The UNC football team filled its lone remaining staff opening on Thursday, with the hiring of Deke Adams as the defensive line coach.

Adams is a familiar face to Tar Heel fans, as he coached UNC’s defensive line in 2012 during Larry Fedora’s first season as head coach.

His relationship with Fedora dates back to the head coach’s days at Southern Miss, where Adams was his defensive line coach from 2009 to 2011–before ultimately following him to coach the Tar Heels.

Following his initial stint in Chapel Hill, Adams left to coach the defensive line at South Carolina for three years (2013-15). He then went on to spend this past season in the same role at East Carolina.

Over the past five seasons, Adams has coached six NFL Draft picks–including a pair of first rounders in Jadeveon Clowney (South Carolina) and Sylvester Williams (UNC).

His decision to return to UNC comes just days after the Tar Heels added Terry Joseph to the staff as the new defensive backs coach.

Adams and Joseph will replace Tray Scott and Charlton Warren, respectively, with defensive coordinator Gene Chizik hoping they can help revitalize a Tar Heel defense that can best be described as “up-and-down” over the past couple of seasons.

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