By Mark Bergin, WRAL senior multiplatform producer

Chapel Hill, N.C. — North Carolina announced Tuesday, Nov. 26 that head football coach Mack Brown will not return for the 2025 season.

Brown coached North Carolina’s regular season finale, a loss to rival NC State. UNC named Freddie Kitchens as its interim head coach with Brown’s departure. Kitchens is expected to coach the team in its bowl game.

UNC is one of four FBS head coaching vacancies as of Thursday, Dec. 5. The others are Purdue, UCF and West Virginia.

Brown, 73, was the oldest active coach in college football and one of just three active coaches with a national championship. Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Georgia’s Kirby Smart are the other active coaches with national titles.

Here is a list of possible coaching candidates UNC could look to hire to succeed Brown (candidates are organized in alphabetical order by last name):

Bill Belichick, former New England Patriots head coach

Inside Carolina reported Thursday that six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick has been interviewed for UNC’s head coaching vacancy.

It’s been reported that Belichick wants to get back into coaching after leaving the Patriots in January 2024.

Belichick is 72 years old. If UNC hired him, it would make him the oldest active head coach in FBS college football.

Jason Candle, Toledo coach

Jason Candle has had a solid head coaching tenure at Toledo, posting a 72-39 record.

Toledo is due to play in its eighth bowl game this season since Candle became head coach in 2016.

Candle, 45, has won two Mid-American Conference Championship titles and three MAC West Division crowns. He was named MAC Coach of the Year in 2017 and 2023.

Jamey Chadwell, Liberty coach

Jamey Chadwell, 47, has led Liberty to a 21-3 record since becoming head coach in 2023.

Chadwell has experience coaching in the Carolinas. Before taking the Liberty job, he spent 13 of his 14 seasons as a coach in South Carolina.

Between Liberty and Coastal Carolina, Chadwell has a 60-25 record at the FBS level.

Bob Chesney, James Madison coach

Bob Chesney helped guide James Madison to a 70-50 win on Sept. 21, 2024, against North Carolina.

Chesney, 47, is in his first year at James Madison. He has an 8-3 record this season.

From 2018-2023, Chesney coached at Holy Cross, posting a 44-21 record.

Andy Kotelnicki, Penn State offensive coordinator

Andy Kotelnicki has served as an offensive coordinator for most of his coaching career, having helped turn around Buffalo, Kansas and Penn State in recent seasons.

While the 43-year-old does not have head coaching experience, he runs an innovative misdirection offense.

Phil Longo, former Wisconsin offensive coordinator

In mid-November, Wisconsin fired Phil Longo as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after the Badgers started the 2024 season with a 5-5 record.

In December 2022, Longo left the same role at North Carolina to join Luke Fickell’s staff at Wisconsin.

Longo, 56, served as North Carolina’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2019-2022 under Brown.

A practitioner of the Air Raid offense, Longo coached NFL quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye while in Chapel Hill.

Longo’s offenses moved the ball and put up points during his time in Chapel Hill.

2022 season

• 34.4 points per game (26th in FBS)
• 462.8 yards per game (19th in FBS)

2021 season

• 35.2 points per game (19th in FBS)
• 468.4 yards per game (10th in FBS)

2020 season

• 41.7 points per game (Ninth in FBS)
• 537.3 yards per game (Fifth in FBS)

2019 season

• 33.1 points per game (31st in FBS)
• 474 yards per game (12th in FBS)

Longo previously served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Ole Miss and Sam Houston.

Jeff Monken, Army coach

Jeff Monken, 57, became the Army head coach in 2014. He has a 79-56 record there.

Monken also posted a 38-16 record at Georgia Southern form 2010-2013.

Army has a 9-1 record this season.

Monken’s coaching career includes stops at Georgia Tech, Navy, Concordia, Buffalo, Arizona State and Hawaii.

Dan Mullen, former head coach of Florida and Mississippi State

Dan Mullen hasn’t coached in a few years and has worked as a college football analyst for ESPN.

Mullen, 52, has a 103-61 record as a head coach at Mississippi State (2009-2017) and Florida (2018-2021).

Mullen likely wouldn’t have the same performance expectations at UNC compared to Florida.

Barry Odom, UNLV coach

In Barry Odom’s second season as head coach at UNLV, he has guided the Rebels to a 9-2 record.

The Rebels are a long shot to make this year’s College Football Playoff, but Odom has posted an 18-7 record since taking over the program in 2023.

Odom, 47, does have head coaching experience, leading Missouri to a 25-25 record from 2016-2019. Missouri made two bowl game appearances during Odom’s tenure.

Glenn Schumann, Georgia defensive coordinator

Glen Schumann, 34, has served as Georgia’s defensive coordinator since 2022. He’s been a coach at Georgia since 2016, coaching inside linebackers (2016-2018) and becoming co-defensive coordinator from 2019-2021.

Georgia won national championships in 2021 and 2022.

Schumann does not have head coaching experience. He also served as a student assistant from 2008-2011 at Alabama and as a graduate assistant from 2011-2014 at Alabama.

Schumann did not play college football.

Jon Sumrall, Tulane head coach

Jon Sumrall, 42, has coached Tulane to a 9-2 record in his first year with the program. He led Troy to a 23-4 record as head coach of Troy from 2022-2023.

Sumrall is a former Kentucky linebacker and comes from a defensive background. He helped develop current Los Angeles Chargers running back Kimani Vidal and Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah.

Jeff Traylor, UTSA coach

Jeff Traylor has posted a 45-19 record since becoming head coach at UTSA in 2020.

UTSA has made a bowl game in each season since Traylor took over.

Traylor, 56, has been a position coach at Texas, SMU and Arkansas.

Source: wralsportsfan.com