Mack Brown’s future is being decided and he plans to stay.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have had a rocky 2024 season, leaving questions about the future of the program under Mack Brown. After an embarrassing 70-50 loss to James Madison in September, rumors swirled that Brown was ready to retire and move on.
But since then, there has been water thrown onto that fire and the Tar Heels have a three-game win streak and are bowl eligible again.
Matt Zentiz of 247Sports and CBS Sports is reporting that Brown is telling players, staff and recruits that he plans on staying at North Carolina for at least another season:
Brown is telling people at North Carolina, including staff and players along with recruits, that he plans to remain the Tar Heels’ head coach beyond this season, sources tell CBS Sports and 247Sports.
The UNC administration has not commented in recent months on Brown’s status past the 2024 season. Brown is under contract through the 2027 season.
Despite that four-game losing streak earlier in the season, the head coach has found a way to turn things around behind a stellar defense and good quarterback play fro Jacolby Criswell.
They have a chance to finish the season strong with wins over Boston College and NC State heading into their bowl game.
The 73-year-old Brown has won 288 games in his career with 158 coming at Texas where he won a national championship. He has 113 wins at North Carolina in two stints and then 11 wins at Tulane.
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UNC football head coach Mack Brown beat Florida State for the first time in his career on Saturday.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have another win streak going this season, winning two straight on the road. On Saturday, the Tar Heels followed up a dominating performance against Virginia with a big win at Florida State this week.
And not only did they get a win, but Mack Brown accomplished something he has never done — beat Florida State.
Saturday marked the first time in Brown’s career that he has beaten his alma mater. Going into the game, Brown was 0-11 all-time against Florida State dating back to his coaching stops at Tulane and North Carolina. Brown played at Florida State in his college career and then spent two seasons as an assistant on the football team.
The legendary coach has accomplished a lot in his career and adding beating Florida State is important for him. Throughout Brown’s coaching career, he’s had some bad losses to the Seminoles including in 1993 with No. 13 UNC losing to No. 1 Florida State, then a top-five matchup in 1997.
Most recently, UNC has lost to Florida State as the No. 5 team in 2020 and then again in 2021. So getting a win is huge not only for Brown but for the program in general.
With Florida State having arguably the most disappointing season in all of college football this year, taking advantage of that was key. Now, let’s see if UNC can get another win and be bowl bound.
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It appears that the 2024 college football season will be Mack Brown’s final one leading the Tar Heels.
There was a lot of excitement in Chapel Hill ahead of the 2019 college football, when National Championship-winning head coach Mack Brown decided to return and lead the UNC football program.
Through seven games of the 2024 college football season, that excitement surrounding Brown has quickly turned to anger and disappointment.
Fans have already called for Brown’s firing, but it doesn’t appear North Carolina will go that route, especially with its season in a tailspin.
“The expectation in the industry is that Brown, who at 73 is the oldest coach in college football, figures out a way to exit gracefully,” Thamel wrote. “The slump, combined with Brown’s age, portends a change coming in Chapel Hill. If and how that exit comes remains to be seen, but there have been enough signs of atrophy in the program, that one more year for Brown is unlikely.”
UNC’s late-season collapses in both 2022 and 2023 created some initial concerns about Brown’s coaching ability, but the current meltdown seems to be the final straw.
North Carolina began its current campaign with consecutive wins at Minnesota, against Charlotte and NC Central. The Tar Heels struggled for large portions in each of those wins, though, leading many to wonder how good the Tar Heels actually were.
UNC got exposed in a 70-50 loss against James Madison, then blew a 17-point, second-half lead at archrival Duke. After two more losses to Pitt and Georgia Tech, particularly how the latter ended, frustrations about Brown came to a boil.
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UNC lost wide receiver Tylee Craft, one of the toughest kids to ever come through the program, to a lengthy battle with lung cancer on Saturday, Oct. 12. No one knew Tylee passed until after the game, when North Carolina head coach Mack Brown told his players and, shortly after, the media.
