UNC head coach Mack Brown will no longer coach Tar Heels football after the season, the school announced Tuesday. Brown will coach the team’s season finale against NC State on Saturday; No decision has been made yet on whether Brown will coach the Tar Heels in a bowl game.

In a statement, Brown said: “This was not the perfect time or way I envisioned going out. No time will ever be the perfect time.” He added that he will “always cherish the memories and relationships he built in Chapel Hill over 16 seasons.”

According to USA Today, Brown, 73, has three years left on his contract and is owed around $2.8 million. The decision to part ways comes amid a rollercoaster final season in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels lost four straight games, including an embarrassing 70-50 loss to James Madison in September, regrouped, won three straight games and then lost 41-21 to Boston College on Saturday.

Sources familiar with UNC’s hiring process say so The athlete that Tulane coach Jon Sumrall will get a “good impression” during the recruiting process.

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— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoATH) November 26, 2024

After the loss to James Madison, Brown said he told his team in an emotional postgame locker room, “If you all don’t feel like I’m the leader you need, then I’m going to do something else.” But He walked back those comments and later told SiriusXM radio on November 20 that he remained committed to getting the job done.

Brown’s second run with the Tar Heels resulted in a trip to the ACC Championship Game in 2022 and trips to bowl games in all six seasons. UNC never won a championship with Drake Maye or Sam Howell, quarterbacks selected in the NFL Draft, but Brown leaves the program in better shape than when he got it. He inherited a program that had gone 2-9 and 3-9 in the previous two seasons under Larry Fedora.

In his first tenure in Chapel Hill, Brown went 1-10 in each of his first two seasons and then led the Tar Heels to four top-20 finishes in the AP Poll, including an 11-1 season in his senior year 1997. Brown’s 113 career wins, 10 bowl trips and four bowl victories are the most in school history. He is quite simply the best football coach North Carolina has ever had.

“Mack Brown has won more games than any other football coach in UNC history, and we deeply appreciate everything he has done for Carolina football and our university,” UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham said in a statement.

“Coach Brown has put the Carolina football program back in the national conversation by improving the program’s facilities, significantly expanding staff, investing in salaries and strengthening our nutrition, strength and conditioning programs.”

Brown led Texas to a national championship in 2005. His 282 career wins between stops at Appalachian State (1983), Tulane (1985-87), North Carolina (1988-97, 2019-2024) and Texas (1998-2013) rank 18th all-time in college football – and are just 10 fewer than legendary coach Nick Saban’s.

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(Photo: Grant Halverson/Getty Images)