North Carolina Tar Heels Could Receive Influx of NIL with Recent Coaching Rumors

The North Carolina Tar Heels have reportedly reached out to an NFL offensive coordinator to be their next head coach and he has close ties with a billionaire.

Sep 22, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith observes warm ups before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Despite a 6-5 overall record, the North Carolina Tar Heels have played to only a 3-4 record in Atlantic Coast Conference play this year, prompting the program to fire head coach Mack Brown who had been with the program since before the 2019 season and led the team to a 44-32 record during his tenure.

Recent rumors have surrounded the team and the man who could be their next head coach, Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, with the coordinator confirming that the school has "reached out" to him about the job opening.

Smith was an offensive guard for the Tar Heels from 2001-2005, so the school ties are there, and he would bring not only the experience of being a head coach in the NFL, but also a billionaire father who could greatly assist in the program's Name, Image, and Likeness efforts.

Just last week we witnessed one billionaire, Larry Ellison, change the landscape of NIL in college football when he helped the Michigan Wolverines sway Bryce Underwood to flip his commitment from the LSU Tigers, and with Smith's father, Frederick W. Smith, the founder and former CEO of FedEx, being attached to North Carolina, their recruitment efforts could skyrocket.

As things currently stand, per 247Sports, the Tar Heels have only 10 commits for the 2025 recruiting class, with only one four-star, Bryce Baker, a quarterback, and nine three-stars.

Their class currently ranks 79th overall in college football, but should they land Arthur as their next head coach, a potential boost to their NIL efforts could be a massive boon to their subsequent recruiting classes that could see them rank as well as their basketball counterparts.

Having billionaires attached to collegiate athletics is quickly changing the landscape of NIL, a system that has greatly increased the parity in sports, specifically college football which is no longer dominated perennially by the Southeastern Conference.

Right now, there are no rules or regulations for NIL, and it is essentially the wild, wild, west where the biggest deals and the deepest pockets land the best recruits.

While that is subject to change, if a school can use an attached billionaire to their advantage on the recruiting trail, more power to them!

Arthur Smith has not held a coaching role at the collegiate level of football, but he has three years of experience as a head coach in the NFL and three years of experience as an offensive coordinator.

It remains to be seen if he will be the next coach for North Carolina, but as things seem now he is the top candidate for the job.