When Mack Brown returned to coach the North Carolina Tar Heels ahead of the 2019 college football season, I was encouraged and excited.
Now, with just the NC State game remaining in UNC’s 2024 season, my feelings – and those of many UNC fans – have changed greatly about Brown.
On Tuesday, Nov. 26, North Carolina made the long-overdue decision to fire Brown. This comes after a tumultuous season for the Tar Heels’ winningest head coach in program history – three wins to open up 2024, followed by four-consecutive losses, three straight wins that helped UNC reach bowl eligibility and – most recently, an embarrassing loss at Boston College.
Brown struggled to get a grasp on his own coaching future earlier this season, starting with a 70-50 loss against James Madison in Week 4, in which he told players of his plan to step down. On Monday, Nov. 25, Brown said he planned to coach at North Carolina in 2025.
There’s no shot that fan sentiment got Mack fired, but they did voice frustrations with his increasingly poor coaching abilities earlier in 2024.
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The Tar Heels needed a fresh start after two straight losing seasons from Larry Fedora – and Brown gave them exactly that, leading UNC to a 55-13 domination of Temple in the 2019 Military Bowl.
That was the only bowl game North Carolina won under Brown, though, despite making one in six consecutive seasons. The verdict is still out on whether Brown coaches the Tar Heels this bowl season, but I think they should give that responsibility to their next head coach.
I initially started doubting Brown’s coaching abilities in 2022, when UNC collapsed after a 9-1 start, but maybe that was a fluke. North Carolina started 6-0 in 2023 but, as legend would have it, North Carolina finished 8-5 and lost another bowl game.
I’m extremely thankful for Brown’s contributions leading the Tar Heels, but it was time for him to go.
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