Tar Heels Find New Head Coach

Added on Dec 08, 2011 by Scott in

NCAAF

If sources turn out to be right, North Carolina has found their new head football coach. An emergency meeting was called by the school board of trustees this morning to approve the hiring of Larry Fedora, who led Southern Miss to an 11-2 record this season, which culminated last Saturday in a 49-28 upset of previously undefeated Houston to win the Conference USA championship.

UNC finished the season 7-5 under the guidance of interim coach Everett Withers, but it was widely known they were searching for a permanent replacement for Butch Davis, who was fired in late July amidst an NCAA investigation that uncovered the distribution of improper benefits to student athletes and multiple instances of academic misconduct.

Under the circumstances, Withers did a credible job handling the head coaching duties. Despite not beating a ranked opponent, they did take both Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech to the wire. The Tar Heels will play Missouri in the Independence Bowl later this month, their fourth consecutive Bowl appearances.

Fedora took over the Golden Eagles in 2008 and finished with a 33-19 career record, and 1-2 in Bowl games. The team will face Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl on December 24, although it’s unclear if Fedora will be on the sidelines once he’s introduced by North Carolina.

The 49-year-old Fedora also served as offensive coordinator at Florida from 2002-2004 and held the same position at Oklahoma State from 2005-2007. He’s known for installing high-scoring passing offenses and has a reputation for being an excellent recruiter.

North Carolina last won an ACC championship in 1980 and has failed to escape the massive shadow cast by the wildly successful basketball program. Davis, who was largely responsible for constructing Miami’s 2001 national championship team, was supposed to be the coach to raise the school’s football profile to new heights. Now that tall task falls on Fedora.

Source: ESPN.com