No one could’ve blamed Natrone Means if he wanted to leave his alma mater last December. The former star UNC running back had just seen his former coach and current boss, Mack Brown, fired. But Means, a North Carolina native who grew up rooting for the Tar Heels, couldn’t see himself anywhere else.
“It’s a place I never wanted to leave,” Means told reporters at the Kenan Football Center earlier this month.
Means’ decision to stay made him a rarity among the UNC staff: he and Freddie Kitchens are the only major names who were retained as the program shifted from Mack Brown to Bill Belichick. While Kitchens earned a promotion from tight ends coach to offensive coordinator, Means also climbed the ladder: once an offensive analyst, he’s now Carolina’s running backs coach.
UNC football can be derided for many things these days, but its history of strong running backs is not up for debate. Galloping in the footsteps of Amos Lawrence and Kelvin Bryant and paving the way for future stars Giovani Bernard and Omarion Hampton, Means injected a ferocity into Tar Heel football which it had lacked in the early days of Brown’s tenure. After UNC won just two combined games in 1988 and 1989, the team then won six, seven and nine games apiece Means’ three seasons in Chapel Hill. Brown has since credited Means with saving his coaching career.
Means increased his rushing yardage and touchdowns every year: 849 yards and 10 scores as a freshman, 1,030 yards and 11 scores as a sophomore and 1,195 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior. The San Diego Chargers selected Means in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft, and his ferocious running style earned him an all-time nickname: “Natrone Means Business.”
Means began coaching in 2005, but it wasn’t until Brown and UNC hired him in 2021 that he got his first position on a Division 1 football staff. He served as offensive analyst for four seasons until Brown’s firing at the end of 2024.
Means is very close with Brown, the man who recruited him twice over. He had a decision to make once Brown was shown the door, but it was of a different kind than many might have assumed.
“As far as I was concerned, there was no looking for a way out,” Means said. “If anything, it was really just trying to find whatever I could use to my advantage as a way in.”
There were other considerations as well. Means and his wife, Shonda, met in Chapel Hill. Their daughter, Asha, was a senior captain of the UNC women’s soccer team which won the national championship in 2024.
After meeting with Belichick and general manager Michael Lombardi, Means was installed as running backs coach. Belichick and Lombardi had been clear about their preference for coaches with NFL experience, and while Means had never coached in the pro ranks, one YouTube search could tell you all you needed to know about Means’ time in the league. The “33rd NFL Team” was no doubt smitten.
Means’ first season hasn’t been without its challenges. The Tar Heel offense ranks among the worst in the nation, though one bright spot has been the emergence of running back Demon June. The similarities between Means and June are readily apparent: both were called into action as freshmen, both were in-state recruits (Means is from Concord and June is from Jacksonville) and both employ the same no-nonsense style of running the football.
“Going north and south, that’s the fastest way to get somewhere,” June told reporters after breaking out for 148 yards and a touchdown in a 41-6 win against Richmond earlier in September. “When you’re trying to score, you just put your head down and run.”
“There are definitely some similarities,” Means said of his young pupil. “You don’t have to reach too far to make those comparisons.”
At times, reaching back to that era of Tar Heel football can seem like trying to recall a fast-fading dream. Not only does Means’ connection to Brown make him unique among the coaching staff, but he is also the highest-ranking member of the football program to have graduated from UNC. And while some fans have chafed at Belichick’s perceived aloofness from anything which affects (and more often embarrasses) the university, Means is fiercely loyal to the place which changed his life.
“This program runs deep with me,” he said. “This place holds a very special place in the Means family. It’s not one that we’re looking to leave easily.”
More than three decades later, Natrone still means business.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/AllSport
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