The biggest move in the 2024 coaching carousel became official after North Carolina announced that head coach Mack Brown will not return next season, a decision that now gives Tar Heels players a unique opportunity to make a decision about their future .

The coaching change now opens a 30-day transfer portal for North Carolina players, just 12 days after the college football transfer portal officially opened nationally.

And the December window is shorter than last season at 20 days, meaning UNC players interested in transferring get an important jump-start on the process.

NCAA rules allow players on a team with a coaching change to enter the transfer portal the day after their school’s head coach is relieved of his duties.

Starting Wednesday, players can enter their names in the transfer portal.

Since returning as head coach six years ago, Brown helped revitalize North Carolina’s football fortunes by extending the program to five straight bowl games, thanks in large part to the play of quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye.

But the 2024 season was difficult from the start, as transfer quarterback Max Johnson suffered a season-ending injury in Carolina’s season opener at Minnesota in August.

Defense was again a problem, particularly after a 70-50 home loss to James Madison, after which Brown reportedly told his players he would vacate his post if it became apparent he was the problem.

But he continued to coach and lost four straight games before snapping a three-game winning streak against Virginia, Florida State and Wake Forest, but UNC lost by 20 to Boston College last weekend.

Brown will be on the sidelines for North Carolina’s finale against rival NC State, but after that it will be up to the school to find a replacement.

And that Carolina’s players must decide whether they want an early chance to enter the transfer portal.

The NCAA Transfer Portal is a private database containing the names of student-athletes in all Divisions I, II and III sports. The full list of names is not publicly available.

A player can enter his name into the transfer portal through his school’s compliance office.

Once a player communicates his intention to transfer in writing, the office enters the player’s name into the database and it is officially a transfer.

The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request, and NCAA rules prohibit anyone from denying that request.

The database contains the player’s name, contact information, as well as information about whether the player has received a scholarship and whether he is a graduate student.

Once a player’s name appears in the transfer portal database, other schools are free to contact the player. This person can change their mind at any point in the process and withdraw from the transfer portal.

Once a player enters the portal, his school is no longer required to honor the athletic scholarship it awarded him.

And if that player decides to leave the portal and return to his original school, the school does not have to give him another scholarship.

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