After the Georgia Tech loss, when Brown broke the sad news, he also spoke briefly about the Tar Heels’ plans to honor Tylee going forward.
Brown doubled down on those plans in his Monday press conference, highlight how Tylee will be honored through the reminder of UNC’s 2024 season.
“The players asked that we put “Tylee Strong, Keep Swinging,” signs up going into the stadium for the game, home and away,” Brown said. “We will carry a sign that says Tylee Strong, Keep Swinging to Virginia this weekend – and each player will touch it on the way out to the stadium. To make sure that his legacy is one that’s remembered – longer than just the players on the team – we have a commemorative plaque that explains who he was and what he went through. That will be up at the Nutrition Center for future players to look at. There will be a logo on the field with Tylee Strong for the last two home games, that have been approved by not only the university, but the ACC. And then one of the receivers will wear his jersey everyday at practice, and then they (the players) will decide, one of the receivers, will wear his jersey during each of the five remaining ballgames. It’ll be a different player each week, and they haven’t decided yet how they’re going to determine that.”
The Tar Heels might be struggling big-time on the field, but you won’t find a program that cares more about its players. UNC loves and certainly misses Tylee, so I’m glad to see his former teammates and coaches carrying out his name.
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“Is it basketball season yet?” I guarantee you’ve heard that question after watching the North Carolina Tar Heels play football recently.
UNC is 3-4 (0-3) and barely avoiding the ACC cellar, as conference newcomer Cal is 0-4 in ACC play. North Carolina gave us initial hope, starting with consecutive wins against Minnesota, Charlotte and NC Central. The Tar Heels then lost four straight, with the ugliest game of their current streak a 70-50 thumping by James Madison.
This start hot, finish cold trend is concerning, particularly for a program with the on-field talent it has.
“The second tenure in Chapel Hill started off on the right track, but the train has started coming off the rails as of late,” CWS’s Patrick Conn wrote. “The Tar Heels are losers of four straight, including a 70-50 high-scoring affair against James Madison, that started the streak after beginning the year 3-0. It isn’t just the fact that UNC has dropped four in a row, but the manner in which some of these games have ended. The Tar Heels blew games against rival Duke and Georgia Tech in two of the last three. It might be time for Mack to retire – and this time for good.”
Last year, North Carolina started 6-0 and was ranked 10th, before collapsing to finish 8-5 overall. In 2022, UNC started 9-1 before losing its final four games, including the ACC Championship against Clemson.
I love what Mack has done for the Tar Heels’ football program, but it’s time for him to enjoy the retired life.
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How much would it cost the UNC football program to buy out Mack Brown’s contract?
After a 3-0 start to the season, spirits were high in Chapel Hill for the football program. But since then, UNC has lost four-straight games including giving up 70 points to James Madison, blowing a 20-point lead to Duke and most recently, allowing Georgia Tech roll off a 60-plus yard run in the final seconds.
And with those four straight losses, the future of the program is in question.
Head coach Mack Brown took the loss to James Madison to heart, reportedly telling his players he would step down if he didn’t feel like he could coach them and get this program to where it needed to be. Brown later said he was speaking out of emotion. Fast forward a few weeks later and after more losses, there are some thoughts that Brown and UNC could part ways after this season with the head coach potentially stepping down.
But if UNC were to move on from Brown and pay out his contract, his buyout would only cost them $2,812,500 per USA TODAY Sports’ release of their annual coaches compensation report.
Brown is making $5M with his school pay and then bonuses. The buyout isn’t a huge number and is actually one of the lowest among all college football coaches as of December 1, 2024.
This adds a small detail into whatever decision comes at the end of this season. But for now, Brown and the Tar Heels are going to continue to try and turn this thing around and win some games.
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There’s 134 head football coaches in the FBS. Where does Mack Brown’s salary rank amongst that group?
In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, head UNC football coach Mack Brown is one of the most respected and criticized figures.
