North Carolina Tar Heels Coaching Legend Talks New NIL, College Landscape

A North Carolina Tar Heels coached discussed how collegiate sports have changed forever with NIL being introduced.

Nov 2, 2024; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; North Carolina Tarheels head coach Mack Brown during warmups before a game against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. / Robert Myers-Imagn Images

There aren’t many coaches in college football who have gone through as much as North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown.

He began his coaching career in 1985 with the Tulane Green Wave before spending 10 seasons in Chapel Hill. After that, he truly made a name for himself leading the Texas Longhorns for 16 seasons, including a memorable undefeated 13-0 in the 2005 campaign and a victory in the Rose Bowl.

After being away from the sidelines for five years, he returned to the Tar Heels and has been the head coach since 2019. 

Throughout his career he has seen a lot of changes to the sport he loves. But, the introduction of NIL has been arguably the biggest. With high school recruits and the transfer portal, players are now seeking as much money as possible when committing to a program.

Recently, Brown shared just how much the recruiting process has changed as a result.

“It’s interesting that there’s a lot more talk about portal now than there is recruiting. It’s changed that much,” Brown said during his game week press conference. “You’re looking at guys now that are transferring, like the quarterback at Wake, this is his third school, and we fought our guts out to get Tez [Walker] to play at a third school. He didn’t even play at the first one.

“Now, here we are. We got guys that are at their fifth school. So it’s just changed so much, and it continues to change daily. We tell our coaches to stay off social media and don’t worry about what’s happening in the lawsuits and revenue sharing.”

A clear answer was not given by the long-time head coach about his true feelings on the changes made. But, he has certainly done his best to adjust to the times.

North Carolina was active on the transfer portal ahead of the 2024 season, landing a group of 10 players that was ranked No. 31 among the transfer classes. In comparison, 27 freshman were added to the roster.

For the 2025 class, things are flipping.

It seems as if Mack and his staff aren’t focusing as much on incoming freshmen, currently ranking outside of the top 50 with 11 total commits. With a cap on NIL spending potentially coming, the Tar Heels are looking to get ahead of things.

“You’re going to have to start deciding who gets paid more because it’s going to be salary caps, and you can’t pay them all the same,” Brown said. “You’re actually going to have to say, ‘This safety is going to get this much money, so this safety is going to get less.’ And I’m sorry, but if you don’t like it, transfer, because that’s just the way we feel.

“Not only are you going to have to do a better job of evaluating before they get here, you’re going to have to do a great job of evaluating who you’ve got, and then you’re going to have to develop who you’ve got.”

It will certainly be interesting to see how North Carolina and other schools adjust to the ever-changing landscape. One thing is for certain; Brown and his staff will do their best to make the most of it.