North Carolina has mutually parted ways with defensive coordinator Gene Chizik, the school announced Wednesday. Additionally, senior defensive analyst Ted Monachino will be replacing Tim Cross as defensive line coach.
The move marks the end of Chizik’s second stint at UNC; he previously served as defensive coordinator in 2015 and 2016, before resigning his position in February 2017. Chizik — who won the 2010 national championship as Auburn’s coach — was then out of coaching entirely until January 2022, when Mack Brown re-hired him to fix the Tar Heels’ long-struggling defense. The move made some sense at the time given Brown and Chizik’s history together — Chizik was the co-defensive coordinator on Brown’s 2005 national title team at Texas — and Chizik’s defensive aptitude.
The issue, though? After years out of coaching, Chizik couldn’t spur the same turnarounds he used to. In 2022, his first season as defensive coordinator, UNC allowed 30.8 points (101st nationally) and 436.5 yards (115th nationally) per game. This season was slightly better — “down” to 27.3 points (72nd nationally) and 404.4 yards (95th nationally) per game, but not nearly enough. The Tar Heels allowed at least 30 points in each of their last four games, three of them losses.
“Gene Chizik is one of the best football coaches I’ve shared the sideline with during my 46 years of coaching,” Brown said in a statement. “He’s a man of faith who worked tirelessly to provide the best coaching and mentorship he could to the young men he coached. We met extensively following the season, and despite the improvements from last season to this season, we mutually agreed that parting ways would be in the best interest of both he and the program. I want to thank Gene and his family for all they’ve done for our program and wish them nothing but the best.”
Co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Charlton Warren will remain on staff, while Brown and the Tar Heels begin a national search for their next DC.
As for Monachino, who has 16 years of NFL coaching experience, he earned public and private praise for his mentorship of multiple defenders this season. Cross had been one of UNC’s better recruiters, as the Tar Heels’ defensive line is littered with former five- and four-star prospects, but that group’s inconsistency — especially compared to its talent — ultimately led to a change.
Why UNC moved on from Chizik
Because UNC’s defense just got worse and worse over the course of the season. In the team’s season-opening win over South Carolina, it looked like Chizik’s unit might finally have figured some things out, but the same issues that have plagued UNC for years — namely inconsistent line play and inopportune missed tackles — ultimately reared their heads as the Tar Heels’ season fell apart. Some of that is on the players, many of whom have failed to live up to their lofty recruiting rankings, but Chizik — who was supposed to simplify what UNC did defensively — has to wear some blame, too.
Through no fault of his own, the game of college football changed dramatically while Chizik was out of coaching (both on and off the field) and he wasn’t able to muster the same defensive discipline he had earlier in his career. Brown is now onto his third defensive coordinator in his second stint as UNC’s head coach, a pivotal hire given two seasons of disappointing finishes.
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(Photo: Andy Mead / ISI Photos / Getty Images)
2024-01-03 22:18:17
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