North Carolina Tar Heels football could be a sleeping giant. The administration in Chapel Hill decided last month that reaching that potential would require a major change. The program announced that Mack Brown would not return as the head coach in 2025 and is now launching what is expected to be an expansive North Carolina football coaching search.

Kitchens, who served a year as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, joined Mack Brown’s staff in February 2023.

All forced exits are awkward, but Mack Brown’s might just top most of them. Just days ahead of UNC’s regular-season finale, the greatest coach in Tar Heels’ football history was politely asked to leave — or, rather, told he would not be returning beyond 2024.