Time for a Wake-Up Call: Why Change is Crucial for UNC Football's Future

It has truly been a roller coaster type of season for the UNC football program, as things got drastically worse on Saturday afternoon.

After it was leaked to the media that Mack Brown has every intention of remaining the UNC football program's head coach following the end of the 2024 season, the Tar Heels put together a pitiful performance against Boston College.

I, for one, wasn't expecting a lifeless performance like the one we saw.

What Saturday afternoon, and the weeks that have led up to this, have shown is that the UNC football program desperately needs to make changes, and the time is now.

Mack Brown has had an outstanding coaching career and has done some very good things for the UNC football program during his two stints as the head coach. However, Brown is aging and the world of college athletics is drastically changing, two of the major reasons why the Tar Heels need to make the change now.

Before we even get to the recruiting aspect of things, just look at the product that the UNC football program has put out there over the last couple of seasons. Even with multiple offensive and defensive coordinators, the UNC football program has never been able to rectify the issues they so often have: red-zone efficiency, costly penalties, and struggling to stop opposing offenses from lighting up the scoreboard are just some of the handful of areas that need drastic improvements.

Remember: the Tar Heels had elite quarterback play for the first five seasons of the Mack Brown 2.0 era. With Sam Howell and Drake Maye leading the offense, North Carolina had a combined record of 38-27, losing four of the five bowl games that they played in during that span.

That, in itself, is unacceptable.

While Brown consistently blames the world of NIL for the UNC football program's recruiting struggles (which certainly is a factor), don't ya think that Brown's age (currently 73) is also a drastic concern for high school student-athletes who are looking to continue their football careers?

Put yourself in a four-star (or even five-star) talent's shoes. Are you willing to go to a program that has consistently underachieved with a coach who could decide to retire at any given point?

Unless you're getting a boatload of NIL money and don't care about winning, the likely answer is no.

Just look at the UNC football program's 2025 recruiting class. Over the last few weeks, the Tar Heels have lost three prior commitments, with the most recent being their highest-ranked prospect. Now, North Carolina has just 10 commits within this class, 9 of which are three-star talents. If it wasn't for Louisville, the UNC football program would have the worst recruiting class in the ACC.

This is a MAJOR concern for the future of recruiting for the UNC football program.

The loss to James Madison, one in which the UNC football program allowed 70, yes, 70 points, was embarrassing in its own right. Getting dominated by Boston College without any bit of life from the Tar Heels is a very close second in the embarrassing category.

When the UNC football program went on its four-game losing streak, the talk about Mack Brown's future with the program was at the forefront of discussions. After winning three games in a row, those talks died down a bit, but now have easily ramped up following the loss to Boston College.

Mack Brown could definitely be coaching for his job when his team hosts NC State next weekend in Chapel Hill. If the Tar Heels put together another lackluster performance, it could be the final nail in the coffin for Brown's second tenure with the program.

Even if Brown is adamant about staying on as the head coach of the UNC football program beyond this season, Bubba Cunningham and the University of North Carolina need to have a serious conversation about what is best for the future of this program moving forward.

Based on the indicators, it's certain that change is critically needed, and the time to do so is now.