CHAPEL HILL —  North Carolina is turning to former Georgia Tech and Temple head coach Geoff Collins to improve its defense. The Tar Heels announced Friday that Collins would be the new defensive coordinator, replacing Gene Chizik after his two-year stint. Collins has spent 11 seasons as a defensive coordinator at the college level with stops at Florida, Mississippi State, FIU and Western Carolina. Collins was fired in his fourth season at Georgia Tech in 2022. He had previously spent two years leading the Owls. UNC is looking for defensive improvement after fading badly in the second half of last season.

North Carolina is turning to former Georgia Tech and Temple head coach Geoff Collins to improve its defense.

The Tar Heels announced Friday that Collins would be the new defensive coordinator, replacing Gene Chizik after his two-year stint. Collins has spent 11 seasons as a defensive coordinator at the college level, with stops at Florida, Mississippi State, FIU and Western Carolina.

In a statement, head coach Mack Brown called Collins a “brilliant defensive mind.”

Collins was fired in his fourth season at Georgia Tech in 2022, a stint that included 10 wins while trying to transition the program from 11 years of run-based option football to a pro-style spread offense. Before that, he won 15 games in two seasons with the Owls.

UNC’s defensive unit had a solid start to the season as UNC started 6-0 and reached No. 10 in the AP Top 25. But the Tar Heels faded badly, allowing 30 or more points to every Bowl Subdivision opponent in the second half of the schedule, including a 30-10 loss to West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

UNC’s staff changes announced earlier this week included senior defensive analyst Tim Monachino replacing defensive line coach Tim Cross.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football