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Mack Brown has two stints and 193 games under his belt as the head coach of the North Carolina football program, but after a disappointing 6-6 campaign during the 2024 season, the Tar Heels decided to move on from the 73-year-old coach. While Carolina is still bowl eligible — and will be coached by assistant coach Freddie Kitchens in their bowl game — the school has already begun working on finding the next man who will lead the program, and there's already a favorite in the clubhouse.
“North Carolina is targeting Tulane coach Jon Sumrall and is expected to make a push for him this weekend,” writes Jeff Duncan of The Times-Picayune on X.
Jon Sumrall went 23-4 in two seasons as the head coach at Troy before being hired by Tulane nearly a year ago to the day. In his first season at Tulane, Sumrall has coached the Green Wave to a 9-3 record and will be playing Army for the American Athletic Conference title on Friday night. Coincidentally, Mack Brown coached three seasons at Tulane before the start of his first stint at North Carolina.
Sumrall is not the first coach linked to the North Carolina job. Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, a University of North Carolina alum, immediately confirmed his interest in the job opening. Minnesota's PJ Fleck and Wake Forest's Dave Clawson were mentioned as possible candidates, as was Army head coach Jeff Monken, who has gone 80-56 in 11 seasons in West Point.
Ultimately, whoever takes the job will be tasked with leading the Tar Heels to heights they haven't often reached. Only once in the last 25 years has North Carolina finished a season with 10-plus wins. Mack Brown led the program there three times in the 1990's, but was never able to coach Carolina to more than nine wins in his second tenure.
