Pete Thamel lists candidates to replace Mack Brown at UNC including Arthur Smith, Al Golden, Glenn Schumann

On Tuesday, North Carolina fired head coach Mack Brown. The news came only one day after Brown announced that he planned to return for the 2025 campaign. On Tuesday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel revealed which coaches may be potential candidates for the UNC opening.

“What’s next for UNC is they immediately become the hottest job on the market,” Thamel said. “It’s hard to overstate how much interest there will be. I’d expect head coaches from the Big Ten and the SEC to kick their tires on the job. Look, the power has coalesced up top in those two leagues and at a good job like UNC, playing against ACC-caliber competition, it would be attractive to coaches.

“Here’s a quick list, Victoria. Sitting head coaches right now: Jon Sumrall at Tulane; Bob Chesney, who’s the coach of James Madison; Jamey Chadwell at Liberty; Jeff Monken at Army and Barry Odom at UNLV. Those are the mid-major, Group of Five guys who could potentially be in the mix.”

Brown is one of the first dominoes to fall in the Power Five coaching landscape this season. He’s been at North Carolina since 2019 but has failed to lead the program to much progress in recent years.

The Tar Heels are 6-5 this season and eighth in the ACC standings. Unfortunately for Brown, bowl eligibility isn’t enough for North Carolina to want to give him another chance. As Thamel mentioned, there will be no shortage of Group of Five coaches interested in replacing Brown.

Alas, they won’t be the only ones hungry for a fresh start. Thamel also revealed two assistants at powerhouse programs that he believes may be interested in the job, along with a former NFL head coach.

“For assistant coaches, Glenn Schumann at Georgia and Al Golden at Notre Dame are two names,” Thamel said. “I’ll leave you with a wild card — Arthur Smith, former Falcons head coach, Steelers OC, is a UNC graduate. He’s a name that could end up in the discussion to be the next UNC coach.”

Thamel isn’t the first one to posit the idea of Smith taking the reins at North Carolina. The Steelers offensive coordinator played for the Tar Heels from 2001-05 before becoming a graduate assistant under John Bunting.

He then embarked on an NFL coaching career that led to a head-coaching stint with the Atlanta Falcons, where he went 21-30 from 2021-23. Whether it’s Smith or one of the many other names, North Carolina fans can only wait for their next head coach to be announced.