The North Carolina football team finished the season against NC State, falling 35-30. The result came a week after the Tar Heels fired head coach Mack Brown. Now, with the team finishing 6-6, the focus will shift to recruiting,

Tar Heels athletic director Bubba Cunningham told Brown on Monday he would not return for the 2025 season despite having three years left on his contract, the school announced. Brown will coach the team’s regular-season finale Saturday against rival North Carolina State but its undecided if he would coach in a bowl game.

When North Carolina brought back coach Mack Brown before the 2019 season, it likely didn't imagine things would end like this.On Saturday, the Tar Heels lost 35–30 to NC State to conclude a 6-6 season.

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown finished out his career with the Tar Heels losing to North Carolina State 35-30. On Tuesday, the school chose to fire the 73-year-old coach. Brown was in his second stint with UNC. He went 113-79-1 with the Tar Heels in his 16 years as the head coach of the program.

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.

Here's a snippet of reactions on social media to the announcement by North Carolina that Mack Brown won't return in 2025.

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

Mack Brown gave a statement about his departure after coaching his final game as the North Carolina football head coach.

Per the team's official website, they've named Freddie Kitchens as their interim head coach in place of Mack Brown. Brown was fired by North Carolina following their 41-21 loss to Boston College on Nov. 23, and his last day with the program is Sunday, Dec. 1.

The North Carolina Tar Heels announced on Tuesday that Mack Brown would not return in the 2025 season. Brown is the all-time winningest coach in program history (113 wins) and will be coaching his final regular season game on Saturday as North Carolina faces North Carolina State.

A win against heated rival North Carolina State wasn't among them across Brown's final four seasons at the helm, which concluded Saturday when the Wolfpack exploded for 22 fourth-quarter points in their 35-30 win.