CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WGHP) – Shockwaves rippled across the college football landscape when the University of North Carolina announced they were parting ways with head coach Mack Brown.

Brown, 73, is UNC’s all-time leader in wins and games coached. He initially coached the program from 1988 to 1997 before moving to the University of Texas, where he won a national championship.

Brown’s tenure from 1992 to 1997 is considered the greatest period of sustained success in program history. They were ranked in five of those six seasons, achieving top-10 finishes in both 1996 and 1997.

Brown’s second term in Chapel Hill, while less successful than his first, still represents the best winning percentage by a Tar Heels coach since Mack Brown’s first term.

In fact, Brown is the only full-time UNC coach with a winning record since Dick Crum, who he succeeded in 1987.

Brown’s second term also brought many great achievements, such as the development of NFL quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye, as well as an appearance in the New Year’s Six Bowl and the ACC Championship Game.

If all of this is true, it begs the question, why exactly did UNC fire Mack Brown?

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Defensive battles

One issue that Tar Heel fans have lamented during Brown’s second stint with the team is the poor performance of the team’s defense.

These are the UNC defense rankings over the past six seasons:

Year	Points allowed per game	Yards allowed per game
2024	29.3 points allowed (rank 87 out of 134)	389.5 yards allowed (76th of 134)
2023	29 points allowed (79th place out of 133)	414.2 yards allowed (99th of 133)
2022	33.6 points allowed (rank 108 out of 130)	428.1 yards allowed (97th of 130)
2021	31.3 points allowed (74th out of 128)	414.4 yards allowed (ranked 68 of 128)
2020	25.1 points allowed (rank 44 out of 130)	385.8 yards allowed (52nd of 130)
2019	35.4 points allowed (rank 105 out of 130)	449.1 points per game (100th out of 130)

With the exception of 2020, the Tar Heels consistently fielded subpar defense, which cost the team dearly during Brown’s second stint.

The problems continued through multiple defensive coordinator changes over the past six seasons, culminating in the 2024 season after a 70-50 loss to James Madison University in Chapel Hill.

Collapses towards the end of the year/failure to meet pre-season expectations

Another issue that likely led to Brown’s downfall was UNC’s inability to live up to preseason expectations, as well as its frequent weaknesses at the end of the season.

Brown’s first season started well with a surprising 7-6 finish and a bowl game win in 2019 in which the Tar Heels nearly upset No. 1 Clemson in Chapel Hill.

The year 2020 was mixed. UNC began the year ranked No. 18 in the preseason and finished the year ranked No. 18.

However, the Tar Heels rose to No. 5 in the polls after a 3-0 start and fell out of the rankings entirely within the next three weeks after 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, finishing the year 8-4 and ending up right where it started.

2021 was probably the low point of Brown’s second stint in Chapel Hill.

With the improvements the defense made the previous year and the return of junior quarterback Sam Howell as a possible first-round draft pick, the Tar Heels began the year ranked No. 10 in the nation and were considered ACC and college contenders -Football playoffs.

However, the season got off to a nightmarish start as Carolina lost their first game to unranked Virginia Tech. A second loss to unranked Georgia Tech two weeks later sent UNC out of the polls and their season went into a tailspin as they finished 6-7 and won the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte against border rival South Carolina lost.

Brown fired several coaches on the defensive staff in 2022 and those changes initially seemed to pay off.

Led by star freshman quarterback Drake Maye, the Tar Heels took advantage of a loose schedule with no ranked opponents to get off to a 9-1 start and a perfect 6-0 record in ACC play.

Carolina, ranked 13th in the nation, was favored to finish the regular season undefeated and face Clemson in a game where the winner would likely advance to the College Football Playoff.

Unfortunately, UNC collapsed, losing consecutive home games to Georgia Tech and NC State before being swept by Clemson in the ACC Championship Game and losing by one point to No. 15 Oregon in the Holiday Bowl.

It was a similar story in 2023 for Carolina, which started the year ranked No. 21 in the preseason, got off to a 7-0 start and climbed to No. 10 in the polls.

Then, in an all-too-familiar refrain, the Tar Heels lost consecutive games to unranked opponents in Virginia and Georgia Tech and fell out of the rankings entirely.

A few weeks later, UNC was ranked No. 20. However, back-to-back losses to unranked Clemson and No. 22 NC State put them out of contention again before a stunning loss to West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl in Charlotte had to accept.

At this point, UNC has now lost four straight bowl games, three straight games against rival NC State and has finished three straight regular seasons with losses.

That led to 2024, which brought another defensive coordinator change 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 September 21, the Tar Heels were defeated by James Madison University 70-50. JMU led UNC at halftime by a score of 53-21 in a referendum on Carolina’s long-standing defensive problems.

After the game, Brown gave an emotional post-game speech that led some players to believe he would retire after the game. However, he later explained that the speech had been misinterpreted and apologized for his handling of the situation.

This game was the start of a four-game losing streak that, in the minds of many fans, all but signaled the end of Brown’s tenure in Chapel Hill, leaving only the question of whether he would retire or be ousted from the position.

Declining recruitment

What began as perhaps the greatest strength of Brown’s tenure also ultimately contributed to his downfall in Chapel Hill.

After graduating with classes ranked in the top 30 every year at UNC since returning, some even reaching the top 10, the Tar Heels’ 2025 recruiting class is currently ranked 78th best in the country.

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Diploma

Despite the disappointments that ultimately led to Brown’s downfall, he remains clearly the greatest coach in Carolina football history 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 over and it remains to be seen who the Tar Heels will target as their next head coach.