Earlier today, the Tar Heels released the news that the team is parting ways with head coach Mack Brown at the end of the regular season. That means that the Tar Heels are commencing their first coaching search since 2018 and a wide range of possibilities are being brought up for athletic director Bubba Cunningham. Here are fifteen names that should be considered by the Tar Heels as they look to find the next head coach of this program.
Home Run Hires
Jimbo Fisher- Former Texas A&M Head Coach
This is the wildest name of the bunch, but someone who is certainly worth calling. The immediate pushback from many is probably the money that he may want, but it is worth remembering that he was paid a massive amount of money to leave Texas A&M after last season. Replacing one national championship-winning head coach with another should be welcomed by Tar Heel fans, especially since Fisher’s best days were in the ACC. While his teams in College Station didn’t win at the level that they were supposed to, there is no denying that he can recruit with the best in the country. The concern is that his offense struggled the way that it did in his final couple of years despite having the talent, but that was in the SEC. The easier path to the playoff in the ACC could also be attractive for Fisher who wants to get back to the biggest stage in the sport. His personality can be abrasive at times, but he is a winner that has a clean track record and is capable of taking Carolina to the College Football Playoff, something that Mack Brown said should not only be a goal for the program but an expectation. You have to at least give him a call and make him tell you no.
Curt Cignetti- Indiana Head Coach
Cignetti was just given a massive extension from Indiana following a 10-0 start to the season, the first ever in program history. Despite losing on the road 38-15 against Ohio State, he has Indiana in position for an appearance in the College Football Playoff appearance. Prior to this season in Bloomington, he posted a 52-9 record at James Madison, taking home at least a share of the conference title in each of his five years on campus all while overseeing the transition of the program from the FCS to the FBS. He does have history in the state of North Carolina, having been the head coach at Elon (2017-18) and the offensive coordinator at NC State as the quarterbacks coach and run game coordinator (2000-06) so he knows how fertile this recruiting ground is. Combine that with the fact that getting to the College Football Playoff will be much easier in the ACC moving forward than in the Big Ten and you have a solid pitch if you’re willing to pay.
Matt Campbell- Iowa State Head Coach
This is a name that has come up on some of these early lists for the job and it would be a tremendous hire. Campbell has built a consistent winner in Ames, posting a 62-50 record in his nine seasons at the helm. The team has finished with at least eight wins in four of his eight seasons, which is arguably the most successful stretch in program history. Campbell’s ability to develop talent is a major reason for his success and if you combine that with the better recruiting grounds, it could be a recipe for a lot of success. While the ACC might not be held in the highest regard by the playoff committee, it seems like the Big 12 is seen in a worse light, meaning the path to the playoff is an easier one through the former. Like Cignetti, you would have to be willing to pay, but there could be an appetite for Campbell to take on a new adventure if he feels like he’s accomplished all he can with the Cyclones.
P.J. Fleck- Minnesota Head Coach
Fleck is another guy who has led a dormant program to success and might be looking for a program where he can take the next step and get to the CFP. He has been incredibly consistent in his eight seasons with Minnesota, finishing just two seasons without a bowl appearance, his first and the COVID year. He has posted a 56-39 record, helped by three nine win seasons including an 11-win 2019 campaign. Just like Campbell, he is doing this while having to recruit in a difficult area of the country and one can wonder how much success he could have in an area like the one Carolina recruits in. He has done very well in the portal plugging the holes that he’s unable to recruit out of high school. Prior to his time at Minnesota, Fleck had built Western Michigan into one of the better Group of 5 teams in the country, concluding his time there with a 13-1 season in 2016 where the team nearly pulled a massive upset in the Cotton Bowl against Wisconsin. There were allegations prior to the 2023 season that he had a “toxic culture” that was classified as a “cult” by some former players, but the investigation ultimately found no wrongdoing. This is the guy who the pitch of getting to the CFP being easier in the ACC might resonate most with because of Minnesota’s standing in the current Big Ten. This would be another costly option for the Tar Heels, but one that would certainly be a home run if they could pull it off.
Ben Johnson- Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator
This might be the craziest thought of the whole bunch but there is a connection here and he would be a phenomenal in-game coach on the offensive side of the ball. Johnson, a former member of the Tar Heel football program from 2004-07, has had multiple head coach offers at the NFL level after putting together some of the best offenses in the league each of the last two years. This year, he has taken things to another level with the Lions offense and has the team positioned to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl if things break right. First, you must ask yourself if he fits at the college level. There is no question that offensive players would want to play for him and the offense would almost certainly continue to be one of the best in the country, but what would he do on the defensive side of the ball? His connections at the pro level could help him, but this would likely be a case where he would need help piecing together a staff. The biggest thing that you have to wonder, though, is if he would even have any desire to coach at the college level. The Tar Heels having a general manager position is certainly helpful and would take the pressure off him when it comes to dealing with NIL, but he would still have to be involved in recruiting and the transfer portal, something he doesn’t have to worry about at the NFL level. If he was interested, this would be a home run because of how good of an offensive coach he is and how big his name is, but the lack of experience at the college level is notable.
