Pre-Flight Naval Football
The North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters represented the U.S. Navy pre-flight school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the college football seasons of 1942, 1943 and 1944 during World War II. The North Carolina Pre-Flight School was established on February 1, 1942, by the Secretary of the Navy and opened that April.
The football team, known as the Cloudbusters, was formed and played against other military and major college teams of the era. Over their three-year existence, they achieved a record of 16 wins, 8 losses, and 3 ties (16–8–3).
In 1942, North Carolina Pre-Flight was by coached by Jim Crowley, a former Notre Dame “Four Horseman” and Fordham head coach. In 1943, Frank Kimbrough, previously head coach at Baylor, led the team to a 2–4–1 record. In 1944, Glenn Killinger took over, guiding the Cloudbusters to a 6–2–1 record. Notably, the team included assistant coaches Johnny Vaught and Bear Bryant in 1942 and 1944, respectively, both future College Football Hall of Fame inductees.