UNC football defensive coordinator mock big board
The North Carolina Tar Heels football program made the decision to part ways with defensive coordinator Gene Chizik and defensive line coach Tim Cross on Wednesday after another disappointing season on that side of the football.
It was a move that many felt was coming as the struggles of the defense overshadowed what UNC was able to do this season. And it was time for a change.
Now, the Tar Heels go into the offseason looking for a new defensive coordinator as they promoted Ted Monachino to defensive line coach in the moves. It’s expected that UNC will move fast in this hiring process as they want to get the staff set before the transfer portal opens again and offseason work gets underway.
Here at Tar Heels Wire, we decided to put together a mock board of a few candidates we think can be on UNC’s board. This is NOT us reporting anything or sourcing anything, just a best guess of potential options.
Charlton Warren
The top in-house candidate to take over for Gene Chizik would be Charlton Warren. The co-defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach has been at North Carolina since January of 2022 and has 16 years of experience including his previous stop at Indiana. He’s also spent time at Georgia and Florida coaching the secondary.
Warren has also been recognized as one of the top recruiters in the country by 247Sports.
Jim Leonhard
This would be a ‘dream’ hire for North Carolina. The former Wisconsin standout who played 10 seasons in the NFL is currently on Illinois’ staff and leaving for the UNC job as defensive coordinator would be an upgrade.
Duane Akina
A coach who has a long history around the game and has spent time with Mack Brown while at Texas is Duane Akina. He’s currently the Senior Defensive Assistant/Secondary at Arizona, a defense on the rise as they improved drastically over the past two seasons.
Akina feels like a long shot as he has a good job out in the Desert already, but if he wanted to be a defensive coordinator and take that role, UNC might make sense. I wouldn’t expect this hire but it’s a name that could be thrown around.
Tommy Thigpen
Another in-house candidate that could be considered is linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen. He’s been with the team since 2018 and was retained when Mack Brown returned for his second stint.
IF the Tar Heels were to go with an in-house guy, Thigpen could get a look.
