Freddie Kitchens Out as UNC Offensive Coordinator

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Bill Belichick is seeking a new offensive coordinator for the 2026 season. Freddie Kitchens is out after one season in the role, sources confirmed to Inside Carolina and On3’s Pete Nakos Friday morning.

>>> Join the No. 1 site for UNC news, analysis, scoop and community for $1 <<<

The UNC offense ranked among the worst in the nation in 2025. Among 136 FBS teams, the Tar Heels finished the regular season No. 131 in total offense, No. 121 in scoring offense (19.3), and No. 119 in red zone offense (77.1% scoring rate). Only seven teams scored fewer touchdowns (25) than UNC.

North Carolina’s only game with more than 30 points came against Richmond of the FCS. UNC’s conference-high in points was the 27 it scored against Syracuse in a Halloween win, managing a season-high 426 yards of total offense. The Tar Heels were held under 20 points seven times in 12 games.

The team finished the 2025 season with a 4-8 record. The team missed out on a bowl game for the first time since 2018. 

North Carolina rotated its skill position players all season looking for the right fit, but outside of Jordan Shipp in the passing game, the team never solidified go-to playmakers on offense. 

UNC’s leading passer, Gio Lopez, ranked 16th in the ACC in passing yards. Its leading rusher, Demon June, finished 25th in the conference in rushing yards, and its leading receiver, Shipp, ranked 14th in the ACC in receiving yards.

Kitchens joined UNC’s staff under Mack Brown after the 2022 season as a tight ends coach, coming off a one-year stint as an analyst for South Carolina. He spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons in that role. After taking over at UNC last offseason, Belichick opted to retain Kitchens, the lone position coach holdover from the Mack Brown era, and ultimately named him offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for Belichick’s first season in Chapel Hill.

Kitchens was given the interim coach title by the University during the Brown-to-Belichick transition, coaching the Tar Heels in their 27-14 Fenway Bowl loss to UConn to conclude the 2024 season.

For 16 seasons, Kitchens coached in the NFL in a variety of roles. He began as the tight ends coach for the Dallas Cowboys in 2006. He spent 11 seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, serving as the tight ends coach from 2007-12, the quarterbacks coach from 2013-16 and the running backs coach in 2017. Kitchens joined the Browns’ staff in 2018 as the associate head coach and running backs coach, and he served one year as the head coach in 2019. He spent two years with the New York Giants, one as the tight ends coach (2020) and the other as a senior offensive assistant and interim OC (2021).

Kitchens coached in college prior to his NFL career. served as the running backs and tight ends coach at Glenville State (W.Va.) in 1999, and later coached as a graduate assistant at LSU on Nick Saban’s staff in 2000. From there, Kitchens was the running backs coach at North Texas from 2001-03 and later worked at Mississippi State as the tight ends coach in 2004 and running backs coach in 2005.

Greg Barnes contributed to this report