Attainable Splashes
Dan Mullen- ESPN CFB Analyst
That’s right, we’re dipping into the TV ranks again. Mullen has been out of the game for three seasons, but like Mack Brown, has spent his time away from the sidelines as an analyst for ESPN. On the field, it’s hard to argue his resume when it comes to wins and losses. In his first stint as a head coach, Mullen took Mississippi State to heights they had never been before, reaching No. 1 in the AP Poll at one point and taking the Bulldogs to their just their second New Year’s Six bowl game in program history during the 2014 season. He would finish his nine-season stint in Starksville with a 69-46 record, going to a bowl game in each of his final eight seasons. He would leave Mississippi State before their bowl game in 2017 to take over the head coaching job at Florida, where he would lead the Gators to three straight NY6 bowl games, something the program hadn’t accomplished since Urban Meyer and hasn’t done since. Things fell apart quickly at Florida, though, as he finished his stint in Gainesville just 2-9 against FBS competition, eventually leading to his dismissal after the 2021 season. There are also some notable red flags with Mullen that will have to be pondered when considering him for the job. Mullen and Florida were punished for recruiting violations during the 2020 season and there were questions about team discipline in his first couple of years at Florida after five different players were accused of violence or threat of violence. In 2021, he was also part of a lawsuit by a former football staffer who accused him and athletic director Scott Striklin of intentionally subjecting him “to unequal, discriminatory, and racist treatment by creating a hostile, abusive, and racist work environment.” Those red flags should not fully disqualify him, but they are something that would have to be discussed for an otherwise solid candidate for the job.
Glen Schumann- Georgia Defensive Coordinator
Of the coordinators, this is the best of the group. Schumann is a name that has been looked at as one of the top up-and-coming coaches for years and reports are, this is a job that might interest him. Schumann is one of the most decorated coordinators in the entire country, having spent his sixteen years in the college ranks as part of either Nick Saban or Kirby Smart’s staff, meaning he has been a part of national title-winning staffs. Since taking over for Mel Tucker as the defensive coordinator prior to the 2019 season, he has coordinated one of the nation’s top defenses each year. In 2019, the Bulldogs were the nation’s top defense, allowing just 12.6 points per game and 276.0 yards per game. They would improve on those numbers in 2021 after a down season the year before, allowing just 10.2 points per game and 268.5 yards per game on the way to a national title game victory over Alabama. No defense has been able to match those numbers since then, but he has not had a unit allow more than 18.5 points per game or 311.1 yards per game, both of which have come this year and remain near the top of the country. His recruiting prowess is very well known and he has had success in the areas that Mack Brown and company were recruiting and he has not been afraid to use the portal to help fill the minimal holes his defenses have had. There is always a risk in hiring coordinators, but this is one that seems he would be worth taking a shot on if the reports of interest are true.
Jon Sumrall- Tulane Head Coach
Sumrall is a guy that is quickly climbing the coaching ranks and many expect him to be a guy that garners plenty of interest from Power 4 schools after the success that he’s had the last two years. He is currently thriving in his first season at Tulane where he is pushing to potentially crack the first-ever 12-team playoff field if he can win the American Conference Championship. This amazing first season follows an incredibly successful stint at Troy where both of his teams earned a spot in the conference title game and finished the season with just two losses. This would be a major jump for a guy who was a defensive coordinator at Kentucky back in 2021, but when it comes to Group of 5 coaches, there is no hotter name right now. He is also a defensive mind that calls his own defense and his units have been some of the best in the Group of 5 in the last three years, something that should be welcomed in Chapel Hill. Larry Fedora’s tenure has seemed to sour some fans’ thoughts on Group of 5 candidates, but this is a name they should be open to.
Attainable Solid Options
Jamey Chadwell- Liberty Head Coach
This is a name that Tar Heel fans in the local area should be very familiar and like Sumrall, he has made waves in his last two stops at the FBS level. Most will remember him from his time at Coastal Carolina, where he led the Chanticleers to back-to-back 11-win seasons in 2020 and 2021. In his first season at Liberty, he took things to the next level, putting together a perfect 13-0 regular season, earning the team a trip to Glendale for the Fiesta Bowl. This season, the team is 8-2 and is in a position to make it to a second straight conference title game in Conference USA. Between his two jobs, Chadwell is 60-25 in seven seasons at the FBS level and three of those have seen him finish with double-digit wins. His familiarity with the recruiting grounds from his time at Coastal and, prior to that, Charleston Southern could also bode well with many of the same high school coaches still remaining around those areas. This is a very solid candidate that should get significant consideration if you can’t land one of the home run hires.
