The University of North Carolina is atop the headlines this week following the firing of UNC football head coach Mack Brown.
Just hours after the decision was announced, North Carolina’s director Bubba Cunningham joined the Tar Heel Sports Network’s basketball pregame broadcast with Jones Angell and Adam Lucas to discuss it (the full transcript of the interview can be viewed by clicking this link).
Here are some of the main things Cunningham had to say:
What ultimately led to the decision?
“These are really, really difficult decisions and choices, and I feel really badly and a bit disappointed that Coach Brown and I couldn’t agree on how to proceed forward. You know, what Mack and Sally have brought to this community, what Mack has done for Carolina Football and for the University of North Carolina, his first trip here, his second time coming back. I asked him to come back. He’s done everything and more that what we’ve asked. Our facilities are better. Our fundraising has been better. We have better staff. We have better coaching salaries, and all of that was because he’s so good at doing all those things.
We’ve had some inconsistencies. We had a lot of ambiguity about what our future looked like, and we needed clarity. This year in particular, we were up and down. We had all the things — the James Madison post-game thing — and I was really hopeful that he and I could agree what the future would be and when we would make that decision and go forward. But ultimately we couldn’t. I said that we’re going to have a different coach next year, and we couldn’t agree about how.
A soon as I made that decision, he wanted to tell the team, which was the unfortunate timing. I was really hoping that we could do this on Friday. They love Coach Brown. They love Sally. They’d be fired up. They could give us some momentum going into (NC) State, but they would have clarity as well. I just can’t thank him enough for what he’s done, he’s a big part of our community and a big part of our history. Those are really difficult decisions that you have to make from time to time. Again, I can’t thank him enough for what he’s done, and we’ll move on and find another great coach.”
The challenging aspect of parting ways with Mack Brown
“Absolutely, professionally one of the most challenging things. Again, I actually personally asked him to come. He came. He did more than I expected while he was here, and to have those rough conversations and to have it come to a head so abruptly, so quickly … I was hopeful that it would be later in the week, but I completely deferred to his timetable and I think that’s where we are. But I can’t thank him enough, and Sally, for what they have done and what they’ve meant. He’s a great, Hall of Fame coach, and he may be the only coach that has 100 wins at two different schools. And so not only what he’s done personally, but what he’s done professionally is iconic, and it was a tough, tough call.”
What Cunningham is hoping from the fans on Saturday afternoon
“I want them to celebrate Mack Brown. I want to celebrate Mack Brown and Sally both. They have been so good about everything. Our grades are so good. We have the best APR (Academic Progress Rate) we’ve ever had. Our GSR (Graduation Success Rate) just came out and it is outstanding. Our kids don’t get in trouble. There was nobody better for this team or this university going through the Tylee Craft situation. And that is absolutely wonderful. I want to celebrate all that, and we should.”
What’s the timeline on naming a new head coach?
“The transfer portal comes quickly. We have NIL. We’re talking about rev shares as we go forward. We have Signing Day — all of those things. You want to move very quickly, but we also want to get the very best coach we can possibly get. And almost all of those coaches are coaching right now, we are trying to get the ability to talk to them when they’re available, when their agents can talk to them. I’ve received countless calls today from agents and search firms that want to help. They talk about what a great job Carolina is. It’s the only Power Four job open, and it may be the only one open this year. — a highly sought after job.
We’ll have a ton of people. I’d like to go very quickly. Last time we hired Mack, it was 48 hours. It won’t be that fast this time. We have a different Board. We have a different Chancellor. We have other folks that are involved. I want to make sure the stakeholders — this isn’t my hire. This is going to be our hire. This is the University of North Carolina head football coach. It’s important to our community. It’s important to our future. It’s important to our athletic program. It has to be all of us behind this decision and say, ‘Okay, what’s the best path forward for us?'”
