College football legend Mack Brown was released by North Carolina, a day after he expressed plans to return in 2025

A day after Mack Brown expressed his plans to return as North Carolina’s head coach next year, he was fired by the school.

Brown will not return as coach of the Tar Heels for a seventh time in his second tenure in Chapel Hill.

In every way, Brown raised the profile of football in North Carolina. With his shot, the Tar Heels athletic department is signaling that someone else can reach greater heights.

Brown’s comments about his desires without speaking to UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham appear to have forced a decision against their head coach.

Since returning to UNC in 2019, Brown’s teams have not missed a single bowl game, including this season, where the Tar Heels are currently 6-5.

But the 73-year-old Brown never led North Carolina to a double-digit win this season.

North Carolina fired Mack Brown on Tuesday after he spent six seasons back at the helm of the Tar Heels

Brown wanted to return as head coach of the Tar Heels, but UNC leadership had other plans

Brown will coach against North Carolina State in the team’s final regular season. The school has not yet decided whether he will coach the team’s bowl game.

Brown initially coached at North Carolina from 1988 to 1997, where he had three double-digit win seasons.

UNC’s rise to national prominence landed Brown the top job at Texas, where he remained from 1998 to 2013, only once posting fewer than eight wins in a season.

Brown then took a break from coaching until North Carolina called him back to the starting lineup after six years.

Brown is the first power conference coach to be fired this season, and very few are expected. There are currently a dozen Group of Five positions open.