Steelers OC Arthur Smith reportedly tells North Carolina he's not a candidate to replace Mack Brown

Arthur Smith will not be North Carolina’s next head coach.

According to NFL.com, the former Atlanta Falcons coach and current Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator has taken himself out of the running for the job. A North Carolina alum, Smith had been in preliminary contact with UNC administrators.

The school announced last week that it was firing coach Mack Brown at the end of the season. North Carolina lost 35-30 to rival NC State on Saturday to drop to 6-6 on the season. After the game, NC State players tried to plant a flag on the North Carolina logo at midfield and Tar Heels players didn’t take too kindly to that. Flag planting was a theme on Saturday.

Brown had said that he planned to to return for the 2025 season after North Carolina was blown out by Boston College in Week 13. A day later, North Carolina announced that the longtime coach would not be retained for the 2025 season. Brown coached Saturday’s loss, a game that will be his final one with the school. Brown said afterward that he would not coach in whatever bowl game the Tar Heels play in.

Smith, 42, is in his first season as Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator following his stint as the Falcons’ head coach. He coached the Falcons for three seasons after serving as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans from 2011-2020. He got his coaching start with North Carolina as a graduate assistant in 2006.

Depending on how the coaching carousel shakes out, North Carolina could be the biggest job that opens up ahead of the 2025 season. The Tar Heels were the first power conference team to make a head coaching move and UCF is the only outer power conference program with a head coaching opening as of Sunday morning. Saturday night, Knights coach Gus Malzahn resigned to reportedly take the offensive coordinator job at Florida State.