Student Sought for Sideline Mike Man Job

Collaboration with spirited marching band and cheerleaders and Saturday hours required.

The applicant must have own sense of humor and infectious enthusiasm for UNC football.

No experience necessary.

It might not be the dream career of a graduating senior. It might not be the ideal part-time job for students who like to go home on the weekends.

But Athletic Sports Marketing has begun a campaign to find the student who would be willing to take on these responsibilities and become the home game mike man for UNC football -- someone who has been missing from the sidelines over recent years.

Being the UNC microphone personality is a golden opportunity to be part of a UNC tradition, said former University mike man and alumnus Greg "Lump" Lunsford.

Lunsford will be returning to center stage, in front of the student section, for next Saturday's football game versus Florida State to once again pump up the crowds and show his hopeful successors how the job is done.

Six years have passed since there was a mike man at UNC. Sixteen have passed since Lunsford's reign of the microphone.

But when Lunsford, now a partner in an insurance company in Burlington, got a call from the UNC Department of Athletics about returning to the sidelines, he said he was more than willing to help.

"It is all about returning to tradition," he said. "We are trying to find that which made Carolina great and can make Carolina great again, and the mike man in the student section is a tradition."

Lunsford's performance at the FSU game will be an exhibition that he hopes will spark students to come to interest meetings and tryouts.

After all, that is how Lunsford began his spirited two-season career, which began the fall of 1983.

"I was sitting in the stands and I found myself critiquing our mike man," he said. "He was good, but I thought I could do it better."

Pipe dreams of donning the pads, helmet and the powder blue uniform also led Lunsford to his game day role.

"I always wanted to play for UNC, but after my senior year in high school, it became painfully obvious I did not have the physical tools," he said. "It was a way for me to get involved with the program, and I did not have to tackle a soul."

Improvisation and comedic timing were his keys to the crowd, Lunsford said.

Dressing like mascots, like bumble bees and leading cheers to the tunes of popular movies were some of his favorite antics, he said.

"I hate to use the words `class clown,' because it is not a label Mom would be proud of, but you have to not take yourself seriously," Lunsford said.

"You have to let others laugh at your expense."

Michael Beal, director of marketing for UNC athletics, said this personality was one of the reasons Lunsford was brought back.

"He seems to be, by far and away, the most popular in mike man history and tradition," Beal said. "He's a trip, and he is going to be a great person to teach whoever the mike man or woman will be."

After a practice run with the band last Thursday, Lunsford said he was optimistic about his upcoming debut.

UNC Marching Tar Heels director Jeffrey Fuchs agreed.

"Once the student sees what he does, I think they will feed off his energy," Fuchs said.

"He will be a great unifying force for the band, cheerleaders and the whole student section."

Lunsford said his performance will bring back fond memories of his time at UNC, and he said he hopes there will be a student to share his fondness for the school.

"On those Saturday afternoons, it's just a terrific time to be a Carolina fan and a Carolina student," he said.

"I hope that there will be a student with the passion and creativity necessary to be a part of this Carolina experience."