Possible UNC football offensive coordinator candidates

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Possible UNC football offensive coordinator candidates

The North Carolina Tar Heels will be looking for a new offensive coordinator after they announced they are parting ways with Freddie Kitchens. The coordinator lasted just one year after being retained for Bill Belichick’s staff in Chapel Hill.

But after having one of the worst offenses in college football, UNC had to make a change. Now, a coaching search begins and it’s an important one. The Tar Heels need to get an offensive mind into Chapel Hill, particularly someone who is good with working with quarterbacks.

The Tar Heels are hoping to target someone with quarterback coaching experience as they have young players at the position like Bryce Baker, Au’Tori Newkirk, and Travis Burgess.

Below are candidates we believe the Tar Heels should or could target in this search. This will be updated with more candidates.

Chip Kelly

Jul 24, 2025; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly during training camp at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The longtime Oregon head coach had a stint in the NFL before returning to the college game. He was the offensive coordinator for Ohio State last season, helping lead them to a title. He then took the Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator job with the Las Vegas Raiders before being fired during the season.

Kelly is better suited for the college game and should be considered by North Carolina.

Andy Kotelnicki

Sep 7, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki walks on the field during a warm up prior to the game against the Bowling Green Falcons at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

A name that will be available is Penn State’s Andy Kotelnicki. He will coach the Nittany Lions in their bowl game but won’t be under Matt Campbell’s staff as he takes over as head coach. Kotelnicki has years of experience in coaching, including helping develop Kansas’ Jalon Daniels and getting the Jayhawks to their first bowl game since 2008.

He was nominated for the Broyles Award after that 2022 season. He then left to take the Penn State job before James Franklin was fired.

Brian Daboll

Nov 2, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll stands on the field prior to a game against the San Francisco 49ers at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images

The Tar Heels could look at the NFL level with someone who has a lot of experience on offense and with quarterbacks. Daboll was fired by the New York Giants this season, but his track record with quarterbacks speaks for itself.

He coached Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa in college as well as Josh Allen in the pros. He worked with Jaxson Dart this season before being fired. Daboll going back to the coaching ranks and trying to build up his resume again is not a bad idea. If he wants to go back to the college game, North Carolina should be interested.

Seth Littrell

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Seth Littrell stands on the field before a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Tennessee Volunteers at Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024.

A former running back at Oklahoma, Seth Littrell’s name has been a hot one in coaching circles before. He’s worked at Kansas, Texas Tech, Arizona, and Indiana before becoming the head coach at North Texas from 2016-2022. In that span, he went 44-44 at North Texas making a bowl game in six of the seven years. However, he was 0-6 in those bowl games.

Littrell was promoted at Oklahoma in 2023 as the offensive coordinator but was fired in 2024 after posting the statistically worst Oklahoma offense since 1961 through 7 games.

I don’t know how well he’d fit here but maybe another chance would help him turn things around?

Jerry Neuheisel

Nov 22, 2025; Pasadena, California, USA; UCLA Bruins assistant head coach Jerry Neuheisel on the sidelines against the Washington Huskies at the Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The son of Rick Neuheisel and a former UCLA quarterback, will be a hot name this offseason. He’s 33-years-old and took over as offensive coordinator during the season. While UCLA started 0-4 and finished the year ranked 116th in offense, he helped coach them in games in which they scored 42, 38, 20, and 56 points. He was held back by a lack of talent on that side of the football.

With Neuheisel not returning under Bob Chesney, he will be looking for a new job. North Carolina could go with a young offensive mind who has experience with quarterbacks.

This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Football: Options for Tar Heels’ offensive coordinator (Vol. 1)

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