Gene Chizik hopes to remain with Tar Heels after 2023
As the North Carolina Tar Heels prepare for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl against West Virginia next week, the team is hoping to close out the year on a positive note.
After starting 6-0 start and a top 10 ranking, things fell apart with upset losses to Virginia and Georgia Tech. They did rebound to beat Campbell and Duke but ended the year with losses to Clemson and NC State. In the process, a lot of heat was on defensive coordinator Gene Chizik.
With UNC giving up chunks of yards, many wanted Chizik on the hot seat for next season. But for now, Chizik is preparing for the bowl game and he’s hoping to remain with the team past 2023.
Chizik was asked about that on Monday and said he would like to be back but knows the program does reassess after the season.
“Fair question,” Chizik replied via Tar Heel Illustrated. “For me, I’m probably different than almost every coach maybe in America, or at least there’s a few in my spot; I’m very blessed to be able to look at every season, and after every season decide what is the best for me, what is the best for the university, what is the best for everybody. And then the universities have to do the same thing. They have to look at the overall picture, and they’ve got to decide what’s best for them.
“To answer your question, I don’t know all of what will happen at the end. We know this is a big man’s sport. Everybody’s got to assess and evaluate. And in the end, we will come up with whatever is the best for the university. We will come up with whatever is the best for this program.”
Chizik’s defenses have struggled since his return to the Tar Heels and it’s fair to say there is some heat on him. We will see how the defense performs against West Virginia next week.
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