| Year: | 1997 |
| Team: | North Carolina Tar Heels |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Short Conf: | ACC |
| Coachrank: | 4 |
| Aprank: | 6 |
| Record: | 11–1 |
| Conf Record: | 7–1 |
| Head Coach: | Mack Brown |
| Hc Year: | 10th |
| Hc Games: | regular season |
| Head Coach2: | Carl Torbush |
| Hc Games2: | interim; bowl game |
| Off Coach: | Greg Davis |
| Oc Year: | 2nd |
| Off Scheme: | Multiple |
| Def Coach: | Carl Torbush |
| Dc Year: | 10th |
| Def Scheme: | 4–3 |
| Captain: | Greg Ellis, Vonnie Holliday, Jonathan Linton, Jeff Saturday, Brian Simmons |
| Stadium: | Kenan Memorial Stadium |
| Champion: | Gator Bowl champion |
| Bowl: | Gator Bowl |
| Bowl Result: | W 42–3 vs. Virginia Tech |
The 1997 North Carolina Tar Heels football team represented the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. The Tar Heels played their home games at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The team was coached by Mack Brown and finished the season 11–1 overall, 7–1 in the conference.
At the end of the season, Brown left for the University of Texas at Austin and did not coach in the Gator Bowl victory over Virginia Tech. Carl Torbush, who was the defensive coordinator during the regular season, became the head coach when Brown left. North Carolina credits the regular season to Brown and the Gator Bowl victory to Torbush.
See also: 1997 NCAA Division I-A football rankings.
See also: 1997 Virginia Tech Hokies football team and 1998 Gator Bowl.
See also: 1998 NFL draft.
| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL club | Ref | |
| DE | 1 | 8 | [2] | |||
| LB | 1 | 17 | ||||
| DE | 1 | 19 | ||||
| S | 4 | 103 | ||||
| LB | 4 | 110 | ||||
| CB | 5 | 128 | ||||
| FB | 5 | 131 |