Brown is the type of person who everyone is friends with. I can’t think of him ever meeting a stranger, or someone saying “that Mack Brown guy is a real jerk.” On the football field, Brown is respected because he’s a good recruiter and won a National Championship with Texas in the 2005-2006 season.
Brown’s salary numbers are a bit confusing, so let us break it down for you. UNC pays Brown $4,300,000 annually, while his maximum bonus is $1,000,000. He was paid $125,000 in bonuses last year and, should North Carolina decide to buy out Brown’s contract, North Carolina would owe him $2,812,500.
Ever since Brown returned to lead the Tar Heels, there’s been a ton of disappointment on the football field. North Carolina is synonymous with season collapses under Brown: racing out to 6-0 last year, then finishing 8-5 with yet another bowl defeat; starting 9-1 in 2022, before losing four straight; beginning this year 3-0, albeit against mainly inferior competition, then also losing four straight.
With the heavy hearts hanging over the UNC football program right now, though, Brown is exactly the guy you want leading your team. Tylee Craft passed away last weekend after a lengthy battle with lung cancer – and I can’t think of a coach who loves his players more than Mack.
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Sure, it was frustrating that North Carolina lost its fourth straight game and watched its season continue to spiral, but that is the furthest thing from players and coaches’ minds right now.
To open up his postgame press conference, Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown delivered the sad news that Tylee Craft, a UNC wide receiver who had been fighting lung cancer since 2022, passed away earlier this morning.
Brown didn’t tell his players until after the game, though, as he didn’t want them distracted from the task of trying to beat the Yellow Jackets.
“That was so cool,” North Carolina head coach Mack Brown said of Jones’ celebration and idea to wear Craft’s jersey. “:ast night when JJ came up and said, “Would it be okay for me to wear his number, his jersey?” I said, “You want his name on the back?” He said yes. I said yes you can, but ask his mom. He (J.J.) said, “Coach one different receiver wants to wear it every week. I said, we’ll make it happen.”
Jones ended his day with 64 yards and a touchdown, his second in three games, on three receptions. Jones now has 364 receiving yards on 21 catches, good enough for 17.3 yards per catch.
Having Craft on their hearts during the game, not knowing he had already passed, must’ve been extremely heavy.
Whose seats are warming up after the first month of the college football season?
We’re now more than a month into the 2024-25 college football season, and that means that preseason prognostication has mostly now been thrown out the window in favor of cold, hard data.
And with the calendar turning to October, we begin to approach the time in which programs are forced to make tough decisions regarding underachieving coaching staffs.
With the early signing period and transfer portal window, we’ve seen coach firings happen earlier and earlier as schools attempt to get a leg up on the search process and, in turn, the offseason roster-building process.
Keeping that in mind as we look at the Week 6 slate, there are quite a few games that could make or break the futures of current coaches within the Power Four ranks. Here are four who desperately need a win on Saturday to avoid the hot seat.
1. Billy Napier, Florida
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
In the case of Napier — whose record over two seasons and change in Gainesville is just 13-16 — it’s going to take a lot more than a win over UCF to preserve any chance of sticking around in this job in 2025.
It seems like more of a “when” than “if” question when it comes to Napier’s future, but a home loss to UCF would likely be seen as the final straw for Florida’s brass and fan base after a 2-2 start given the gauntlet the Gators close the year with, featuring games against Tennessee, Georgia, Texas, Ole Miss and LSU.
It would take a truly shocking turnaround for Napier to survive the 2024 season in Gainesville, but without a win against the Knights, it seems unlikely he’ll even survive the weekend.
2. Sam Pittman, Arkansas
Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Entering the season, Pittman’s seat at Arkansas was viewed as one of the hottest in America. But after a solid start, it seemed like the strange marriage between himself and offensive coordinator (and former Razorbacks head coach) Bobby Petrino may have been working.
But the Hogs missed a major opportunity early in the season on the road as they choked a game away against Oklahoma State, a loss that has not aged particularly well given the Cowboys’ recent struggles. It beat Auburn but struggled with offensive efficiency in a loss to Texas A&M last week.
