The University of North Carolina has fielded a football team since 1888.
The program has had 35 head coaches and one interim head coach – Freddie Kitchens, who has held the role in less than two weeks since Mack Brown was dismissed and until Bill Belichick officially takes over.
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Here is a look at their histories:
Bill Belichick, 2024-present
The University of North Carolina introduced Bill Belichick as its football coach on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.
Belichick agreed to a five-year contract worth $50 million.
Interim head coach Freddie Kitchens, December 2024
UNC named Freddie Kitchens its interim head coach as the team prepares for the Dec. 28 Fenway Bowl against UConn.
Kitchens, 50, had previously worked as UNC’s tight ends coach and run game coordinator since 2023.
Kitchens was a senior analyst in 2022 at South Carolina. He was also on the New York Giants’ coaching staff from 2020-2021.
Before that, Kitchens was the Cleveland Browns head coach in 2019. Kitchens led the Browns to a 6-10 record in his lone season as Browns head coach and received criticism for his in-game coaching decisions.
Mack Brown 2019-2024
Mack Brown led the Tar Heels to a 44-33 record and six straight bowl games in his second stint in Chapel Hill. Before Brown’s return to UNC, the Tar Heels had two consecutive years where they didn’t qualify for a bowl.
However, Brown’s second tenure was marred by poor finishes in the 2022 and 2023 seasons and four consecutive losses against NC State.
Brown led North Carolina to the 2022 ACC Championship game, but the Tar Heels lost 39-10 to Clemson.
Brown leaves UNC as the oldest active head coach in the FBS at the age of 73.
Larry Fedora 2012-2018
Larry Fedora led the Tar Heels to a 45-43 (28-28 ACC) record while serving as their head coach from 2012-2018.
UNC made four consecutive bowl games from 2013-2016. A 3-9 record in 2017 and a 2-9 record in 2018 led to Fedora’s firing.
Everett Withers 2011
Everett Withers served as UNC’s head coach for a single season after the school fired Butch Davis in July 2011. Withers led UNC to a 7-6 record.
After a 42-10 season-opening win against James Madison, Withers received criticism for giving the game ball to Davis, who was fired amidst the turmoil of an NCAA investigation.
Withers also called out the academics of NC State when academic misconduct was one of the issues at the heart of North Carolina's NCAA investigation.
The Tar Heels ended their single season under Withers with their fifth straight loss to NC State.
Butch Davis 2007-2010
North Carolina vacated all 16 wins in the 2008 and 2009 seasons due to NCAA violations. The Tar Heels’ on-field record in 2008 was 8-5 (4-4 ACC) and 8-5 (4-4 ACC) in 2009.
North Carolina went 4-8 in Davis’ first season in 2007 and 8-5 in 2010.
Former UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp fired Davis amid an NCAA investigation of academic misconduct and allegations of players receiving improper benefits from agents. Davis’ firing came days before training camp began in the 2011 season.
John Bunting 2001-2006
John Bunting had a 27-45 (18-30) record as North Carolina’s head coach from 2001-2006. His best season was his first in Chapel Hill, when he led the Tar Heels to an 8-5 record.
Then-UNC athletic director Dick Baddour fired Bunting in October 2006, but allowed the coach to finish out the season.
Carl Torbush 1997-2000
Carl Torbush finished with a 17-18 (10-14 ACC) record as UNC’s head coach from 1997-2000.
Torbush won the 1997 Gator Bowl against West Virginia and the 1998 Las Vegas Bowl against San Diego State.
After a 3-8 record in 1999, UNC had a 6-5 record in 2000, but Torbush was fired at the end of the season.
Mack Brown 1988-1997
After UNC hired Mack Brown away from Tulane, his first two teams finished with 1–10 records, the worst two seasons that the Tar Heels have suffered on the field in modern times.
In 1990, the Tar Heels finished 6-4-1. That season, the Tar Heels’ tie with Georgia Tech was the Yellow Jackets’ only non-win en route to a share of the national championship.
