Mack Brown and UNC football assistant coaches get contract extensions
North Carolina’s football program announced contract extensions for head coach Mack Brown and each of the 10 full-time assistants on the eve of spring practice beginning Tuesday.
Brown’s deal keeps his compensation at $3.5 million a year, and the extension was designed to keep him through the next five seasons. The new deal expires in February 2025.
Brown had also been an advocate for getting his staff deals to be competitive with other top teams nationally. Now those 10 assistants all have three-year deals that last from now until February 2024.
The range of assistant coaches salaries goes from co-defensive coordinator Jay Bateman and offensive coordinator Phil Longo each receiving $900,000 annually to cornerbacks coach Dre Bly receiving $275,000. The total pool for assistant salaries is just more than $4.77 million. New running backs coach Larry Porter is set to make $300,000 this season, but it will increase to $500,000 for the last two years of his deal.
“We said, because Sally and I love UNC and Chapel Hill so much, this is the only place we’ll coach, and we plan on doing that as long has we’re having fun, impacting the young men in our program, and giving Carolina football the best chance to win,” Brown said in a statement. “We also wanted to ensure that our coaching staff’s compensation is consistent with our competitors, so we can achieve the stability we believe helps in developing a consistent winner. We’re receiving great support for our football program, which has made our staff one of the most stable in the nation.”
UNC also announced wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway has been promoted to assistant head coach. Running backs coach Larry Porter, hired in to replace Robert Gillespie, who left for Alabama, will also serve as assistant special teams coordinator.
“Carolina Football is on a great trajectory, and much of that can be credited to our coaches,’’ athletic director Bubba Cunningham said in a statement. “We’ve worked hard to build continuity with this staff, and we’re seeing the benefits of that on the field, in recruiting, and in the community. We are excited to watch this talented coaching staff continue to lead this program forward.”
Brown will usher the Tar Heels into one of the most-anticipated years in program history in the third season of his second stint in Chapel Hill. The Heels are set to return all but one of their starter from their first-ever Orange Bowl appearance last season.
This story was originally published March 22, 2021 at 2:31 PM.