There is no college athletics without the mascots. If you are a college sports fan, you know how attached people get to their team's mascot and how much it means to them. Here is some fun history behind the classic ACC mascots you know and love:
1. Clemson: Tigers
Clemson University took on the Tiger as their mascot in 1896. According to the Washington Post, Clemson wanted to imitate Princeton University's success, which was one of the best teams in the nation at that time.
2. Duke: Blue Devils
Duke University's mascot comes from World War I. “Les Diables Bleus” were well-known French soldiers during the war and were even mentioned in a song by Irving Berlin. In 1921, the Trinity Chronicle announced the school was looking for a catchy name for the Duke football team. Because the team was already dark blue, the newspaper offered the “Blue Devils” as an option. Still, there was no decision on a name. The Class of 1923 began referring to the football team with the Blue Devils name, and it eventually caught on. This Blue Devils is now one of the most famous ACC mascots of all time.
3. UNC: Tar Heels/The Ram
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has a nickname, which is the Tar Heel. That name comes from before the Civil War when workers who distilled turpentine from pine tree sap and burned pine boughs to make tar and pitch would work barefoot in the summer. People were called “tar heels” as a way to describe them as low-class workers. During the Civil War, North Carolina soldiers decided to change this term to mean something good. They wore this term with pride. This became the official nickname of UNC in the 1880s.
This may seem like it doesn't have much to do with UNC's actual mascot, which is a ram. In 1924, UNC noticed that schools around them all had their own mascot. When trying to think of an idea, they thought back to the star of the 1922 football team, named Jack Merritt. Merritt's nickname was “the battering ram.” They took that idea and ran with it, ordering the mascot uniform soon after.
4. Wake Forest: Demon Deacon
Wake Forest University's Demon Deacon is one of the most interesting ACC mascots. This name comes from how the university was founded by Baptists. In 1923, the Demon Deacon name first appeared in an article about the football team. 18 years later, Wake Forest students designed a mascot based on the Baptist deacon. According to Wake Forest, a school reporter later said in a game, “Those Deacons are playing like demons.” The mascot has stuck ever since.
5. Virginia: Cavaliers
The University of Virginia Cavalier mascot dates back to 1947 when a UVA political group rode onto the football field dressed as Cavaliers in a game against Harvard. In 1963 the mascot returned when a UVA Polo Club player offered to ride his horse and be the mascot. The costumed Cavalier we know today originated in 1984 and has been the same since.
6. NC State: Wolfpack
North Carolina State University's mascot comes from post-World War I. According to the university, an anonymous grad dropped off a letter to the NC State Alumni News. In the letter, the writer suggested that the school take on the mascot of the Wolves. They said that the name would be a great fit for the spirit and morale of the school and it “would add tremendously in publicity” to have the nickname of the school be the Wolf Pack.
7. Georgia Tech: Buzz the Yellow Jacket
Georgia Institute of Technology's mascot originated in the early 1900s. Fans wore actual yellow jackets to cheer on the football team, and people soon started describing Georgia Tech fans as Yellow Jackets. In 1905, head coach John Heisman stated that he wanted the team to be known as the Yellow Jackets.
8. Florida State: Seminoles
Florida State University doesn't have an official mascot. The school is located on the homelands of the Seminole Tribe, and the Tribe gave FSU the approval to call themselves the Seminoles. As stated by the university, “As a sovereign tribe, the Seminole Tribe of Florida works closely with FSU to ensure that the use of the Seminole name and iconography are used with consistency to the Tribe's values.”
9. University of Miami: Sebastian the Ibis/Hurricanes
Stories say that if you see an Ibis, it means that it is your last chance to take shelter before a hurricane comes. In 1926, the name “Ibis” first appeared in the University of Miami yearbook and the support for the name later grew.
The nickname for the University of Miami is the Hurricanes. The school doesn't know its exact origin, as some say it came from when the football team had a team meeting to select the name in 1927 and others say that it came from when a news columnist asked a football player what the name should be called. The player said the school wanted the name to be after a local flora or fauna, but he suggested the “Hurricanes” since the team would more likely agree with it and because their opening game was postponed due to one.
10. Virginia Tech: Hokies
The Virginia Tech Hokies name came from a student contest for a new school cheer. A member of the Class of 1896, Oscar Meade Stull, won the contest. The first line of his cheer went, “Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy!” An “e” was eventually added in 1903 and the Hokie name stuck.
11. Boston College: Eagles
Boston College didn't have a mascot until 1920. An alum of the school suggested to the student body that an eagle would be a good mascot for the school due to its symbol of “majesty, power, and freedom.” The name stuck and was quickly adopted by the school.
12. Notre Dame: Leprechaun/Fighting Irish
The University of Notre Dame mascot has been the Leprechaun since the early 1960s. As I'm sure you can guess, the name comes from the school's well-known nickname the Fighting Irish.
Notre Dame is another school that doesn't know exactly where their nickname came from. One theory says that future Irish President Éamon de Valera was welcomed at Notre Dame in 1919. One student publication called de Valera the “Fighting Irish.”
Another theory says that a football player's speech at halftime against Michigan included a line saying “What's the matter with you guys? You're all Irish and you're not fighting worth a lick.”
The final and most widely accepted theory says that Notre Dame football player and coach Knute Rockne hired student press to tell the team a story to rile them up. Some referred to the team as the Fighting Irish to emphasize the team's tenacity. The nickname was soon embraced by the school with pride.
13. Pitt: Panthers
The University of Pittsburgh adopted its mascot in 1909 during a student and alumni meeting. Pitt alum George M.P Baird suggested the Panthers as the school mascot because the animal was once indigenous to the Pittsburgh area, it's known as a noble animal, it starts with a “p,” it fits Pitt's gold color, and there wasn't any other school with that mascot at the time. The name was adopted a year later.
14. Syracuse: Otto the Orange
Syracuse University has to be one of the most original ACC mascots of all time. Otto the Orange didn't become the school's official mascot until 1995, but first appeared in the early 1980s. Students rallied for the Orange when the chancellor hired a committee to recommend a mascot.
15. Louisville: Cardinals
The University of Louisville mascot was chosen in 1913 because the northern cardinal is the state bird of Kentucky. The current mascot costume that we know today wasn't finalized until 2016, although the earliest mascot costume can be dated back to the 80s.
* Originally published on February 14, 2024, by Bella Nevin