In 1991, the Tar Heels finished 7-4, barely missing a bowl.
In 1992, the Tar Heels finished with a 9-3 record after a win over Mississippi State in the Beach Bowl.
Brown would go on to coach the Tar Heels to five consecutive bowl games.
After the 1997 season, Brown accepted the head coaching job at Texas.
Dick Crum 1978-1987
Dick Crum coached UNC to a 72-41-3 (38-24-1 ACC) record from 1978-1987.
Crum was the coach of UNC’s last ACC Championship in 1980. UNC finished the 1980 season with an 11-1 record, which was capped off with a win against Texas in the Bluebonnet Bowl.
After 1983, Crum only had one winning season.
Bill Dooley 1967-1977
Bill Dooley won three ACC titles in 1971, 1972 and 1977. He led the Tar Heels to a 69-53-2 (38-28-2 ACC) record during his head coaching tenure from 1967-1977.
Dooley left North Carolina as the winningest coach in school history, but was later surpassed by Crum and Brown.
Jim Hickey 1959-1966
Jim Hickey coached the Tar Heels to a 36-45 record (28-25 ACC) from 1959-1966.
Hickey was an assistant on the staff of Jim Tatum. When
Tatum died in the summer of 1959, Hickey accepted the head coaching job.
He had one winning season when he led the Tar Heels to a 9-2 record in 1963. It was capped off by a 1963 Gator Bowl win against Air Force.
Jim Tatum, 1942, 1956-1958
In 1942 and from 1956 to 1958, “Big Jim” Tatum served as the head football coach at his alma mater, the University of North Carolina.
At UNC, he compiled a 19–17–3 record; two 1956 wins were later forfeited for use of an ineligible player.
Tatum enlisted in the U.S. Navy after the 1942 season at UNC.
Tatum played college football at UNC as a tackle under head coach Carl Snavely. He also played baseball for UNC as a catcher.
George Barclay 1953-1955
George Barclay went 11-18-1 as UNC head coach from 1953-1955. He played guard and linebacker from 1932-1934 at UNC.
Carl Snavely 1934-1935, 1945-1952
Carl Snavely coached UNC to a 59-35-5 record during his two stints with the school.
Snavely was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1965. He also coached at Washington University (1953-1958), Cornell (1936-1944) and Bucknell (1927-1933).
1943-1944
Tom Young coached UNC in 1943 and Gene McEver coached UNC in 1944.
Raymond Wolf 1936-1941
From 1936 to 1941, Wolf coached the North Carolina Tar Heels football team, and compiled a 38–17–3 record in six seasons
Wolf’s service in the U.S. Navy prevented him from coaching during World War II.
Chuck Collins 1926-1933
Chuck Collins led UNC to a 38-31-9 record as head coach from 1926-1933.
Collins played college football as an end at the University of Notre Dame from 1922 to 1924. He was a member of the "Seven Mules" line that blocked for the famous "Four Horsemen" backfield on Knute Rockne's 1924 national championship team.
Bob Fetzer and Bill Fetzer 1921-1925
The Fetzer brothers coached UNC to a 30-12-4 record.
Bob Fetzer served as co-head football coach at UNC and later became the first and longest serving athletics director for the university.
UNC football coaches from 1900-1920
UNC had several coaches from 1888-1920, including:
- Myron Fuller, 1920
- Thomas Campbell 1916, 1919
- Thomas Trenchard 1913-1915
- C.W. Martin, 1912
- Branch Bocock, 1911
- Arthur Brides, 1909-10
- Edward Greene, 1908
- Otis Lamson, 1907
- Willis Kienholz, 1906
- William Warner, 1905
- R.R. Brown, 1904
- Herman Olcott, 1902-1903
- Charles Jennings, 1901
- William Reynolds, 1897-1900
- Gordon Johnston, 1896
- Thomas Trenchard, 1895
- Vernon Irvine, 1894
- William “Yup” Cook, 1893
- William Graves, 1891
- Hector Cowan, 1889
- No coach 1888, 1889, 1891-1892