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With historic donation, UNC football to rename field at Kenan Stadium

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Head Coach Mack Brown celebrates with students and fans after UNC's win on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019. UNC defeated Duke 20-17. UNC had not beat Duke since 2015.

After receiving the largest gift in the history of UNC athletics and the Rams Club, the field at Kenan Stadium will have a new name, the UNC football team announced in a press release Monday.  

The field will be named in honor of Chris Smith, the son of Eddie Smith Jr. and the late Jo Allison Smith. Eddie and Jo Allison founded the Eddie and Jo Allison Smith Family Foundation in 1994, which made the donation. Chris Smith is actively involved in UNC athletics as a member of the Rams Club’s Executive Board of Directors.

Eddie Smith Jr. has served as a member of the UNC Board of Trustees and Boards of Visitors for the University and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Smith Jr. is the owner, chairman and CEO of Greenville-based Grady-White Boats and a 1965 graduate of UNC. He has also received the William Richardson Davie Award, which is the highest honor given by the Board of Trustees for service to UNC.

The Smith family has a long history of supporting North Carolina athletics, making gifts that have contributed to the construction of the Eddie Smith Field House, the Jo Allison Smith Football Strength & Conditioning Center, the Chris Smith Training Room for the UNC basketball team, the Smith Family Suite Level at Boshamer Stadium and the William Clary Officials' Locker Room at Kenan Stadium.  

“Watching the Tar Heels play in Kenan Stadium has been a family affair for over 60 years, and it was important to us to support Coach Mack Brown and his vision for Carolina Football,” Smith Jr. said in the press release. “To be able to honor my son Chris – someone who has shared my passion for Carolina and for promoting positive leadership qualities – is very special. It’s a blessing for us to be able to provide a lasting legacy for Carolina and its football program.”

This contribution to the football team follows one of the best seasons in recent memory for the Tar Heels. UNC finished with a winning record for the first time since 2016, earning an appearance in the Military Bowl and defeating Temple to notch the program's first bowl game victory since 2013. Head coach Mack Brown spoke about the gift in the release.

“Eddie and Chris are dear friends of Sally and me, as was Eddie’s wife and Chris’ mother Jo Allison. They share our vision for Carolina football,” Brown said. “We have asked everyone in our program to ‘Be The One’ and the Smith family is doing that. They are the best.”

The amount of the gift was not disclosed, but it exceeded $10 million donations from Ken and Cheryl Williams in 2016 and Steve and Debbie Vetter in 2017.  

“We truly appreciate all that Eddie and his family have contributed to Carolina Athletics and our University, and we can’t thank them enough,” Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham said in the press release.