For the fifth time in nearly 25 years, North Carolina officials are in search for a new head football coach. However, this time the intercollegiate landscape is quite different than it was just six years ago when Mack Brown was hired.

College athletics have experienced a steady stream of modifications recently, beginning with the launch of the transfer portal in October 2018. Transfers were once a rarity, due to the NCAA requirement of sitting out a year, but that has changed as bylaws now allow for student-athletes to transfer at will with the primary limitation being portal entry restrictions to specific time windows. Name, image and likeness (NIL) legislation took effect in July 2021, which allowed student-athletes to profit off their personal brand by way of endorsement deals.

The most significant change to college sports in the modern era is set to occur next April, when a federal judge is expected to grant final approval for the House settlement agreement, which will allow universities to share revenue directly with student-athletes for the first time. The revenue sharing model’s spending cap is projected to be approximately $21-22 million for those institutions that opt in.

Athletic director Bubba Cunningham confirmed during an in-house interview earlier this week that UNC intends to be full rev share. While UNC has not shared its disbursement percentage plan, most power conference athletic departments are expected to heavily fund football through the revenue sharing. That percentage has undoubtedly been a topic of conversation during UNC’s interviews with head coach candidates this week as the growing revenue gap between the SEC/Big Ten and everyone else continues to widen.

Cunningham also detailed how the candidates in consideration were either coaching in conference championship games this weekend or preparing for the College Football Playoff, and his intentions to complete the search within the week. A source has confirmed that the intention is for the new head coach to be in place by Sunday. That’s an important timeline given the transfer portal opens on Monday. 

There are several key aspects that have been points of emphasis in the coaching search, according to sources. The ideal candidate has head coaching experience, a defensive background, and a track record of success with fewer resources than the college football elites.

Inside Carolina broke the news on Thursday that six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick was one of the candidates who had interviewed with the search committee that Cunningham put together. Key names UNC is eying at the college level include Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, UNC tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens and Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell.

UNC’s intentions to be full rev share are critical in the current climate. While the ACC lacks the high-dollar media deals that fund the SEC and Big Ten war chests, maximizing rev share in addition to NIL fundraising puts Carolina on solid footing with most of its peers.

For all of the drama and controversy surrounding Brown’s ouster last week, there are two truths largely accepted by all involved: (1) it was time for UNC to move on; and (2) Brown did significant work behind the scenes to elevate the program’s infrastructure. The Hall of Fame head coach helped to raise more than $31 million in contributions in his first four seasons, which helped to cover the costs of two Kenan Football Center renovation projects. He also played a role in driving a 45 percent increase in the assistant coach salary pool (from $5.6 million in 2018 to $8.1 million in 2022) and a 140 percent increase in support staff funding ($2 million to $4.8 million).

Brown’s total compensation for 2024 was approximately $5 million, which was 42nd nationally among FBS coaches, according to USA Today’s salary database, although not all private schools have shared their financials.

UNC took a leap of faith in hiring Butch Davis as head coach in November 2006. However, the infrastructure was not in place for big-time football, as evidenced by the NCAA’s arrival in the summer of 2010 to investigate impermissible benefits. Cunningham has rebuilt the athletic department since he was hired in the fall of 2011, and with the aforementioned improvements in facilities and salary pools, as well as the creation of the Carolina NIL entity, UNC is arguably in its best position to consistently compete at the conference level in decades.