5 Mack Brown replacements North Carolina needs to save the Tar Heels

Things have taken a turn for the worse. After a somewhat impressive 3-0 start to the season, the North Carolina Tar Heels are 3-2 overall with bad, back-to-back losses vs. James Madison and now rival Duke. JMU scored 70 points on the Tar Heels two weeks ago. Duke, who is 5-0 under new head coach Manny Diaz, ripped victory away from the jaws of defeat in their thrilling Week 5 win.

All the while, one thing is becoming Crystal Pepsi clear in Chapel Hill. Bubba Cunningham needs to hire a new head coach for next season. He should allow Mack Brown to coach out the rest of the season and retire in grace. He is a College Football Hall of Famer, based on his previous tenure at UNC before becoming a national championship-winning head coach when he was leading Texas.

So what I am going to do today is look at five potential candidates across college football that I think could be a suitable long-term replacement for Brown at UNC. What you have to remember is while North Carolina is a flagship university in its state, the ACC is not the most desirable of conferences. We are looking at mostly coordinators and Group of Five head coaches making the leap up for this.

Let's start with an offensive wunderkind whose stock has taken a bit of a hit over the first few weeks.

5. Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Will Stein

At the start of the season, I had Oregon Ducks offensive coordinator Will Stein as a lock to get a Power Four job to call his own. He may be a peer of mine, but he has paid his dues and could be ready for the big opportunity ahead of him. My biggest concern now is that Oregon may not be as good as advertised offensively with Dillon Gabriel as their starter. Bo Nix was the straw that stirred the drink.

The gig that I initially tabbed Stein to this offseason was the Virginia Cavaliers job. It could still open up because I don't trust Tony Elliott, and you shouldn't either. Given that he is not taking over at his alma mater because Jeff Brohm has that thing cooking in Louisville, regardless of the Notre Dame loss on Saturday, Stein could be eyeing a return to ACC country to get to lead his first college team.

With the amount of talent in-state and in nearby regions, I have a feeling Stein would be able to build and sustain a strong offense right away in Chapel Hill. My other concern I have for him is the play of Oregon's offense of late is he might actually need to take a Group of Five job first before getting his own team. I did not think that was the case. UNC could be available, but it feels like a reach for him.

Stein could have great success leading North Carolina, but he brings so much unknown to the table.

4. UNLV Rebels head coach Barry Odom

Despite playing in the Mountain West, UNLV is not-so-quietly 4-0 on the season. While the Rebels were in the news this week for all the wrong reasons regarding Matthew Sluka opting for a redshirt, they still clobbered Fresno State in conference play. This is because Barry Odom is proving to be one helluva head coach in his second go-around at it. He grew after going to Arkansas. He is ready now.

Odom may never be able to fully overcome failing at his alma mater of Missouri, but it wasn't like his mentor and predecessor Gary Pinkel left the Tigers in the best of situations. He reinvented himself as Sam Pittman's star defensive coordinator at Arkansas before taking over at UNLV last year. The Rebels are usually one of the worst teams in the Group of Five. Now, they might even with their league.

Because Odom has coached in a bunch of places, I think he is more likely to fit in the ACC at a place like North Carolina than you would think. Who he hires as his offensive coordinator will be key. In all honesty, would it shock you if he brought his entire UNLV staff with him to UNC? I would not rule it out. Though I think he could be a great fit at North Carolina, the Tar Heels would want an offensive mind.

Odom may end up leaving UNLV after two years, but it remains to be seen what job that it might be.

3. South Florida Bulls head coach Alex Golesh

I think we have seen enough out of Alex Golesh now in year two at South Florida where he may be ready to lead his own Power Four team. One of the things I like about him the most is, given where he has worked before and where he is from, he could conceivably work at any number of Power Four jobs in every conference. His team may be better on defense, but he is an offensive head coach.

What you have to remember about South Florida is the Bulls were beyond terrible under his predecessor Jeff Scott. Golesh wins more games in a season than Scott did during his entire tenure down in Tampa. Frankly, South Florida is always going to be a candidate to potentially move up to a bigger league in realignment, even though USF is one of four notable teams committed to the AAC.

Golesh gives off the vibe of being the right type of head coach who could conceivably go from the Group of Five at South Florida to a job in the Power Four like North Carolina in the ACC. The period of adjustment may not be all that much. He needs to get the right quarterback to come play for him, but with how well USF has looked defensively at times over the last two years, I think he is ready for this.

It will be all about finding the right landing spot for Golesh, as he could be up for several jobs in 2025.

2. Liberty Flames head coach Jamey Chadwell

Up until very recently, Liberty Flames head coach Jamey Chadwell was my best bet to potentially be the one to replace Mack Brown as the next head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. He has won everywhere he has been before, most notably at Liberty now and at Coastal Carolina before that. Chadwell runs a very interesting ground-centric attack. It may work at UNC, but there is also this...

The biggest thing getting in the way of Chadwell getting a Power Four job is the fact he does not have any Power Four coaching or playing experience whatsoever. Thus, it limits where he could conceivably go to beyond Liberty. However, North Carolina is on a shortlist of jobs where Chadwell could go from Group of Five to Power Four with very little issue. It might be the best job he could get.

The other thing that is working against him in this has been the play of his former Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall after transferring to North Carolina State. Kaidon Salter may eventually usurp McCall as Chadwell's most notable quarterback, but McCall's struggles in ACC play have been well-documented. There is a lot of upside to this potential hiring, but I can also sense the downside.

There is one other candidate that I think would be absolutely perfect if he took over at North Carolina.

1. Penn State Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki

Andy Kotelnicki may not even need to unpack his bags in State College, as the Penn State offensive coordinator may get a real shot to lead his own team next season. Kotelnicki is proving to have been the secret sauce for mentor Lance Leipold. Look at how poorly Kansas has played in the wake of Kotelnicki leaving Lawrence for Happy Valley. I think that Kotelnicki could be UNC's secret sauce.

It will come down to how good of a staff he could assemble, as well as how good of a delegator he can be. Again, we have no idea how good of a head coach he will be. All we know is that Kotelnicki has mastered the art of being a great offensive coordinator at multiple schools. We have also seen two former James Franklin assistants become head coaches recently in Brent Pry and now Manny Diaz.

What North Carolina needs to do is hire a head coach who moves the needle and gets its fanbase fired up about college football. For those in the know, they are well aware of what a Kotelnicki offense is capable of. Fixing the defense in Chapel Hill may take a few years, but having a new, fun and exciting offense may be a breath of fresh air as the Tar Heels rebuild themselves into a more complete team.

There is a ton of variance with this potential hire, but it could be the one that North Carolina needs.