Now, it draws a Tennessee team that looks like one of the best in the SEC. Demanding a win from Pittman’s squad is a tough ask, but it needs to at least be competitive against the Vols. The Razorbacks were handed a back-loaded schedule and managed just a 3-2 start.
They enter the thick of that schedule this week, and it’s pretty easy to see how this story ends if Pittman can’t pull off a stunning upset or two.
3. Mack Brown, North Carolina
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images
Brown, the oldest head coach in the FBS ranks at the age of 72, has been on retirement watch for the last few seasons, despite both his and North Carolina’s insistence that he has no such plans. But now, given the way things have played out in 2024, I’m wondering if it’s time for the hot seat conversation, instead.
Brown later apologized for his conduct, but for lack of a better term, the vibes here stink. In his defense, quarterback Max Johnson was lost for the season in Week 1, but the offense hasn’t been the problem. Instead, it’s the defense, now led by a new coordinator in former Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins, that continues to be this program’s Achilles heel.
Now with a hot Pittsburgh offense coming to town, it feels like a do-or-die moment for UNC. With every bad loss, I think an offseason divorce here feels increasingly more likely. And while I’d probably bet that separation happens on Brown’s own terms, the performance on the field could dictate otherwise.
4. Dave Aranda, Baylor
Chris Jones-Imagn Images
Along with Napier and Pittman, Aranda was one of the names you were most likely to see on a preseason hot seat list. After winning 12 games and a Big 12 title in his second season in Waco, Aranda is just 9-16 in his last two seasons. He survived a 3-9 finish in 2023 but was forced to make staff changes.
And to be fair to Aranda, those changes seem to have helped — at least a bit. Baylor is improved defensively and is at least managing some production on offense despite a midseason quarterback change. But the Bears are also 2-3 after some tough losses — including the Hail Mary heartbreaker against Colorado, which it later lost in overtime, and last week’s valiant but ultimately failed comeback effort against BYU.
Those losses to solid teams aren’t exactly damning of Baylor, but Aranda needed to win them. Now, the Bears draw a ranked and undefeated Iowa State team on the road. Is it fair to expect a win? Probably not.
But even with a fairly manageable schedule the rest of the way, it’s hard to imagine Aranda picking up enough wins to stick around this season if his team can’t pull the upset on Saturday to get back to .500.
There’s not a lot of positive thinking surrounding the UNC football team right now. Head coach Mack Brown is one of the few who thinks his team can respond.
The North Carolina Tar Heels’ football season quickly went from bad to worse in the span of just two weeks.
UNC, despite starting 3-0 with consecutive victories against Minnesota, Charlotte and NC Central, struggled for large portions of those games. North Carolina did win each of those games with a new quarterback, though – and the defense actually played well.
As we’ve come to love and know the Tar Heels, though, there’s always a collapse at any given point during a season.
UNC’s collapse started against James Madison, a Group of Five school whom UNC paid to come play in Chapel Hill. North Carolina turned the ball over five times, faced a 32-point halftime deficit, gave up over 600 yards and lost 70-50, which is more in-line with a basketball score.
The Tar Heels appeared to turn a corner last weekend at archrival Duke, pitching a first-half shutout. UNC collapsed in the second half, though, only scoring three points and allowing 21 unanswered in a 21-20 loss.
Despite all the recent adversity, North Carolina head coach Mack Brown still believes his players can turn their season around.
“I’ve told our team, I think this is one that’s going to be built to finish stronger and have a great finish at the end,” Brown told InsideCarolina’s Jeremiah Holloway. “And that’s something we haven’t done well, so that’s still out there for us.”
A strong finish would be a complete reversal from 2023, when the Tar Heels started 6-0 before finishing 8-5. In 2022, UNC started 9-1 before losing its final four games.
North Carolina is facing Pitt and Georgia Teach the next two weeks. Can the Tar Heels back up their head coach’s thoughts and play some good football?
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