Larry Fedora Larry Fedora ( born September 10 , 1962 ) is an American football coach and former player , and is the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , a position he accepted in December 2011 . He was previously the head coach of the University of Southern Mississippi from 2008 to 2011 . Coaching career . 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 at Garland High School , a powerhouse in Texas high school football , but then returned to the collegiate ranks , coaching tight end s , wide receiver s and running back s 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 – 98 , 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 . In 2005 , Fedora joined Mike Gundy ' s staff at Oklahoma State . His brother , Lee Fedora , serves as head coach at Navasota High School in Navasota , Texas . As one of the most prolific offensive strategists in college football and 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 . In November 2007 , Fedora was rumored to be a candidate for the head coaching job at Baylor University , which eventually went to Art Briles . Southern Miss . 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 . In 2011 , Fedora led his 24th - ranked Southern Mississippi team to winning the Conference USA championship by defeating then - No . 6 ranked and then - undefeated , Houston Cougars , two weeks after losing to UAB . North Carolina . 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 . ' 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 . " 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 took over a program that had just been slapped with probation for numerous recruiting and academic violations — only the second major NCAA infactions case in the history of UNC ' s entire athletic program . He took the job at UNC knowing that he would not be able to go to a bowl in his first year . Fedora led the Golden Eagles in the Hawaii Bowl , officially beginning his duties at UNC on January 1 . His first season at UNC saw the Tar Heels finish with their first winning record in ACC play since 2004 . Notably , they notched their first win over North Carolina State since 2006 . Had it not been for the probation , they would have represented the Coastal Division in the ACC Championship Game ; they finished tied atop the division with Miami and Georgia Tech , but would have won the three - way tie - breaker due to their victory over fourth - place Virginia Tech . 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 . At halftime of North Carolina ’ s basketball game against Maryland on January 19 , 2013 , Fedora proclaimed UNC as the ACC ’ s Coastal Division champions . The Tar Heels did earn at least a share of first place in the Coastal by tying Miami and Georgia Tech with a 5 - 3 league record . They would also have won a three - way tiebreaker to determine the divisional representative to the ACC title game if they weren ’ t being sanctioned by the NCAA for violations committed under the watch of former coach Butch Davis . Internet message boards and social media sites lit up with snarky comments over Fedora ’ s declaration .