When the North Carolina Tar Heels decided to fire head football coach Mack Brown on Tuesday, they said bye to a man who, despite all the success he experienced in his coaching career, overstayed his welcome in Chapel Hill.
We can’t confirm the final straw on UNC’s decision to fire Brown, but I’d be willing to bet Saturday’s embarrassing loss at Boston College, did the trick.
North Carolina immediately becomes one of the most attractive head coaching jobs in college football. The Tar Heels are a Power 4 program with a history of success, plus they play in a state littered with top-end recruiting talent.
We likely won’t know UNC’s next head coach until after Thanksgiving, but according WRAL sports reporter Pat Welter, there’s support within the program to promote current UNC tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens.
I think Kitchens would be a logical hire, given his success turning Bryson Nesbit, John Copenhaver and former Tar Heel Kamari Morales into top-end tight ends.
According to a source there is support from people at UNC to promote TE coach Freddie Kitchens to head coach, but it's not believed he'll be strongly considered. Steelers OC and former UNC guard Arthur Smith is a name being rumored.
— Pat Welter WRAL (@PatrickWelter) November 26, 2024
Before landing at North Carolina in February 2023, Kitchens spent one season as a Senior Analyst for the South Carolina Gamecocks. Preceding his stop in Columbia was a lengthy run through the NFL, most notably his failed 2019 stint as the Cleveland Browns head coach.
Kichens played college football for Alabama, where he was a record-setting quarterback from 1993-1997. Kitchens’ first coaching stop was at Glenville State in West Virginia, then after spending time with LSU, North Texas, Mississippi State and the Dallas Cowboys, Kitchens established himself with 11 years on the Arizona Cardinals‘ coaching staff.
It’s easy to think negatively about the Tar Heels right now – and I can’t blame you. You could point to Kitchens’ 2019 run and say, “Why would UNC hire this guy?”
You could also start thinking to the future, which continues for North Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 30 in its regular-season finale against NC State.
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