The North Carolina Tar Heels college football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). All-America selections are individual player recognitions made after each season when numerous publications release lists of their ideal team. The NCAA recognizes five All-America lists: the Associated Press (AP), American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), Sporting News (TSN), and the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC).[1] In order for an honoree to earn a "consensus" selection, he must be selected as first team in three of the five lists recognized by the NCAA, and "unanimous" selections must be selected as first team in all five lists.[1]
Since the establishment of the team in 1888, North Carolina has had 68 players honored a total of 85 times as an All-American for their performance on the field of play. Included in these selections are fourteen consensus selections, three of which were unanimous selections. The most recent All-Americans from North Carolina a came after the 2013 season, when Eric Ebron and Ryan Switzer were each named First Team All-America by various selectors.
| Consensus selection | ||||||
| Unanimous selection | ||||||
| B | Back[2] | K | Kicker | NT | Nose tackle |
| C | Center | LB | Linebacker | FB | Fullback |
| DB | Defensive back | P | Punter | HB | Halfback |
| DE | Defensive end | QB | Quarterback | WR | Wide receiver |
| DT | Defensive tackle | RB | Running back | G | Guard |
| E | End | T | Tackle | TE | Tight end |
| PR | Punt Returner | NG | Nose Guard | FS | Free Safety |
| TB | Tailback |
| AAB | All-America Board | AFCA | American Football Coaches Association | AP | Associated Press | APT | All-Players Team |
| AR | Albert Richard | ATH | Athlon | BCT | Bill Cunningham Team | BST | Bill Stern Team |
| BOS | Boston Record | CBS | CBSSports.com | CD | Collegiate Digest | CF | Complete Football |
| CFI | College Football Illustrated (Sports Review) | CH | College Humor | CHPT | Charles Parker Team | CNB | Collyer’s News Bureau |
| CPFN | College and Pro Football Newsweekly | CNNSI | CNN/Sports Illustrated | CP | Central Press Association | CS | College Sports |
| CSW | College Sports Writers | DBT | Dr. L.H. Baker Team | DHT | Deke Houlgate Team | EDT | Eddie Dooley Team |
| FC | Football Coaches | FD | Football Digest | FN | Football News | FWAA | Football Writers Association of America |
| GR | Gridiron Record | GRCE | Grantland Rice | GW | Gridiron Weekly | HLMS | Helms |
| HST | Hearst | INS | International News Service | JCT | Jim Crowley Team | JB | Joel Buschbaum |
| LLT | Lou Little Team | ILA | Illustrated Football Annual | MZLU | Mizlou | NEA | Newspaper Enterprise Association |
| NSWK | Newsweek | NYN | New York News | NYS | New York Sun | NYWT | New York World-Telegram |
| PFW | Pro Football Weekly | PG | Police Gazette | PIC | PIC Scouts | PMT | Paramount |
| PW | Pop Warner | RGT | Red Grange Team | RST | Ray Scott Team | RVLS | Rivals.com |
| SCT | Scout.com | SH | Scripps-Howard | SLGD | St. Louis Globe-Democrat | SR | Sports Review |
| SW | Sports Week | Time | Time Magazine | TSN | The Sporting News | TTT | Tom Thorp Team |
| USA | USA Today | UP | United Press | UPI | United Press International | WC | Walter Camp |
| WILL | Paul Williamson | WWF | What’s What in Football |
| Player name | Position | Selector(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | G | NEA-2; AP-3 | ||
| 1933 | G | AP-3; CP-3 | ||
| 1934 | G | AP-1; CP-2; NEA-1; NANA-1; WC-1; CSW-2; GR-1; AAB-1; NYWT-1; CD-2; AR-1; ILA-1 HST-1; LLT-1; WILL-1; NYS-1; CHPT-2; UP-2; TTT-2; APT-2; RGT-2; BCT-2 | ||
| 1934 | B | AAB-HM | ||
