It is the end of an era for North Carolina football, as the Tar Heels just fired long-time program head coach Mack Brown on Tuesday. Brown will not be back on the sidelines for North Carolina in the 2025 season, thus putting into question the commitment of the recruits the school attracted under Mack's watch.

Not long after the news of Mack's split with North Carolina football, the Tar Heels lost a four-star Class of 2026 recruit, per Hayes Fawcett of On3.

“BREAKING: Four-Star EDGE Zavion Griffin-Haynes has Decommitted from North Carolina, he tells me for @on3recruits The 6’6 230 EDGE from Rolesville, NC had been Committed to the Tar Heels since September,” Fawcett shared on X (formerly Twitter).

Fawcett also said that Griffin-Haynes “holds a total of 31 offers.”

Griffin-Haynes explained his decision to back away from his commitment to North Carolina amid Brown's firing.

“Mack Brown and I had a great relationship and that pretty much sums up my recruitment,” Griffin-Haynes said via 247Sports. “Now that he's gone, he was a person I can trust without my mom being there. He has great experience in college football.”

Where will North Carolina football decommit Zavion Griffin-Haynes land next?

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North Carolina Tarheels head coach Mack Brown looks on with his players during an injury time out in the third quarter against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium.
Robert Myers-Imagn Images

Among the other schools that extended offers to Griffin-Haynes before he initially committed to the Tar Heels were the Ohio State Buckeyes, NC State Wolfpack, South Carolina Gamecocks, Tennessee Volunteers, Penn State Nittany Lions, Florida State Seminoles and Duke Blue Devils.

The Buckeyes could be a favorite new landing spot for Griffin-Haynes, as he was recently attended last Saturday's game in Bloomington between the Ohio State and the Indiana Hoosiers.

It remains to be seen whether another commit will follow in the footsteps of Griffin-Haynes, who is from Rolesville, North Carolina. At the moment, North Carolina football has two hard commits for the 2026 season in three-star quarterback Zaid Lott and wide receiver Danny Odem, per 247 Sports.

For what it's worth, North Carolina has 10 commits for the 2025 season at present, including eight three-stars.

The Tar Heels enter the final week of the regular season with a 6-5 record with a chance to improve it with a win this coming Saturday against NC State at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill.