Freddie Kitchens Named UNC Interim HC for Bowl Game After Mack Brown Firing

North Carolina run game coordinator and tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens will be the Tar Heels' interim head coach for their bowl game, via Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger.

On Tuesday, North Carolina announced that head coach Mack Brown would not return for the 2025 season.

Kitchens has NFL head coaching experience, operating in the role for the Cleveland Browns in 2019. He also served as the New York Giants' offensive coordinator in 2021 and later joined the Tar Heels' staff in Feb. 2023.

"Freddie Kitchens is an incredibly talented coach who is respected by our student-athletes and staff,'' North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham said as part of the announcement. "He is dedicated to doing all he can to help lead our program through this transition, and we appreciate his willingness to take on this role."

Brown was still allowed to coach North Carolina's regular-season finale, a 35-30 loss to NC State on Saturday.

He wasn't interested in sticking around for a bowl game, though.

"Great time for me to get out, this isn't the game I signed up for," Brown said after the loss, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "I'm leaving it better than I found it."

Brown finished his second stint at Chapel Hill with a record of 44-33 since he took over in 2019 after previously coaching the Tar Heels from 1988-97. North Carolina fell to 6-6 in 2024 with Saturday's loss to the Wolfpack, though.

Kitchens led the Browns to a 6-10 record in his lone year as head coach, operating as Cleveland's offensive coordinator during the season prior. He spent 16 years in various coaching roles at the NFL level, making a Super Bowl XLIII appearance as part of the Arizona Cardinals' staff.

While the Tar Heels' exact bowl game and opponent are still unknown, Kitchens will now be patrolling the sidelines during the contest.