Mack Brown firing opens 30-day transfer portal for UNC football players

NCAA rules allow a 30-day transfer portal window for college football players to make a decision after a head coaching change.

Mack Brown will not return to North Carolina next season, allowing his players an early shot at the NCAA transfer portal. / Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The biggest move in the 2024 coaching carousel became official after North Carolina announced head football coach Mack Brown will not return next season, a decision that now gives Tar Heels players a unique opportunity to make a decision about their future.

With the coaching change, a 30-day transfer portal will now open up for North Carolina players just 12 days out from the official opening of the college football transfer portal nationally.

And that December window is shorter than it was last season, down to 20 days, meaning UNC players interested in making a change will have an important jump start on the process.

NCAA rules allow players on a team with a coaching change to enter the transfer portal the day after their school relieves its head coach of his duties.

Players can enter their names into the transfer portal starting on Wednesday.

Brown helped revive North Carolina’s football fortunes since coming back as head coach six years ago, taking the program to five straight bowl games thanks in large part to the play of quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye.

But the 2024 season was a struggle from early on, as transfer quarterback Max Johnson sustained a season-ending injury in Carolina’s season opener at Minnesota in August.

Defense was an issue once again, too, especially following a 70-50 loss at home to James Madison, after which Brown reportedly told his players he would leave his post if he was found to be the issue.

But he continued on as coach, losing four straight games before a three-game win streak against Virginia, Florida State, and Wake Forest, but UNC lost by 20 to Boston College last weekend.

Brown will be on the sideline for North Carolina’s finale against rival NC State, but after that it will be up to the school to find his replacement.

And for Carolina’s players to decide if they want an early chance to enter the transfer portal.

How the college football transfer portal works

The NCAA Transfer Portal is a private database that includes the names of student-athletes in every sport at the Division I, II, and III levels. The full list of names is not available to the public.

A player can enter their name into the transfer portal through their school's compliance office.

Once a player gives written notification of their intent to transfer, the office puts the player's name into the database, and they officially become a transfer.

The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player's request and NCAA rules forbid anyone from refusing that request.

The database includes the player's name, contact information, info on whether the player was on scholarship, and if he is a graduate student.

Once a player's name appears in the transfer portal database, other schools are free to contact the player, who can change his mind at any point in the process and withdraw from the transfer portal.

Notably, once a player enters the portal, his school no longer has to honor the athletic scholarship it gave him.

And if that player decides to leave the portal and return to his original school, the school doesn't have to give him another scholarship.

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