CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina is changing its defensive coaching staff after the Tar Heels stumbled badly in the second half of last season.
The school announced Wednesday that defensive coordinator Gene Chizik and defensive line coach Tim Cross won’t return to those roles for 2024. Head coach Mack Brown will search for a new coordinator, while senior defensive analyst Tim Monachino will replace Cross.
The defensive unit had a solid start to the season as UNC started 6-0 and reached No. 10 in the AP Top 25. But the Tar Heels faded badly, allowing 30 or more points to every Bowl Subdivision opponent in the second half of the schedule — including a 30-10 loss to West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
That had followed a season’s worth of struggles in the team’s run to an Atlantic Coast Conference division title in 2022 during the first season of Chizik’s second stint with the Tar Heels. He had worked under Larry Fedora for two seasons, with UNC winning its division in 2015.
The school said Brown and Chizik had agreed to part ways after postseason meetings, with Chizik saying he remains “the closest of friends” with Brown.
Brown said it was “the right time to make a change” for the defensive line, with Monachino — who joined the program before the 2023 season — taking over after a career that includes 16 years in the NFL.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
