Larry Fedora, the football coach at Southern Mississippi, has agreed to become North Carolina’s next coach, three sources close to the job search said late tonight.
The hire will be subject to approval by Chancellor Holden Thorp. Fedora agreed last night to take the job after talking with Bubba Cunningham, the UNC athletics director who is in his first month, the sources said.
Formal announcement of Fedora’s hire could come today. It was not known late last night how the hire, if completed, would affect the bowl games of both programs.
UNC is to play Missouri in the Independence Bowl on Dec. 26 in Shreveport, La. Southern Mississippi is to play in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Dec. 24 against Nevada.
The hire would be the first major personnel decision for Cunningham, who became UNC’s athletics director on Nov. 14. UNC needs a coach to take over a program rocked by two investigations, one by the NCAA for improper contact with agents and the other by the school for academic impropriety involving a tutor.
UNC has self-imposed penalties for rules that were broken, but is still awaiting word from the NCAA if it will add additional sanctions.
Fedora would succeed Butch Davis as the UNC coach, Davis was fired in late July after four seasons because of the investigations. Everett Withers, UNC’s former defensive coordinator, served as interim coach this season.
One of UNC's assistant coaches, Art Kaufman, was on Fedora's first Southern Mississippi staff in the 2008 season. Kaufman, UNC's linebackers coach, coordinated special teams and coached the defensive line for Fedora for one season before leaving for UNC's staff under Davis.
Fedora, 49, is in his fourth season at Southern Mississippi, and guided this season’s team to an 11-2 record and the Conference USA championship. Southern Mississippi will play in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.
Fedora is 33-19 overall at Southern Mississippi and guided teams to bowls also in the three previous seasons. Southern Mississippi is his first coaching job.
He was Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator for three seasons starting in 2005 before going to Southern Mississippi. He spent three seasons at Florida also, starting in 2002, and was offensive coordinator there in 2004, his last season at the school.
Texas A&M and Arizona State were interested in Fedora also. Fedora was born in College Station, Texas, where Texas A&M is located. He attended Austin College in Sherman, Texas.
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