Mack Brown will not return as UNC’s head coach for 2025 college football season
READ MORE
UNC football moves on from Mack Brown
North Carolina fired head football coach Mack Brown on Tuesday, Nov. 26, just four days before the team’s final regular-season game, against rival N.C. State.
Expand All
Mack Brown, who in the 1990s led North Carolina to national football prominence during his first stint as the school’s head coach, and whose return in late 2018 inspired hope of a similar rise that never came to fruition, will not be back next season, the school announced Tuesday.
He will coach his final game at Kenan Stadium on Saturday, when the Tar Heels play against rival N.C. State.
Brown as recently as Monday said he planned to be back but, amid an inconsistent and disappointing season, North Carolina Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham informed Brown later Monday that “he will not return as head coach,” according to a statement UNC released.
“While this was not the perfect time and way in which I imagined going out, no time will ever be the perfect time,” Brown said in a statement. “I’ve spent 16 seasons at North Carolina and will always cherish the memories and relationships Sally and I have built while serving as head coach.”
The Tar Heels enter their regular season finale 6-5, after a lopsided defeat against Boston College on Saturday. UNC entered that game on a three-game winning streak, but four consecutive defeats earlier this season — including a 70-50 loss at home against James Madison — gave rise to discontent that surrounded Brown and his program.
Empty seats at Kenan Stadium became more prevalent and Brown, who at 73 is the oldest FBS head coach in the nation, had confronted questions about his future since that loss against JMU on Sept. 21. Reports emerged last week that he had no plans to stop coaching, and he reiterated that position on Monday, during his weekly press conference.
Cunningham informed Brown otherwise later in the day.
“We’ve had the chance to coach and mentor some great young men,” Brown said in his statement, “and we’ll miss having the opportunity to do that in the future. Moving forward, my total focus is on helping these players and coaches prepare for Saturday’s game against N.C. State and give them the best chance to win.”
Mack Brown’s career at UNC
Brown has coached 192 games at UNC over 16 seasons. He has won more games (113) than any coach in school history, and during first tenure at the school, which ran from 1988 through 1997, UNC became a top-10 program.
During his second tenure with the school, though, his teams have been defined by late-season collapses and porous defenses. The highs were an Orange Bowl appearance at the end of the pandemic-altered 2020 season and a Coastal Division championship, followed by a loss against Clemson in the ACC title game, in 2022.
But the lows were many. A preseason top-10 ranking gave way to a 6-7 finish in 2021. In 2022 and ‘23, the Tar Heels started strong and entered the top 15 of the national rankings, only to endure agonizing late-season losing streaks that called into question their ability to finish. Throughout it all, UNC recruited well but the success there didn’t often translate to the field.
Defensively, UNC has been among the worst teams in the ACC throughout Brown’s second head coaching tenure — a stunning contrast to its performance on that side of the ball during his first stint at head coach. On offense, the Tar Heels have had two of the best quarterbacks in school history in recent years in Sam Howell and Drake Maye, but sustained success proved elusive.
Brown will leave a celebrated if not complicated legacy at UNC. He led the Tar Heels to prominence during the mid-1990s but left for Texas before UNC ever truly broke through. During his time at Texas, where he remained the head coach for 16 seasons, the Longhorns won at least 10 games in nine consecutive seasons.
Brown’s 2005 Texas team, led by quarterback Vince Young, finished 13-0 and won the national championship. Gradually, though, the Longhorns faded from the national elite. After a long run of dominance, only one of his final four Texas teams finished ranked, and his tenure there ended with school leadership and boosters pushing for Brown’s exit, which came after the 2013 season.
He spent several seasons as a television analyst with ESPN and returned to UNC amid much fanfare in 2018, after the Tar Heels had won three games in 2017 and ‘18 under his predecessor, Larry Fedora. Upon Brown’s return in 2018, he spoke of winning championships and of competing with Clemson, but ultimately the Tar Heels never came all that close to living up to that vision.
Focus on positives
Still, in his statement Cunningham highlighted the good times.
“Mack Brown has won more games than any football coach in UNC history, and we deeply appreciate all that he has done for Carolina Football and our University,’’ Cunningham said in a statement. “Over the last six seasons — his second campaign in Chapel Hill — he has coached our team to six bowl berths, including an Orange Bowl, while mentoring 18 NFL draft picks.
“He and his wife Sally have done an outstanding job supporting the Carolina community, including raising funds for UNC Children’s Hospital while hosting other popular events such as the Ladies Day Clinic. Both also have been terrific in leading our program during some incredibly tough stretches, including the tragic passing of wide receiver Tylee Craft this season.”
Craft, a UNC wide receiver, battled cancer for years before his death, at 23, last month. Brown broke the news that Craft had died after the Tar Heels’ defeat against Georgia Tech on Oct. 12. Inspired by Craft’s memory and the love of a fallen teammate, Brown’s players rallied in the subsequent weeks and won against Virginia, Florida State and Wake Forest.
That streak, and the potential of ending the regular season with five consecutive victories, raised the possibility that Brown might return for another season. And even after his team’s humbling performance at Boston College on Saturday, Brown provided no indication that he planned to walk away. He spoke of his commitment, especially, to serving players in need.
Amid the on-field struggles, though, the luster of Brown’s program had clearly dulled. The paltry attendance at Kenan Stadium was but one indication, but so was a recent run of defeats on the recruiting trail — where Brown for so long often did his best work. Brown provided every indication that intended to continue coaching beyond this season but ultimately the decision was not his.
Now, on Saturday, comes one last game for him at Kenan Stadium. What looked like a match-up between two struggling rivals will now instead become a farewell for Brown, with his players attempting to give him a sendoff worth celebrating.
“We want to send these seniors out right,” Brown said, “and I hope our fans will show up Saturday to do the same.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Mack Brown will not return as UNC’s head coach for 2025 college football season."
