Mack Brown has been the new (and former) head coach at North Carolina for less than a week, but the returning veteran is also making quick work of his second staff in Chapel Hill. Plenty of work remains on the recruiting trail and re-establishing relationships with top recruits and their families, but the first step is assembling a staff to take on the road.

Coaching Hires Made:

Chronological Updates:

11/25/18 Update:

Early reports indicate that Mack Brown is interested in bringing an all-star coaching staff to North Carolina. Gene Chizik coached under Brown at Texas in 2005 before taking the head coaching job at Auburn, where he won a national title with Cam Newton at quarterback. Chizik previously served as Larry Fedora’s defensive coordinator in Chapel Hill from 2015-16 before stepping out of the coaching game.

Meanwhile, Kliff Kingsbury was most recently the head coach of Texas Tech from 2013-18 and compiled a 35-40 overall record with the Red Raiders. These two additions would certainly be a splash for Brown in year one.

11/28/18 Update:

A coach with ties to Brown has been announced as the first addition to the new staff in Chapel Hill. Tim Brewster served as the tight ends/special teams coach for UNC from 1988 to 1997 under Brown.

11/29/18 Update:

Another coach has been added to the UNC staff and it’s another with a previous tie to Brown. Greg Robinson served as Texas’ defensive coordinator under Brown during the 2004 and 2013 seasons. He has not coached anywhere since 2015.

UNC has elected to go with co-defensive coordinators by promoting and keeping Tommy Thigpen on staff. Thigpen, who joined Carolina’s staff last year, played for the Tar Heels from 1988-92 with Brown as his head coach.

Brown continues to fill out his defensive staff with the addition of Dre Bly, a former UNC All-American who played under Brown and an 11-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl champion with the St. Louis Rams.

11/30/18 Update:

A release by UNC confirms the additions of Brewster, Bly, Thigpen and Tim Cross to Brown’s new staff at Carolina. Cross, who coached with Brown at Texas from 2001-04, will coach the defensive line.

A new report by Inside Carolina states that Greg Robinson is no longer an option for the defensive coordinator role.

12/4/18 Update:

It seems like it’s been trending this way for a while, but USC makes it official by hiring former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury as its offensive coordinator. One name off the board for Carolina.

12/9/18 Update:

North Carolina officially announces the hiring of Jay Bateman as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. The 2018 Broyles Award finalist spent the past five years as Army’s defensive coordinator.

12/11/18 Update:

Bruce Feldman of The Athletic is reporting that UNC has hired Phil Longo as offensive coordinator to bring the Air Raid to Chapel Hill. Longo spent the past two seasons with Ole Miss, leading one of the most prolific offenses in the nation.

In addition, Feldman and Inside Carolina are reporting that UNC has made two additional hires: offensive line coach Brandon Jones and wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway. Jones spent the past two years at Texas Tech while Galloway has been with the Cardinals since 2015.

This post will be updated with more information as it becomes available.

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