CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WGHP) — Shockwaves were sent throughout the college football landscape when the University of North Carolina announced they decided to part ways with head coach Mack Brown.
Brown, 73, is UNC’s all-time leader in wins and games coached. He first coached the program from 1988-1997 before he left for the University of Texas where he won a national championship.
Brown’s tenure from 1992-1997 is considered to be the greatest period of sustained success in program history. They finished ranked in five of those six seasons and had top-10 finishes in both 1996 and 1997.
Brown’s second tenure in Chapel Hill, while less successful than his first, is still the best winning percentage posted by a Tar Heels coach since Mack Brown’s first tenure.
In fact, Brown is the only full-time UNC coach to post a winning record since Dick Crum who he succeeded in 1987.
Brown’s second tenure also saw many great successes such as the development of NFL quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye as well as a New Year’s Six bowl appearance and ACC Championship Game appearance.
So, with all those being true, that raises the question of why exactly did UNC fire Mack Brown?
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Defensive Struggles
One issue that Tar Heel fans have bemoaned throughout Brown’s second stint with the team is the lackluster performance of the team’s defense.
These are the rankings of UNC’s defense in the last six seasons:
| Year | Points Allowed Per Game | Yards Allowed Per Game |
| 2024 | 29.3 points allowed (Ranked 87th out of 134) | 389.5 yards allowed (Ranked 76th out of 134) |
| 2023 | 29 points allowed (Ranked 79th out of 133) | 414.2 yards allowed (Ranked 99th out of 133) |
| 2022 | 33.6 points allowed (Ranked 108th out of 130) | 428.1 yards allowed (Ranked 97th out of 130) |
| 2021 | 31.3 points allowed (Ranked 74th out of 128) | 414.4 yards allowed (Ranked 68th out of 128) |
| 2020 | 25.1 points allowed (Ranked 44th out of 130) | 385.8 yards allowed (Ranked 52nd out of 130) |
| 2019 | 35.4 points allowed (Ranked 105th out of 130) | 449.1 yards allowed (Ranked 100th out of 130) |
With the exception of 2020, the Tar Heels consistently fielded a below-average defense which cost the team greatly during Brown’s second stint.
The issues persisted through several changes at defensive coordinator throughout the past six seasons and reached a breaking point following a 70-50 loss to James Madison University in Chapel Hill during the 2024 season.
Late-year collapses/Failure to meet preseason expectations
Another issue that likely led to Brown’s ouster was UNC’s inability to meet preseason expectations as well as their frequent late-season faltering.
Brown’s first season started off well with a surprising 7-6 finish and bowl game victory in 2019 that saw the Tar Heels nearly upset No. 1 Clemson in Chapel Hill.
2020, was a mixed bag. UNC began the year ranked No. 18 in the preseason and finished the year ranked No. 18.
However, the Tar Heels soared to No. 5 in the polls after a 3-0 start and fell out of the rankings entirely within the next three weeks following two losses to unranked teams.
UNC bounced back and reached No. 13 in the polls before losing the Orange Bowl to No. 5 Texas A&M to finish the year at 8-4 and ranked precisely where they began.
2021 was probably the lowest point of Brown’s second stint in Chapel Hill.
With the improvements the defense made the previous year and junior quarterback Sam Howell returning as a possible first-round draft pick, the Tar Heels began the year ranked No. 10 in the nation and were viewed as a contender for the ACC and College Football Playoff.
However, the season got off to a nightmarish start as Carolina lost their first game against unranked Virginia Tech. A second loss to unranked Georgia Tech two weeks later sent UNC out of the polls and their season into a tailspin as they limped to a 6-7 finish and lost the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte to border state rival South Carolina.
Brown fired several coaches on the defensive staff in 2022 and those changes initially appeared to pay off.
Led by a new star freshman quarterback Drake Maye, the Tar Heels took advantage of a light schedule featuring no ranked opponents and raced to a 9-1 start and a perfect 6-0 record in ACC play.
Sitting at No. 13 in the nation, Carolina was favored to finish the regular season undefeated and to play Clemson in a game where the winner was likely headed to the College Football Playoff.
Unfortunately, UNC collapsed, losing consecutive home games to unranked Georgia Tech and NC State before being demolished by Clemson in the ACC Championship Game and losing to No. 15 Oregon by one point in the Holiday Bowl.
2023, was a similar story for Carolina who began the year ranked No. 21 in the preseason and raced to a 7-0 start, and climbed to No. 10 in the polls.
Then in all too familiar of a refrain, the Tar Heels lost consecutive games to unranked opponents in Virginia and Georgia Tech, falling out of the rankings entirely.
UNC found its way to being ranked No. 20 a few weeks later. However, consecutive losses to unranked Clemson and No. 22 NC State knocked them out again before a blowout loss to West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte.
At this point, UNC has now lost four consecutive bowl games, three consecutive games to rival NC State and ended three consecutive regular seasons with losing streaks.
That led to 2024 which brought another change at defensive coordinator and the loss of Maye to the NFL where he was selected with the third overall pick by the New England Patriots.
The season began with a 3-0 start and then the most embarrassing loss of Brown’s UNC tenure.
On Sept. 21, the Tar Heels were defeated by James Madison University 70-50. JMU led UNC by a score of 53-21 at halftime in a referendum on Carolina’s long-standing defensive struggles.
After the game, Brown gave an emotional postgame speech that made some players believe that he would be stepping down after the game. However, he later stated that the speech was misinterpreted and apologized for how he handled the situation.
That game was the beginning of a four-game losing streak that all but wrote the ending of Brown’s tenure in Chapel Hil in the minds of many fans and only left a question as to whether or not he would retire or be forced out of the position.
Declining recruiting
What began as probably the greatest strength of Brown’s tenure also ultimately contributed to his downfall in Chapel Hill.
After finishing with classes ranked in the top 30 every year at UNC since his return, with several even approaching the top 10, the Tar Heels’ 2025 recruiting class is currently ranked as the 78th best in the nation.
Conclusion
Despite the disappointments that ultimately led to Brown’s ouster, he remains the clear greatest coach in the history of Carolina football and should remain a celebrated figure at the university.
Brown inherited a UNC team that had won five games in the past two seasons combined when he came out of retirement in 2019 and had the team ranked in a preseason poll two years later.
Brown’s college coaching career is likely finished and it remains to be seen who the Tar Heels will target as their next head coach.