. “But we had a brutal schedule—the defending national champion, the eventual ACC champion, and Texas, who was really good back then. The FSU game was the start of the 'two-headed quarterback.' We'd gone with Ronald Curry the first three games. Then (offensive coordinator) Gary Tranquil and I decided to give Darian Durant a shot and alternate them. We sat down with them and told them that was the plan. It gave our offense a spark.”
Curry and Durant both played well against the Seminoles, and a defense led by players like Julius Peppers, Ryan Sims, Quincy Monk and David Thornton pounded Seminole QB Chris Rix.
“We blew up their offensive line,” Bunting says. “We broke it open in the second half and were never challenged. That was a great win for that team.”
The game ball Bunting has had for 15 years will be auctioned off leading up to the banquet.
“Dawn's been after me to get rid of stuff,” Bunting says. “We're at that stage of life where we're getting rid of clutter. But I'm happy to donate this ball to a great cause.”
Bunting has remained active in football in recent years doing some radio and TV commentary and coaching/consulting with players moving from college to the pros. He's spent considerable time this winter with recent Carolina graduates Jeff Schoettmer and Shakeel Rashad as they have prepped for the NFL Draft and gone through the interview and screening process with potential teams.
“There is lots of interest in both these guys from the scouts I know and have talked to,” Bunting says. “I would not be surprised if both got drafted. Shak did a great job in Pro Day with 4.61—that's flying for a man his size. Jeff ran a 4.77; he would have liked to run a little better, but that's still a good time for a linebacker.
“These are really stand-up guys with high, high football intelligence. They're both gym rats. They have good skills, and I think we improved their footwork. I focused a lot on what they need to be looking at—their eyes. A lot of guys their age have what Gary Tranquil used to call 'a case of the blurs.' They didn't know where to look and what to see. These guys are both good at that and they've gotten better.”
To bid on the football, follow this link to Ebay. For tickets to the banquet, contact the GWSHOF at 910/795-1224 or email info@gwshof.com.
