7 coaches who would make sense as Mack Brown’s successor at North Carolina

North Carolina announced its decision to part ways with Mack Brown on Tuesday morning.

The news comes near the end of a somewhat disappointing end to Brown’s tenure, as the Tar Heels are just 6-5 in 2024. However, Brown’s successor will have big shoes to fill – he is the winningest coach in Carolina history and has led the program to bowl games in 6 consecutive seasons to complete his second stint in Chapel Hill.

This list is not intended to be exhaustive, but is intended to be a snapshot of some of the coaches that would make sense for the North Carolina administration in its search for a new head coach.

Here are 7 coaches who would make sense to replace Brown in Chapel Hill:

Jamey Chadwell, Liberty head coach

Chadwell’s second season at Liberty fell short of expectations, but this coach has won everywhere he has been. He is 21-3 at Liberty and 39-22 at Coastal Carolina. His record at Coastal actually underscores his influence there – after a slow start to his tenure, he won 11 games in back-to-back seasons and then went 9-3 before taking the Liberty job.

Chadwell is certainly familiar with the region and has a long track record of winning games at a high level. He also had great quarterback play, as Grayson McCall (Coastal Carolina) and Kaidon Salter (Liberty) are two of the most productive Group of 5 quarterbacks in recent memory.

Dan Mullen, ESPN analyst

Dan Mullen hasn’t coached in a few years, but he could certainly draw interest from a number of programs this offseason. He is arguably the best coach in Mississippi State history, having gone 69-46 for nine seasons in Starkville. His run at Mississippi State University also included being named SEC Coach of the Year.

Mullen’s stay in Florida didn’t go as planned, but it has aged relatively well given Billy Napier’s previous struggles in Gainesville. Mullen spent four years at UF, winning more than 10 games twice and never missing a bowl. Florida also finished in the top 10 of the final CFP rankings three times under Mullen. If he is interested in returning to the sideline, he would immediately be one of the best head coaches in the ACC.

Western Kentucky head coach Tyson Helton

Tyson Helton has made Western Kentucky a very consistent winner. The Hilltoppers are on the verge of their sixth straight bowl game under Helton’s leadership (despite going 5-7 in the COVID-affected 2020 season) and are a Conference USA contender this season.

Helton hasn’t worked in the Carolinas before, but he has experience at some big programs. Before taking over at WKU, he was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee for one season in 2018. He also worked at Southern Cal for two seasons as the Trojans’ passing game coordinator and QB coach.

Travis Williams, Arkansas defensive coordinator

Travis Williams may be a little under-known for a head coaching job in the ACC, but you can’t argue with his results in Fayetteville. Before Williams came to Arkansas, the Razorbacks’ defense finished the 2022 season ranked 68th in SP+. Just two years later, entering Week 14, Arkansas’ stopping unit ranks 32nd nationally in this category.

Williams also has extensive program experience. His previous stints include roles in Auburn, Miami and Central Florida. Williams, a former Auburn star during his playing career, was born in Columbia, South Carolina.

Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann

Glenn Schumann has one of the most unique backgrounds of any college football coach. Schumann didn’t play at the college level, but instead spent the first decade of his career learning from Nick Saban and Kirby Smart. His coaching career began in 2011 when he joined Alabama’s program as a student assistant. When Smart took the Georgia job in 2016, Schumann followed him as UGA’s linebackers coach.

He has been Georgia’s primary defensive coordinator since 2022, although he has held the co-DC title since 2019. The 34-year-old has no obvious ties to the region, but the rest of his resume speaks for itself.

Will Stein, offensive coordinator at Oregon

Will Stein appears to be on a meteoric rise to the top of the college football coaching world. The 35-year-old was a high school assistant in 2019 and is now in his second season leading an explosive offense at Oregon.

Between Eugene and Lake Travis High School (Texas), Stein was an assistant coach at UTSA. That’s about the extent of his resume so far, although he held a few lower-level positions in Louisville and Texas before joining the Lake Travis staff. He’s certainly far from the most experienced coach UNC could hire, but it’s clear he’ll be a head coach somewhere soon. UNC would be wise to look at Stein this offseason.

Garrett Riley, Clemson offensive coordinator

Garrett Riley checks a number of potential boxes for the UNC search. He is young (35 years old), has a connection to the region and has proven himself as an offensive coordinator at a very high level. The highlight of his career (so far) came a few years ago when he led TCU’s offense to the national championship game. He has spent the last two seasons at Clemson and has had mixed results, although the Tigers have been good overall on offense this season. Clemson is averaging 6.49 yards per play this season, nearly a full yard more than the year before Riley arrived.

Riley also has other ties to the state. He was an assistant at East Carolina under his brother Lincoln Riley from 2013 to 2014. The Pirates also gave him his first on-field assistant job a year later when he was named the program’s outside receivers coach in 2015. He also spent one season at App State in 2019 as running backs coach.

Honorable Mentions

A few notes on some other potential candidates:

• Jon Sumrall isn’t included since he only spent one season at Tulane and is widely expected to be on the radar for several SEC jobs that could open up in the next year or so. It would be surprising if Sumrall made a pit stop in Chapel Hill.
• Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson could certainly be on the radar for the job, but it would be surprising if he were willing to move to a conference opponent (and an in-state opponent) after spending more than a decade in Winston- Salem spent.
• Other incumbent head coaches like Matt Campbell (Iowa State) and PJ Fleck (Minnesota) could be viable targets for North Carolina’s search.