UNC football taps former star running back to join staff. Who did Mack Brown hire?
Former North Carolina running back Natrone Means returns to Chapel Hill as an offensive analyst, head coach Mack Brown announced Tuesday.
Means, who played for Brown from 1990-92, was in his first year as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach at Fayetteville State. Prior to that he was on the staff of his former UNC teammate Kienus Boulware as the running backs coach at Winston-Salem State for six seasons.
“I’m very excited, ecstatic, you know -- all those big words that you can possibly think of to describe joy -- is what I’m feeling right now,” Means said during a video conference with reporters. “To get a chance to be back on the Hill involved with this program, that means so much to me again working under coach Brown.”
Means will not be involved with on-field activities coaching the team. But off the field he said, “my responsibilities will be that of any other college coach.”
When Means was introduced to the team on Monday, Brown said they showed a highlight reel of him that had the current players in awe of a 250-pound back outrunning defenders when he wasn’t knocking them over.
“Really and truly Carolina football might not be what it is today without so many guys like him, but specifically him because he was the guy that got us started,” Brown said on a video call with reporters Tuesday.
Means was tied for fifth in career rushing yards (3,074) at UNC with Ethan Horton when he decided to forgo his senior season to turn pro. He was a second round pick of the San Diego Chargers and helped lead them to Super Bowl XXIX where, at age 22, became the youngest player in NFL history to score a touchdown.
Means is Brown’s eighth former player who is on his staff.
Means’ youngest daughter, Asha, signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Carolina’s women’s soccer team in the fall. He said he joked with Kevin Donnalley, UNC’s director of high school relations, as they took the football practice field on Tuesday that overlooks Dorrance Field that he could keep one eye on her and football all in the same view.
“It’s just another thing that makes this so special,” Means said. “Having a chance again to come back to a place that means so much to me and my family and having a chance to be close to my daughter and to watch her grow in her soccer career is something that we cherish and hold very dear.“
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 10:23 AM.