North Carolina fires football coach Mack Brown

North Carolina coach Mack Brown, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame who won a national championship at Texas, will not return for the 2025 season.

The school announced the move Tuesday with a statement from athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who informed the 73-year-old Brown that there would be a coaching change. Brown will coach Saturday’s regular-season finale against rival NC State, but no decision has been made yet whether Brown will coach a bowl game.

Brown’s firing comes a day after the coach told reporters he planned to coach next season. Brown said Monday he has not had discussions with athletic director Bubba Cunningham about next season.

In a statement to the broadcast Tuesday, Brown said he is focused on the rivalry game with the Wolf Pack.

“Although this wasn’t the perfect time or the perfect way I imagined going out, it will never be the perfect time,” Brown said. “I spent 16 seasons at North Carolina and will always cherish the memories and relationships that Sally and I built during my tenure as head coach. We have had the opportunity to coach and mentor some great young men and we will miss the opportunity to do that in the future.”

Brown, who has three years left on his contract, had hinted several times about his plans for a seventh season in his second stint with the Tar Heels, including as recently as Monday during his weekly press conference.

Cunningham did not provide a specific reason for the change in his statement, but praised Brown for holding the program’s career record for wins and driving improvements to facilities and program infrastructure. He also praised Brown for his leadership during difficult times such as the recent death of player Tylee Craft after a battle with cancer.

North Carolina (6-5, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) was bowl eligible in every season of Brown’s second tenure as he stabilized a struggling program, culminating in reaching the ACC Championship Game in 2022. But this year’s team – against each other Replacing Drake Maye, the third overall NFL draft pick, at quarterback was a daunting challenge. He had a difficult first half of the season that shook confidence in the state of the program at this point in Brown’s tenure.

The low point was a system failure that resulted in 70 points being lost in a home loss to James Madison. And as a result, Brown stoked uncertainty about the program’s immediate future with emotional comments in the locker room to the team, including questioning whether he should remain coach.

Brown apologized afterward and said he was “disappointed in me” for how he handled that moment, which after a 3-0 start fell into a four-game losing streak.

UNC regrouped and returned to bowl eligibility with a three-game winning streak, but had an ugly performance in Saturday’s 41-21 loss at Boston College.

North Carolina is scheduled to play in Syracuse in 2025, with a trip to Kenan Stadium scheduled for 2026.