Larry Fedora

He was formally introduced as UNC's 34th full-time head coach on December 9.

He promised to implement an aggressive, attacking philosophy on both sides of the ball, with the same wide-open spread offense he implemented at Southern Miss and a blitz-heavy defense.

He summed up his philosophy with a quote from George S. Patton—"Instead of waiting to see what might develop, attack constantly, vigorously and viciously. Never let up, never stop, always attack."

He vowed that Tar Heel football would be known for "playing smart, playing fast, and playing physical."

Fedora was already a familiar face to recently hired UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham, who had arrived a few months earlier from Conference USA rival Tulsa.

Fedora knew that he would not be able to compete in post-season play in his first year due to NCAA probation for recruiting and academic violations.

Fedora led the Golden Eagles in the Hawaii Bowl, officially beginning his duties at UNC on January 1.

Herbert Lawrence Fedora (born September 10, 1962) is an American football coach and former player who is the former coach and general manager for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL).

Fedora played wide receiver at Austin College before starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant there in 1986.

He spent four seasons as head coach of the junior varsity team at Garland High School, which at the time was a powerhouse in Texas high school football, but then returned to the collegiate ranks, coaching tight ends, wide receivers and running backs for six seasons (1991–96) at Baylor.

Fedora moved on to coach the passing game and receivers at United States Air Force Academy from 1997 to 1998, before he became offensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State University in 1999.

In 2002, he was hired by Ron Zook to join his coaching staff at the University of Florida.

Fedora served as run game coordinator in 2002, perimeter game coordinator in 2003 and offensive coordinator in 2004.

During those three seasons, Fedora also coached the running backs and receivers.

His first season at UNC saw the Tar Heels finish with their first winning record in ACC play since 2004 and their third winning conference record of the millennium.

In 2005, Fedora joined Mike Gundy's staff at Oklahoma State.

Notably, they notched their first win over North Carolina State since 2006.

Their probation kept them from being considered for the ACC Championship Game.

Following the firing of Tennessee coach Derek Dooley, Fedora was a prime candidate to succeed him.

However, on December 5, one of UNC's early recruits, Jordan Fieulleteau, told The News & Observer and Inside Carolina that Fedora had assured him he would not leave UNC.

A day later, Fedora told his team at their last meeting of the season that he would remain their coach.

According to WNCN in Goldsboro, Fedora spoke with former Baylor coach Chuck Reedy, who'd given him his first full-time collegiate job, and said that he "turned down more money than I ever thought I'd see" because he was more than happy in Chapel Hill.

Fedora's second season in Chapel Hill got off to a sluggish start, with five losses in their first six games, including a dismal 55–31 loss to East Carolina.

However, the team recovered to win five of its final six games, including an unprecedented 80–20 thrashing of Old Dominion—the most points that a Tar Heel team has ever scored.

In November 2007, Fedora was rumored to be a candidate for the head coaching job at Baylor University, which eventually went to Art Briles.

On December 11, 2007, Fedora was named the new head coach of Southern Miss, replacing outgoing Jeff Bower.

He signed a four-year contract with a $650,000 base salary, but incentives in the contract could bring the contract close to $900,000.

He made a big splash in his first recruiting season, as Fedora was able to land five-star prospect DeAndre Brown, who had offers from several Southeastern Conference schools, such as LSU, Ole Miss, and Auburn.

Southern Miss was generally regarded as having the best recruiting class of the mid-major schools.

Fedora opened his first season as head coach at Southern Miss with a 51–21 drubbing of Louisiana–Lafayette, in which the Golden Eagles broke the school record for total yards in a single game with 633.

Under Fedora, Southern Miss notched the four most prolific offensive seasons in its 100-year football history.

His players also graduated at a higher rate than at any time in school history.

He previously served as head coach at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2008 to 2011, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2012 to 2018, and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Baylor University in 2020.

In 2011, Fedora led his 24th-ranked Southern Mississippi team to winning the Conference USA championship by defeating Kevin Sumlin's then-No.

6 ranked and then-undefeated, Houston Cougars, two weeks after losing to UAB.

On December 7, 2011, ESPN's Joe Schad reported that Fedora accepted an offer to take the job at North Carolina, but still planned to coach the Golden Eagles in the 2011 Hawai'i Bowl.

His hiring was officially announced the next day.

His younger brother, Lee Fedora, served as a high school head football coach in Texas for 24 years, most recently at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas, and previously coached Navasota High School in Navasota, Texas to two Texas state championships in 2012 and 2014.

Fedora is a proponent of the spread offense Fedora drew several assistant coaching offers from top-tier schools including LSU and Alabama as well as some head coaching offers including Rice and Air Force.

Earning $393,000 a year at Oklahoma State, Fedora was one of the top paid offensive coordinators in the country.