Mack Brown’s return from retirement in 2019 to lead North Carolina left an underachieving program with a strong connection to the past and a chance for a better future.

The Hall of Fame coach sparked an initial surge, taking UNC to the Orange Bowl and a No. 18 AP finish in his second season. Brown improved recruiting and oversaw the development of productive quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye. He made bowl games every season, but the breakthrough both he and the Tar Heels hoped for never really came. Although Brown, 73, remained energetic, his age and ability to effectively lead the program became an annual question. Despite announcing his intention to return in 2025 on Monday, he was fired the next day.

He is 44-32 in his second stint at North Carolina, a far cry from his first, when he posted AP top 10 finishes in his last two seasons and 54-18 in his last six years. Since Brown’s final season in 1997, North Carolina has had just one 10-win season and still has not won the ACC Championship.

The UNC job has definite pluses and minuses. North Carolina is the flagship school in a state with a lot of high school talent. The program has increased its investment in football and has a very recognizable brand. But UNC will always be a basketball school, and its long stretch without elite success could give some prospects pause. While veteran athletic director Bubba Cunningham will likely consider coaches from different backgrounds, he may want to emphasize defense given the program’s continued struggles on that side of the ball.

Here are eight possible options for Cunningham to consider as Brown’s replacement.

Tulane coach Jon SumrallThe key will be whether UNC can – or wants – pry Sumrall out of SEC land. He will be a top candidate for many jobs in that league if and when they become available. Sumrall can certainly wait until the 2025 cycle, which appears to be more robust, but at 42 years old, he’s exactly what North Carolina needs: a tough, defensive coach who maximizes the potential of his roster. He went 23-4 at Troy and won back-to-back Sun Belt titles before returning to Tulane, where he was 9-2 in his first season, with losses only to Power 4 opponents. He also has a shot at a College Football Playoff appearance if the Green Wave can win the AAC title.

UNLV coach Barry Odom: His work at UNLV has positioned him for a second Power 4 head coaching opportunity. The only question is: Where? Odom, 47, has revitalized the UNLV program, which reached the Mountain West title game last season and could return to the championship game depending on this weekend’s results. UNLV defeated two Big 12 teams (Kansas and Houston) this fall, and the team’s only losses were to 8-3 Syracuse in overtime and to No. 12 Boise State by five points. Odom didn’t fare too badly at Missouri, going 25-25 with two bowl appearances, and would bring the defensive edge that North Carolina lacks. Although he hasn’t worked in the ACC or the region, he faced the same obstacle when he arrived at UNLV and has clearly assimilated.

Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann: If North Carolina is committed to a defensive-minded coach and is open to a new head coach, Schumann makes a lot of sense. He will be one of the top coordinator candidates on the market after overseeing a Georgia defense that smothered Texas in a win on Oct. 19 and currently ranks 17th nationally in points allowed. Schumann, 34, is not a Dan Lanning clone in personality or background, even though he replaced Lanning as Georgia’s lead coordinator. He has spent his entire career in the SEC and knows the Southeast region well.

ESPN analyst Dan Mullen: He hasn’t coached since the 2021 season at Florida and continues to do well at ESPN, but an opportunity like UNC could be intriguing. Mullen, 52, wouldn’t live up to the recruiting and performance expectations he had at Florida, and he has the skills to continue North Carolina’s strong run of quarterbacks. He hasn’t worked in the ACC, but he has had several SEC stops, along with a season at Syracuse in 1998, when the school was a member of the Big East. Mullen went 103-61 at Mississippi State and Florida and has a proven offensive approach while also understanding the defensive side and the need for supplemental football.

Minnesota coach PJ Fleck: Most Big Ten or SEC coaches won’t leave those leagues for an ACC job, and Fleck could be content with staying in Minnesota, where he has created stability since 2018 with bowl appearances in every season with the exception of the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign. Fleck, 43, is originally from Illinois and has strong family ties to the Midwest. But he could also benefit from a reset and a chance to do more on a program with a recognizable brand and an easier CFP path. Fleck is 86-61 overall as an FBS coach with a Cotton Bowl appearance at Western Michigan in 2016. He employs a more conservative playing style that could work for a UNC program that has lacked balance under the last few coaches .

Liberty coach Jamey Chadwell: If North Carolina can get past Chadwell’s lack of Power 4 experience, the school will love what it sees. Chadwell is 52-9 since the start of the 2020 season with Coastal Carolina and now Liberty, which went 13-1 and played in the first Fiesta Bowl last fall. He has built programs in a distinct style and has won at multiple levels of the sport. Chadwell, 47, is a native of Tennessee and has extensive experience in the region, primarily in South Carolina and now Virginia. A Power 4 team will eventually give him a chance, and North Carolina could be the one.

Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson: There aren’t many obvious candidates within the ACC for the North Carolina job, but Clawson may be worth following. Yes, UNC should get past hiring Wake Forest’s coach, but Clawson has had a historic run of stability at a program with fewer resources. From 2016 to 2022, Wake Forest won at least seven games every season with the exception of the COVID-shortened 2020 season, reaching the ACC title game while winning 11 games in 2021. The NIL/portal era hasn’t been kind to Wake Forest, who has lost notable players, or to Clawson, 57, who is 8-15 since the start of the 2023 season. But North Carolina would bring in an experienced coach who knows the league and, with more resources, could help the team take the next step.

Birmingham Stallions coach Skip Holtz: It’s never easy to replace a Hall of Famer like Brown, but Holtz isn’t intimidated. His own father, Lou, is a Hall of Fame coach and has been involved in the game his entire life. Skip Holtz was at East Carolina State, where he went 38-27 with two Conference USA titles. He won 152 games as a coach at UConn, East Carolina, South Florida and Louisiana Tech, but some of his best work came with the Stallions, who won the 2024 UFL title after back-to-back USFL championships. Holtz, 60, is 26-4 with the Stallions. He also assisted Northwestern coach David Braun in 2023, when the team went 8-5 and Braun won Big Ten coach of the year. Holtz also has a Notre Dame connection with Cunningham, a Notre Dame alum and former administrator, during their time there.