Mack Brown will not return as head coach for UNC football next season: 'Not the way I imagined'

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Mack Brown sounded firm in his intent to return for another season as North Carolina's coach. A day later, the school announced it was time for a change, sending shockwaves throughout the Triangle sports scene.

The school said Tuesday that the 73-year-old Brown won't return for the 2025 season, putting an endpoint on the second tenure of the program's winningest coach and a College Football Hall of Fame member who won a national championship at Texas.

Athletic director Bubba Cunningham informed Brown that there would be a coaching change, though Brown will coach the regular-season finale on Saturday against rival NC State. A decision hasn't been made about whether Brown will coach a bowl game.

"While this was not the perfect time and way in which I imagined going out, no time will ever be the perfect time," Brown said. "I've spent 16 seasons at North Carolina and will always cherish the memories and relationships (wife) Sally and I have built while serving as head coach. We've had the chance to coach and mentor some great young men, and we'll miss having the opportunity to do that in the future.

"Moving forward, my total focus is on helping these players and coaches prepare for Saturday's game against N.C. State and give them the best chance to win," Brown added. "We want to send these seniors out right and I hope our fans will show up Saturday to do the same."

Brown, who has three years remaining on his contract, had indicated numerous times that he planned to return for a seventh season, including as recently as Monday during his weekly news conference.

Sources close to UNC Athletics told ABC11 on Tuesday that Brown's comments Monday about staying put moved the needle in making an outright decision to let him go this week.

ABC11 caught up with Brown as he left the practice facility on Tuesday, and the coach declined to make further comment. Asked if he had a message for fans, Brown replied: "See you on Saturday."

Cunningham's statement didn't specifically state a reason for the change, instead praising Brown for holding the program's career record for wins as well as for pushing improvements to facilities and program infrastructure. He also praised Brown for leadership in the community and during tough stretches such as the recent death of player Tylee Craft after a cancer fight.

"Mack Brown has won more games than any football coach in UNC history, and we deeply appreciate all that he has done for Carolina football and our University,'' Cunningham said. "Over the last six seasons - his second campaign in Chapel Hill -- he has coached our team to six bowl berths, including an Orange Bowl while mentoring 18 NFL draft picks."

Milestones and Missteps

The Tar Heels (6-5, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) had been bowl eligibility in every season of Brown's second tenure as he stabilized a crashing program, with a peak of reaching the ACC championship game in 2022. But this year's team - facing the daunting challenge of replacing No. 3 overall NFL draft pick Drake Maye at quarterback - had a difficult first half of the season that shook confidence in the program's footing at this point in Brown's tenure.

"He's such a player's coach, I saw the news and hate it for him. I love Coach and appreciate what he did for me ... I know he left it all out there and he's got no regrets," said Maye, now the rookie quarterback of the New England Patriots.

The low point was an all-systems-failure showing in surrendering 70 points in a home loss to James Madison. In the aftermath, Brown stirred uncertainty about the immediate future of the program with emotional locker-room comments to the team that included floating whether he should remain coach.

Brown apologized afterward and said he was "disappointed in me" for how he handled that moment, which came amid a four-game skid following a 3-0 start.

Multiple people close to the football program told ABC11 on Tuesday that the idea for the two sides to part ways was in the works for weeks dating to at least the embarrassing home loss to James Madison. It was a plan they hoped and thought Brown was on board with.

UNC regrouped to return to bowl eligibility with a three-game winning streak, only to have an ugly performance in Saturday's 41-21 loss at Boston College.

Brown has 288 career victories, including 113 at UNC and all but six of his overall wins came at the top level of college football to rank as the winningest active coach for the Bowl Subdivision ranks. The 2005 title winner with the Longhorns, led by quarterback Vince Young, put Brown alongside Georgia's Kirby Smart and Clemson's Dabo Swinney as the only active FBS coaches with a national title.

"He's a legendary coach, great friend of mine," Boston College coach Bill O'Brien told reporters Tuesday after learning of UNC's announcement. "I have a ton of respect for him, he's one of the best coaches to ever do it."

Brown spent 10 seasons at UNC from 1988-97 and built the Tar Heels into a top-10 program before he departed for Texas, where he remained until 2013 followed by five years in broadcasting.

His 2018 return to Chapel Hill offered a reconnection to past success under a rejuvenated Brown, coming as UNC had lost 21 of its last 27 games under Larry Fedora. The gains included an Orange Bowl trip in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the program's second trip to the ACC title game.

Yet there were also frustrations that the Tar Heels didn't win more with future NFL quarterbacks Sam Howell and Maye. Maye's '22 team, for example, stood at 9-1 before losing its last four games - including at home to rival N.C. State, a blowout to Clemson in the ACC title game and a narrow loss to Oregon in the Holiday Bowl.

There were also years of shaky defensive play, with Brown going through Jay Bateman, Gene Chizik and currently former Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins as coordinator chasing a solution.

Yet Brown never wavered on the future, even as recently as Monday.

"Recruits have asked every year, every day: 'How long are you going to do this?'" Brown said. "I've said, 'I'm going to do it as long as I'm happy, as long as I'm healthy, and as long as I'm effective.' I'm not going to think about retiring. I'm not going to talk about retiring. I hadn't changed that for six years. I learned that from Texas.

"And there will be a morning when I'll get up and I'll say, 'You know what? Somebody else should be leading this team. They're better than I am at this at this point.' And then I'll go do something else. But I got way too much to do to be worried about next week. I'm trying to beat N.C. State."

Wolfpack head coach Dave Doeren, who has himself been under fire after his team fell well short of expectations this year had nothing but praise for Brown on Tuesday. NC State needs to beat North Carolina to become eligible for a bowl game.

"Wanted to say, what a great career, you know? Nothing but respect for Coach Brown," Doeren said "I've known him since I was a young assistant coach, and he's done things the right way, he's worked hard in his profession, he's helped a lot of coaches and so, I have a lot of respect for him."

As Brown finishes out the season, Cunningham and Chancellor Lee H. Roberts will begin the search for a new head coach. Brown has three years left on his contract; the remaining payments will be paid by the Department of Athletics and not through state funds.

Along Franklin Street, the news took many by surprise.

"I hate that they fired him," said Holly Dedmond, who manages Chapel Hill Sportswear. "That he wasn't allowed to leave on his own terms, but I guess we don't really know what happened behind the scenes with that but he's a Hall-of-Fame coach, he's a legend. I just feel, it's kind of yucky."

The Associated Press contributed.