After North Carolina football lost to Duke on Sept. 28 for the first time since 2018, rumblings began around Mack Brown's job security as the North Carolina football coach. Brown is an icon at North Carolina with a 282-150-1 all-time record over two stints at the university,

Kitchens, who served a year as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, joined Mack Brown’s staff in February 2023.

For the last half-decade, North Carolina football has been under the leadership of Mack Brown as its head coach. However, that changed recently with the announcement from UNC administration that Brown had been relieved of his duties.