The coaching carousel isn’t done with the UNC football team just yet. Last week, it was announced UNC tight ends coach John Lilly would be leaving the program to take the same role with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Lilly had been a member of the coaching staff since February of 2020.

On Monday, Inside Carolina reported the Tar Heels are hiring Freddie Kitchens as the new tight ends coach and run game coordinator. The football program confirmed the news on Tuesday. The news comes less than a week before UNC opens spring practice on Sunday, March 5.

“We’re excited to welcome Freddie, his wife Ginger, and their daughters Bennett and Camden to the Carolina football family,” said head coach Mack Brown. “Freddie brings a wealth of experience as a head coach, a coordinator and a position coach. We were really impressed with his resume and believe he will mesh nicely with the other members of the staff.”

Kitchens has spent much of his career in the NFL, serving as a tight ends coach for the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants. Kitchens was head coach of the Cleveland Browns during the 2019 season, compiling a 6-10 record before being fired by the team.

Most recently, Kitchens served as a senior football analyst for South Carolina in 2022. With Kitchens on staff, the Gamecocks finished 8-5 with wins over two top 10 teams. His role with the Tar Heels will be his first coaching position with a college team since serving as both a tight ends and running backs coach for Mississippi State in the 2004 and 2005 seasons, respectively.

In addition to his coaching career, Kitchens played with new UNC cornerbacks coach Jason Jones at Alabama in the mid-1990s. Kitchens was a three-year starter at quarterback for the Crimson Tide.

Kitchens inherits a talented tight end room set to return Bryson Nesbit, John Copenhaver and Kamari Morales.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Adam Hunger

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

Related Stories
‹
Julius Peppers Selected to NFL All-Decade Team for 2010's
One of the greatest players to ever put on a UNC football jersey–defensive end Julius Peppers–earned yet another prestigious honor to his career full of them on Monday, when he was selected to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2010’s. Peppers, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers–finished […]
Carolina Panthers Sign Former UNC Safety Tre Boston to 3-Year Extension
The Carolina Panthers and former UNC safety Tre Boston agreed this past Thursday to a three-year deal worth $18 million, with Boston set to make $9.5 million in the first year. Boston was a fourth round pick by the Panthers in the 2014 NFL Draft coming out of UNC. He spent his first three NFL […]
UNC Football Hires Kevin Donnalley as Director of High School Relations
The UNC football program and head coach Mack Brown announced Monday that they have hired former Tar Heel great Kevin Donnalley as their director of high school relations Donnalley had spent the last four seasons as the director of student-athlete development at Charlotte. He also played 13 seasons in the NFL as an offensive lineman […]
Mack Brown, Julius Peppers Among Inductees For NC Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2020
A trio of Tar Heel legends are among the 12 inductees for the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020, as Mack Brown, Julius Peppers and former UNC track coach Dennis Craddock will be enshrined during the 57th annual banquet on May 1 at the Raleigh Convention Center.  The entire class consists of Debbie Antonelli, Muggsy Bogues, Brown, […]
Jacksonville Jaguars Sign Former UNC RB Elijah Hood
The Jacksonville Jaguars agreed Saturday to sign former UNC running back Elijah Hood to their 90-man preseason roster, giving him a chance to compete to make the team’s final regular season roster. A former seventh-round draft pick by the Oakland Raiders, Hood spent last season with the Carolina Panthers. A knee injury in the preseason […]
Tre Boston Returning to Carolina Panthers on One-Year Contract
Tre Boston is on his way back home. The former UNC defensive back signed a one-year, $3 million deal to return to the Carolina Panthers on Thursday according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Boston spent the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers and the Arizona Cardinals, respectively, after playing out the first three years […]
Carolina Panthers Hire Julius Peppers as Special Assistant of Business Operations
The Carolina Panthers announced Wednesday that they will hire the recently retired Julius Peppers–who starred at UNC and with the Panthers as a defensive end–to a role in the team’s front office. Peppers’ official title with the Panthers will be as a special assistant of business operations. According to Pro Football Talk, he will have […]
Elijah Hood Signs One-Year Contract With Carolina Panthers
Former UNC star running back Elijah Hood agreed Monday to sign a one-year contract with the Carolina Panthers. Hood–a Charlotte native–spent training camp with the Panthers last season, and scored a touchdown in their preseason opener before ultimately tearing his ACL on the opening kickoff of their fourth, and final, preseason game. As a result, […]
Julius Peppers Announces Retirement Following 17-Year NFL Career
After spending the last 17 seasons as one of the most feared pass rushers in the NFL, former Tar Heel star Julius Peppers announced Friday that he will be retiring. The No. 2 overall pick of the 2002 draft coming out of UNC, Peppers ends his career with 159.5 sacks–a number good enough for fourth […]
Julius Peppers Nominated for NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award
The Carolina Panthers announced Thursday that they have nominated former UNC star Julius Peppers as the team’s representative for this year’s Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which is the NFL’s only honor that recognizes excellence both on and off the field. Each of the league’s 32 teams select one nominee for the award, […]
›