Longtime Kenan Stadium director James Spurling dies at 68
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North Carolina has lost a key member of its football program.
James Spurling, longtime director of Kenan Stadium and the Kenan Football Center and a Massey Award winner, has died at age 68. Spurling had led operations at Kenan Stadium and the Kenan Football Center since 2006, overseeing day-to-day logistics, booking events, managing revenue, coordinating with campus partners on major events and assisting with football team travel.
Carolina Athletics is deeply saddened by the sudden passing of longtime UNC Athletics staff member and Director of Kenan Stadium and the Kenan Football Center, James Spurling.
More on James, his selfless nature and his commitment to teamwork, in this beautiful tribute from… pic.twitter.com/wKhj9g6dtK
— UNC Tar Heels (@GoHeels) February 5, 2026
He served on the athletic department’s desired behaviors committee, the honors and awards committee and the university’s commencement committee.
A longtime supporter of UNC, Spurling owned a Chapel Hill business for 23 years and volunteered with the football program before joining the staff full time. He later served on the Educational Foundation’s board of directors and was named its board member of the year in 2004.
In 1998, he was named an honorary lifetime member of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. A full football scholarship was endowed in his name in 2003, and he received the Ernie Williamson Award in 2009 for his loyalty to UNC and its student-athletes.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Football: Director of Kenan Stadium and Kenan Football Center dies at 68
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