North Carolina coaching search: Pete Thamel lists Dave Clawson, PJ Fleck among candidates

With North Carolina set to have an open job at head coach after this weekend, who could be the next to lead the Tar Heels?

ESPN’s Pete Thamel listed off several sitting head coaches across college football who could take the place of Mack Brown in Chapel Hill during the ‘College GameDay Podcast’ on Wednesday. He began by naming two from the Power Four with one out of their own conference with Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson and another from elsewhere in Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck.

“It would be really interesting to see if there is a power coach who emerges from a P4 league as a head coach to go to Carolina to change things up,” said Thamel. “You know, some of those names might be Dave Clawson, PJ Fleck – a guy, you know, who’s had very good success and those things.”

From there, Thamel named four more from the Group of Five who could be candidates at UNC.

“Mid-major wise, like, what’s your list, right?” thought Thamel.

“I think Jon Sumrall is on that list from Tulane. He’s done an excellent job – two straight Sun Belts and has a shot to win the American, I think Bob Chesney going in and hanging 70 in their stadium gets him on the list, right, from James Madison. Won big at Holy Cross, which is kind of like a little similar, it’s private but a little bit of a similar vibe to Carolina in that, sort of, east coast-quarter way,” Thamel said. “(UNLV’s) Barry Odom, friend of the pod from earlier in the year. I think Jeff Monken from Army? What he’s done there will get them a look.”

Thamel also wondered if North Carolina could find someone to take their job with a chance in the ACC rather than continuing to coach in the Southeastern Conference. That some thought process could then apply to others from the Big Ten.

“Does an SEC coach take an off-ramp and say, ‘You know what? Like, I’m sick of this Scooby-Doo sandwich that we talked about. Let’s, you know, go to Carolina and see if we can flip the switch and maximize,'” Thamel considered.

Many of these names are the ones that have already come up on hot boards thus far in finding Brown’s replacement at North Carolina. It’s now which one of them emerges, whether known now or not, and ends up as the next head coach for UNC.