Barry Odom- UNLV Head Coach
Odom is in the midst of one of the best seasons in the history of the UNLV program and will be getting consideration for a Power 4 job this offseason. The Rebels are in the midst of a second straight nine-win season for the first time in program history and they are in a position to make the 12-team playoff if they can upset Boise State in the Mountain West Conference Championship and jump the American or Big 12 champ. Odom has Power 4 coaching experience, having spent four years at Missouri from 2016-19 where he posted a 25-25 record overall, but just a 13-19 record in conference. His biggest issue was recruiting, which current coach Eli Drinkwitz has proved can be done there at a high level. He would have to recruit better at Carolina than he’s done in his two stops as a head coach, but he is a players coach who calls his own defense which could be very attractive for this Tar Heel program. He is a solid prospect who should be discussed if you can’t land one of the home runs or splash guys.
Attainable But Risky
Arthur Smith- Pittsburgh Steelers Offensive Coordinator
Smith, a former Tar Heel offensive lineman and graduate assistant, is a name that has already been linked to the job by On3 Sports, meaning there might be some interest, at least on his end. Smith's offense this season in Pittsburgh has made some nice progress from last year after acquiring both Russell Wilson and Justin Fields in the offseason and this is an offensive playcaller from the NFL ranks that does have experience as a head coach. That experience though isn’t exactly great as Smith posted a 21-30 record in three seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. The bigger concern is whether or not he actually is a fit in the college game and if his offensive scheme would translate well at the college level. His ground-and-pound style would likely be a good fit in the Big Ten like we saw with Jim Harbaugh, but it is more of a question mark in a higher-scoring conference like the ACC. The biggest question, though, is whether or not he is ready for the current landscape of college football with NIL and the transfer portal on top of recruiting. The fact that Smith is an alumnus is great, but this is a candidate that should be further down the list of the guys to contact starting.
Andy Kotelnicki- Penn State Offensive Coordinator
Kotelnicki is the other coordinator who has appeared on a lot of early lists for the job and there is some promise but also a lot of risk. He had successful stops at Buffalo and Kansas while following head coach Lance Leipold who first gave him the job as offensive coordinator at Wisconsin-Whitewater. In his lone season at Penn State, Kotelnicki’s offense has put together a group that is averaging 32.4 points per game and 445.6 yards per game, the most yards per game since 2017. There is a lot of risk here, but if the Tar Heels get far enough down their board, he will probably get consideration.
Collin Klein- Texas A&M Offensive Coordinator
Klein is the youngest guy on this list, but he is a solid candidate whose only flaw is lack of experience. In his two seasons as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater Kansas State, he had the Wildcats' offense amongst the top in the country and helped develop both Will Howard and Avery Johnson. This season, with an unbalanced quarterback situation, Klein’s offense for Texas A&M is averaging 32.5 points per game and 417.1 yards per game. There is risk here because of how young and inexperienced he is, but he has a ton of upside as an offensive play-calling head coach and should get a look depending on him far down the list Cunningham is forced to go.
Al Golden- Notre Dame Defensive Coordinator
Golden would be a recycled coach like some of the others on the list, but it has been a while since he has been a head coach and his track record isn’t nearly as successful. He had outstanding success at Temple, posting a 27-34 record for a program that hadn’t won more than four games in a season since 1986 before he arrived in 2006. In 2009, he took the program to their first bowl game in 40 years and he followed that with another eight win season the next year before being hired by Miami. His time with the Hurricanes is widely regarded as a disappointment, as he posted just a 32-25 overall record and a 17-18 mark in conference. There is risk involved here, but he has been very successful since, especially in his time at Notre Dame. In each of his three seasons as the defensive coordinator, the team has improved and peaked this season with the team allowing 11.6 points per game and 273.1 yards per game. This would be similar to what Duke did when they hired Manny Diaz but with a little bit more risk, which is why this should be a down-the-line option if others say no.
Ryan Silverfield- Memphis Head Coach
Silverfield is another Group of 5 coach who has had some nice success over the past couple of years but might be slightly riskier than some of the other options here. In his five seasons on the Tigers' sidelines, he has posted a 40-21 record overall, but just a 22-17 record in the American Conference. He has yet to appear in an American Conference championship game, a streak that will extend into this year with Tulane and Army having clinched their spots already. The last two years have been Silverfield’s most successful, though, as he reached the ten-win mark last year and has a chance to do it this year with a 9-2 record so far. Silverfield might be ready for the jump to the Power 4 level, but this feels like a real risk which is why he needs to further down the pecking order for Cunningham.
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