| 1935 | B | AP-2; CP-2; NEA-2 | ||
| 1936 | E | AP-2; | ||
| 1937 | E | AP-3; UP-2; COL-1; INS-3; NEA-1; CP-1; CE-1 | ||
| 1938 | T | CP-1; UP-2; NEA-2; AP-3. EDT-1; NSWK-2; WWF-2; CH-3 | ||
| 1939 | B | CP-2; NEA-3; BCT-3 | ||
| 1939 | B | BST-2; INS-2; NEA-3; HST-3; WILL-3 | ||
| 1939 | E | AP-1; WILL-1; NEA-2; DBT-3; UP-3; WWF-3 | ||
| 1940 | E | AP-1; WILL-1; NEA-1; DBT-1; UP-2; WWF-2; NYN-1; BOS-1; NSWK-1; CNB-1; BST-2; CSW-2 CP-2; INS-2; NYS-2; BCT-2; JCT-2 | ||
| 1943 | E | BST-3 | ||
| 1946 | TB | AP-3; UP-2; NEA-2; FC-3; SW-3; GW-2; PIC-2 | ||
| 1947 | TB | AP-2; NEA-2; INS-3; CP-3; | ||
| 1947 | FB | APT-3 | ||
| 1948 | TB | AP-1; UP-2; NEA-1; FC-1; SW-1; INS-1; CP-1; AAB-1; WILL-1; APT-1; TSN-1; PMT-1 BST-1; PG-1; FD-1; BOS-1; CFI-1; NYN-1; CF-1; DHT-1; FWAA-2 | ||
| 1948 | T | FWAA-2 | ||
| 1948 | E | FWAA-1; NYS-1; TSN-2; APT-2; CP-3; NEA-2 | ||
| 1949 | TB | AP-1; UP-2; FC-1; INS-1; CP-1; AAB-1; WILL-1; APT-1; TSN-1; PMT-1; PG-1; FD-1 CFI-1; FWAA-3 | ||
| 1949 | E | NEA-1 | ||
| 1949 | E | FWAA-2; UP-1; TSN-1; NYN-1; SR-1; SLGD-1; DHT-1; APT-2; CP-2; NEA-3; INS-2; FD-2 PG-2 | ||
| 1950 | C, LB | AP-1; NEA-1; APT-1; AAB-1; FD-1; BST-1; BOS-1; GR-1; PG-1; HLMS-1; UP-2; CP-2 TSN-2 | ||
| 1958 | T | FD-2; CP-3 | ||
| 1958 | B | FWAA-1; NEA-1 | ||
| 1961 | G | NEA-3 | ||
| 1963 | E | AP-1; FWAA-1; NEA-2 | ||
| 1964 | FB | FC-2 | ||
| 1969 | G | AP-3 | ||
| 1970 | TB | AP-1; FWAA-1; FC-1; CP-1; WC-1; FN-1; UP-2 | ||
| 1972 | G | AP-1; UP-2; FWAA-2; FC-1; FN-2 | ||
| 1972 | T | FN-2 | ||
| 1974 | G | AP-1; FC-1; NEA-1; TSN-1; WC-1; Time-1; PW-1; FN-2; UP-2 | ||
| 1974 | TE | TSN-1 | ||
| 1976 | C | FN-2 | ||
| 1976 | TB | AP-2; UPI-2 | ||
| 1977 | DT | AP-1; FWAA-1; FC-1; UP-2; NEA-2; CPFN-2 | ||
| 1977 | G | FN-3 | ||
| 1979 | DB | RST-1; FN-2 | ||
| 1979 | G | FN-2 | ||
| 1980 | C | AP-2; FN-3 | ||
| 1980 | TB | FN-3; CPFN-3 | ||
| 1980 | LB | AP-1; UP-1; FC-1; FWAA-1; TSN-1; FN-1; CPFN-1; NEA-2 | ||
| 1980 | DT | FN-3 | ||
| 1980 | G | FN-1; WC-1; NEA-1; MZLU-1; UP-2; CPFN-2; AP-3 | ||
| 1981 | G | FWAA-1; FN-2 | ||
| 1981 | DB | FN-3 | ||
| 1982 | G | FWAA-1; FN-1; WC-1; MZLU-1; AP-2; UP-2; NEA-2; CPFN-2 | ||
| 1982 | DT | FWAA-1; FN-1; CPFN-1; AP-2 | ||
| 1983 | T | AP-1; NEA-1; UP-2; CPFN-2; FN-3 | ||
| 1983 | DT | FN-1; CPFN-1; FC-1; WC-1; TSN-1; AP-2; UP-2; NEA-2 | ||
| 1983 | TB | FN-3 | ||
| 1984 | TB | AP-3; UPI-2 | ||
| 1986 | T | AP-1; NEA-1; ATH-1; JB-1; TSN-2; FN-3 | ||
| 1986 | RB | CPFN-3 | ||
| 1987 | NG | NEA-2 | ||
| 1988 | C | AP-3 | ||
| 1989 | G | MZLU-1; FN-3 | ||
| 1990 | T | CPFN-3 | ||
| 1992 | TB | FN-3 | ||
| 1992 | C | AP-3 | ||
| 1993 | FS | FC-1; FWAA-1; SH-1; AP-2; UP-2; TSN-2; FN-3 | ||
| 1994 | DE, DT | AP-3 | ||
| 1995 | DE, DT | AP-1; FC-1; WC-1; UP-1; CS-1; TSN-2 | ||
| 1996 | TE | FN-3 | ||
| 1996 | CB | AP-1; WC-1; FWAA-1; TSN-1; FN-2 | ||
| 1996 | DE | TSN-2; AP-3; FN-3 | ||
| 1996 | LB | AP-2; TSN-2 | ||
| 1997 | CB | AP-1; WC-1; FWAA-1; FN-1; TSN-3 | ||
| 1997 | DE | AP-1; WC-1; FC-1; FN-1; TSN-2 | ||
| 1997 | LB | AP-3 | ||
| 1997 | LB | AP-1; WC-1; FN-1; TSN-3 | ||
| 1998 | CB | WC-1; FN-3 | ||
| 1999 | P | TSN-1 | ||
| 2000 | DE | AP-2; WC-2; FN-2; CNNSI-1 | ||
| 2001 | DT | AP-3 | ||
| 2001 | DE | AP-1; WC-1; FN-1; TSN-1; FWAA-1; FC-1; CNNSI-1 | ||
| 2004 | C | PFW-1 | ||
| 2008 | DB | AP-2; WC-2; RVLS-3 | ||
| 2010 | DE | SCT-2 | ||
| 2012 | RB | AP-3 | ||
| 2012 | G | AP-1; WC-1; FWAA-1; AFCA-1; TSN-1; PFW-1 | ||
| 2012 | DT | PFW-1 | ||
| 2013 | TE | ESPN-1; AP-2; ATH-2; CBS-2; CNNSI-2; USA-2; WC-2 | ||
| 2013 | WR, PR | FWAA-1; ESPN-1; ATH-1; CBS-2; USA-2 | ||
| 2015 | G | AP-1; ATH-1; FWAA-2; CBS-2 | ||
| 2015 | APB | AFCA-1 |