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The search for a Tar Heel football coach can be done in three ways.

Carolina is frantically searching for a replacement for Mack Brown, and they are looking to name him this week as the transfer portal opens and there are still a few unsigned recruits.

The only coach they are currently talking to who can take the job is Bill Belichick, and NFL insider Adam Schefter said the school and the 72-year-old legend are not close to making a deal. This standoff has to be more on UNC’s side since there are so many unknowns about the six-time Super Bowl champion.

Belichick’s succession plan apparently includes bringing his son Steve, the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington, here for the same job, who would take over from his father in three to five years. This is obviously a risky move, doubly so. Carolina doesn’t know if Belichick would be successful in his first-ever college job, and Steve Belichick’s role obviously needs more scrutiny.

What if things don’t go well for Bill, whose greatest love is the NFL and who breaks Don Shula’s winning record? Would Carolina still want Steve if Bill goes out or takes an NFL job after a year, or if he wants his son with him?

The second option would be to hire a coach who would miss an upcoming bowl game. Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, who after his team’s tough Big 12 championship loss to Arizona State, spoke seriously about coaching the Cyclones in a bowl game, played Dec. 28 in the Pop Tart Bowl against Miami . That’s not true. It sounds like he’s leaving before then.

Another coach of interest to Bubba Cunningham is Tulane’s John Sumrall, who lost to Army for the AAC championship and was evasive and angry when asked about it the day after the game. He just finished his first year in New Orleans and most coaches have a hard time leaving after one season.

The third option is to rely on interim coach Freddie Kitchens and the rest of the Tar Heel staff, all of whom are under contract as bowl game coaches. Kitchens may want the permanent job and his candidacy could be evaluated while he and assistants ask players who may transfer to wait until the new head coach is named. That would give Cunningham more time to hire anyone he wants while keeping the program operational for its bowl game.

And in addition to 45-year-old Campbell and 47-year-old Sumrall, there are other candidates. Hopefully the next coach will stay for a long time and pick up where Brown left off as a player-coach. And what he does with Carolina football long-term is more important than how he starts.

Brown has always been known for winning the press conference with his sales skills and gift for public speaking. The new coach can lose a presser if he wins enough games.

Featured image via Associated Press/Michael Dwyer

Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including bestsellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has been a contributor to the WCHL for decades, making his first appearance as a student in 1971 The “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his opinion column “Art’s Angle” appears weekly on Chapelboro.

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