Danny Kanell: UNC never should have fired Mack Brown
By Andrew Olson
Published:
North Carolina football is dealing with the wrong kind of headlines again. Danny Kanell says it’s a reminder that UNC made a mistake firing Mack Brown to ultimately hire Bill Belichick.
On Monday morning, university leadership announced that Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi has been placed on administrative leave. It has not been established what led to Lombardi’s change in status.
Kanell says the latest development serves as a reminder that UNC has made the wrong decisions in handling the Tar Heel football program. Kanell believes that the program would be in better shape if Brown were coaching with the same resources currently available to Belichick.
UNC should've never let Mack Brown go. If they stuck with Mack Brown and gave him the resources they gave to Bill Belichick the Tar Heels would be top third of the ACC worst case. Instead they are at the bottom and probably looking for a coach in a year or two.
— Danny Kanell (@dannykanell) July 27, 2026
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Brown’s multi-decade coaching career included two stints at North Carolina. He initially led the Tar Heels from 1988 to 1997 before leaving for Texas, where he coached from 1998 to 2013.
After 5 years away from coaching, Brown returned to the sidelines for a second stint at UNC ahead of the 2019 season. After expressing plans to return for 2025, Brown was dismissed by Carolina Athletics at the end of the 2024 regular season. Brown was 44-33 in his second stint at UNC, with the Tar Heels going 8-4 to reach the Orange Bowl in 202 and 9-5 in 2022. Carolina was 6-6 at the end of the 2024 regular season.
UNC hired Belichick in December 2024. Belichick’s Year 1 was dominated by off-field controversies involving his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, as the Tar Heels went a disappointing 4-8 on the field.
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Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaign of Fred Taylor.
