By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-26 20:37:28 | Updated at 2024-11-29 01:41:15
2 days ago
One day after Mack Brown voiced his plans to return as North Carolina's head football coach next year, he was fired by the school.
Brown won't be back to coach the Tar Heels for a seventh season in his second stint at the helm in Chapel Hill.
By every metric, Brown raised the profile of North Carolina football. The Tar Heels' athletic department gives a signal with his firing that greater heights can be achieved by someone else.
Brown's statements about his desires without talking to UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham appears to have forced a decision against their head coach.
Since coming back to UNC in 2019, Brown's teams have not missed a bowl game, including this season where the Tar Heels are currently 6-5.
Yet, Brown, 73, never led North Carolina to a double-digit win season either.
North Carolina fired Mack Brown on Tuesday after six seasons back at the helm of the Tar Heels
Brown wanted to return as the Tar Heels' head coach but UNC's leadership had other plans
Brown will coach in the team's final regular-season against North Carolina State. The school has not decided whether he will coach in the team's bowl game.
Brown was first the coach at North Carolina from 1988 to 1997, where he had three double-digit win seasons.
Elevating UNC to national relevance got Brown the top job at Texas, where he stayed from 1998 through 2013, only once having less than eight wins in a season.
Brown then took a hiatus from coaching until North Carolina called him back to the gridiron after six years.
Brown is the first power-conference coach to be fired this season, with very few expected. There are currently a dozen Group of Five jobs open.
