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UNC names Freddie Kitchens interim head coach after firing Mack Brown

by:Alex Byington•12/01/24•

_AlexByington

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Jim Dedmon | Imagn Images

North Carolina has named former NFL head coach Freddie Kitchens as the program’s interim head football coach for its upcoming bowl game, the team announced Sunday.

Kitchens’ promotion comes less than a week after UNC head coach Mack Brown was relieved of his duties Tuesday, one day after Brown confirmed his intentions of returning to the sidelines in 2025. In the same announcement, North Carolina revealed Brown’s last day with the Tar Heels was Sunday.

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Kitchens has served as North Carolina’s run game coordinator and tight ends coach over the past two seasons following a one-year stint as a senior analyst at South Carolina. Kitchens, a former quarterback at Alabama in the mid-1990s, previously spent 16 seasons in the NFL, including a one-year stint as the Cleveland Browns head coach in 2019.

“Freddie Kitchens is an incredibly talented coach who is respected by our student-athletes and staff,” North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham said in a statement Sunday. “He is dedicated to doing all he can to help lead our program through this transition, and we appreciate his willingness to take on this role.”

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Mack Brown blasts UNC administration handling of his firing

A topsy turvy week for fired North Carolina coach Mack Brown ended with some clarification on the back and forth that transpired surrounding his ouster.

Brown wanted to coach through the end of the regular season, feeling that was most fair to his players, and North Carolina wanted to make a change. At the end of the day, the program won out and forced his hand.

“All I wanted to do was wait until the end of the year,” Brown explained following Saturday’s 35-30 season-ending loss to rival NC State. “And they wanted me to retire on Monday, before the (NC) State game. We haven’t beaten State, it was really important for these kids to play well and have a chance to win. I didn’t want to break their hearts on Monday. So I said, ‘No, I won’t do that.’ And then they wanted me to do it on Friday. Well I sure wasn’t going to do it Friday before the game.”

Brown revealed, too, that he didn’t even necessarily disagree with the decision to find a new football coach. He just disagreed with the handling of the transition.

“I agree with the administration that we need a change of leadership at the top,” Brown said. “I just wanted it to happen after the season was over. These poor kids have had so much turmoil in their lives and I think the administration’s into finding a football coach, and I’m into saving lives and making sure that they’re healthy, making sure that they’re mentally healthy. And when you have a four-game losing streak, that’s hard for kids. They’re not used to that. Especially here. We haven’t had that happen.”

Thomas Goldkamp contributed to this report.