Finally, there’s a crown jewel opening at the Power Conference level in the 2024 coaching carousel.
Thy name is North Carolina, and the athletics director, Bubba Cunningham, is among the NCAA’s most respect and tenured individuals.
Jordan brand. ACC residency. An NIL landscape with potential – but nowhere near its men’s basketball counterparts.
Nonetheless, the opportunity to replace Mack Brown atop the University of North Carolina stands – right now – as the prohibitive top opening at any level of college football.
Unsurprisingly, the job already is drawing immense interest from college, NFL and … the broadcast booth.
Yes, Dan Mullen is extremely interested in the UNC post per numerous sources speaking with FootballScoop.
Who wouldn’t be interested in a flagship school with strong facilities, solid in-state talent and in a fairly wide-open conference?
Aside from Mullen, the ESPN analyst who previously guided Florida, as well as Mississippi State to its first-ever No. 1 ranking?
Matt Campbell is right there in terms of fit for being able to build a program, a healthy culture and, frankly, flourishing at a spot where basketball tends to loom over football.
Ryan Silverfield at Memphis is a name not to be ignored. Silverfield merely has extremely deep NFL experience, and he is preparing to guide the Tigers to their sixth bowl berth in six years as a head coach.
Moreover, he’s a 19-game winner since the start of the 2023 season and is taking his Memphis team on the road to face College Football Playoff-ranked Tulane with the same record as Jon Sumrall’s Green Wave.
Speaking of Sumrall, he’s elite. Period. His work on the defensive side of the ball at San Diego, Tulane, Ole Miss and Kentucky followed by head coaching stints at Troy and now Tulane makes him, with little debate, the top coaching candidate for any significant job anywhere right now in college football.
North Carolina, per sources with direct knowledge, has interest in Sumrall.
Army coach Jeff Monken has deep roots in the region from his time at Georgia Southern, as well as an understanding of the academic rigors at a place like North Carolina.
Liberty coach Jamey Chadwell, who spoke with Tennessee about its job before Danny White hired Josh Heupel in 2021, has interest in the position, several sources tell FootballScoop; however, Chadwell, a Tennessee native, has not worked at an institution with the academic demands that UNC seeks to uphold.
UNLV coach Barry Odom is also a name to monitor. He’s worked wonders in his time atop the Rebels program, which is set to battle Boise State for the Mountain West Conference title.
Chip Kelly has NFL and Power Conference experience and has made a strong impact this year as No. 2 Ohio State’s offensive coordinator after he voluntarily exited a messy situation at UCLA.
Like Kelly, Al Golden has previous head coaching experience – including in the ACC at Miami – and has proved elite as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator the past three seasons. Sources told FootballScoop that Golden is extremely happy at Notre Dame, which gave him a new, four-year contract last December, but he would consider the UNC post. Cunningham has deep ties to Notre Dame as well.
Two different sources tell FootballScoop that Arthur Smith, the former Atlanta Falcons head coach and current Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, would have an interest in a return to collegiate coaching after 15 years in the NFL.
While more candidates certainly can and likely will emerge, the pool already is deep for North Carolina.