Mack Brown addresses the fit with new coaches Gene Chizik, Charlton Warren

UNC head coach Mack Brown made some new additions to his coaching staff heading into the 2022 season, which included the hiring of Gene Chizik and Charlton Warren.

Chizik, who recently spent time as an analyst for ESPN, is no stranger to working at UNC. He served as the Tar Heels’ defensive coordinator for 2015 an 2016, and he now returns as a co-defensive coordinator in 2022 working under Brown. Though Chizik took a break from coaching after his last stint as UNC’s defensive coordinator, he’s also notably served as Auburn’s head coach, Iowa State’s head coach, Texas’ co-defensive coordinator and more.

Warren, who will serve as the co-defensive coordinator to Chizik, also comes to UNC with loads of experience; however, the 45-year-old coach provides a bit of youth to Brown’s staff. Warren has been on the move quite a bit since 2017, after spending 2017 working as Tennessee’s defensive backs coach, 2018 as Florida’s cornerbacks coach, 2019 and 2020 as Georgia’s defensive backs coach and 2021 as Indiana’s defensive coordinator. But as Chizik and Warren are hired to Brown’s staff, the duo reunites, as Warren spent the 2015 and 2016 season as UNC’s defensive backs coach, reporting directly to Chizik, then the defensive coordiantor.

“Coach Chizik and Coach Warren, I think they’re doing an outstanding job. They’ve got the players’ attention. We’re pretty simple with what we’re doing, but the guys, they chase the ball hard on Saturday, and I like that” Brown said. “We’re making some progress up front. One of the recruits came out and said, ‘Man, you’re big on defense.’ I said, ‘Yeah, we are. We’re big. Now, we’re going to be good.’ Trying to play a lot of guys. Hate that we have a lot of really good secondary guys out.”

Mack Brown takes victory lap on North Carolina success at NFL Combine

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NC head coach Mack Brown was impressed by the Tar Heels’ showing in the 2022 NFL Draft Combine, and he went out of his way to congratulate all those who participated this year — notably, quarterback Sam Howell and running back Ty Chandler.

“I want to congratulate the guys that were in the NFL Combine this weekend. Sounds like everybody did a good job,” Brown said. “There were rave reviews about Sam (Howell) throwing the ball, and some of the receivers talking about how it was such a great ball but also easy to catch.”

While Howell entered the 2021 season as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate, he fell short of those expectations as Brown’s UNC Tar Heels skidded to the finish line. However, he still threw for 3,056 yards, 24 touchdowns and nine interceptions — and while those are all career-worst totals, Howell is still a major steal in the eyes of some NFL Draft analysts, including Mel Kiper Jr.

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owell’s production took a serious dip when UNC lost its two leading rushers and two of its top receivers to the NFL Draft. So too did the Tar Heels’ entire team, as Brown’s program dropped from an 8-4 record in 2020 to a 6-7 record in 2021, losing to South Carolina and first-year head coach Shane Beamer in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. But Kiper, along with many other analysts, continued to praise Howell for the way he battled through the season.

“Probably the highlight of the weekend was Ty Chandler’s 4.38 (40-yard dash),” Brown continued. “That was the second-fastest time in the combine, so good for him. And as Coach Moody, our NFL expert, said — that could move him up in the draft right there. So hopefully all of the guys will use the combine… Good for the guys that were invited to the combine all five of them. Our Pro Day is on March 28th … all of our guys are getting ready to participate in our Pro Day, and that will highlight the guys that did not get to go to the combine, so we’re excited for them.:

Chandler, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound running back from Nashville, Tennessee started all 13 games this past season after transferring from Tennessee, and the second-team All-ACC honoree put together a tremendous performance in Brown’s offense. He rushed for 1,092 yards on 182 carries, both career highs, and averaged 6.0 yards per carry, while rushing for 13 touchdowns. Additionally, Chandler showed that he’s more than capable as a pass-catching back, reeling in 15 passes for 216 yards and another touchdown.

As Brown noted, Chandler’s 40-yard dash time was fast — while not quite the second-fastest time in the combine, Chandler did come in as the No. 3 fastest running back, trailing the leaders — Pierre Strong of South Dakota State and Isaiah Pacheco of Rutgers — by 0.01 seconds.