Brown Finalizes Football Coaching Staff

CHAPEL HILL --- North Carolina head football coach Mack Brown completed his coaching staff with the additions of special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Scott Boone and offensive line coach Stacy Searels, the Hall of Fame coach announced this week. Additionally, Robert Gillespie has been retained as the team's running backs coach, and Darrell Moody and Sparky Woods have been hired as senior advisors to the head coach.

Boone, a highly respected defensive coach, has deep ties to the ACC footprint, including 10 seasons as an assistant at William & Mary and seven as the head coach at Randolph-Macon.

Searels, a veteran offensive line coach who worked under Brown at the University of Texas, comes to Chapel Hill after stints at Georgia, Virginia Tech and, most recently, Miami.

Gillespie, who arrived in Chapel Hill last March, mentored a talented running back group that ranked in the top 20 nationally in yards per carry during his first season at UNC in 2018.

Moody, who has spent the better part of two decades as an NFL scout, returns for his third stint at UNC. He previously has been the offensive coordinator at Tulane, North Carolina and Clemson.

Woods, a longtime college football presence in the southeast who was most recently an assistant coach at Richmond, brings more than a decade of head coaching experience (Appalachian State, South Carolina, VMI) to Carolina.

"I could not be more excited about the staff we have assembled to recruit, coach, lead and mentor football champions in Chapel Hill," Brown said. "Scott Boone, Stacy Searels, Sparky Woods and Darrell Moody bring great knowledge and experience as well as tremendous track records of developing young men into outstanding people and football players.

"Scott's history as a head coach, coordinator and position coach make him the perfect selection to lead our special teams and coach our outside linebackers. I've worked with Stacy before and he's one of the best offensive line coaches in the country. Sparky and Darrell will be difference makers for our program and I'm so thankful each of them agreed to embrace these new roles to help our players, our coaches and me make sure we give our team every possible advantage we can find to win in everything we do. Robert has experience playing at the highest level, he did a great job coaching the Carolina running backs last year and has been instrumental in securing our 2019 recruiting class."

Scott Boone - Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers

Boone comes to Chapel Hill after spending the 2018 season as a defensive analyst at Wake Forest. Prior to his stint in Winston-Salem, Boone spent four seasons out west, three as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Nevada and one as the linebackers coach at Arizona.

Before his time at Nevada, Boone enjoyed a successful 10-year tenure at William and Mary, where he was a finalist for the FCS Coordinator of the Year award. He also has head coaching experience at Randolph-Macon College in Virginia, where he spent seven seasons from 1997-2003. A native of Indiana, Boone was a three-sport standout and a Hall of Fame inductee at Wabash (Ind.) College.

Stacy Searels - Offensive Line

A former first-team All-America offensive lineman at Auburn, Searels brings a wealth of coaching experience to Carolina. Searels spent three years with Brown at Texas (2011-13), including one season as the Longhorns' assistant head coach.

After four seasons playing professionally, Searels started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 1992. He tutored the offensive line at Appalachian State (1994-2000), Cincinnati (2001-02), LSU (2003-06) and Georgia (2007-10) before heading to Austin. Searels has spent the last five seasons in the ACC, coaching the offensive line at Virginia Tech (2014-15) and Miami (2016-18).

Robert Gillespie - Running Backs

A four-year letterman at Florida, Gillespie came to Carolina after five seasons at Tennessee. In his first season at UNC, Gillespie helped mentor a rushing attack that averaged 193 yards per game and 5.3 yards per carry. In total, the Tar Heels scored 19 rushing touchdowns, led by five each from junior Antonio Williams and freshman Javonte Williams.

Williams, Williams and sophomore Michael Carter each averaged better than five yards per attempt in 2018, with Carter's 7.1 average good for fifth among ACC running backs. Gillespie has a history of working with outstanding backs, including 2017 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Alvin Kamara at Tennessee, 2008 NFL Draft pick Cory Boyd at South Carolina and future NFL running backs Kendall Hunter and Keith Toston at Oklahoma State.

Darrell Moody - Senior Advisor To The Head Coach

Moody spent 11 seasons on the UNC coaching staff previously, including eight years with Brown from 1988-95. A respected offensive mind, Moody primarily coached running backs in his time at Carolina while also coordinating the team's recruiting efforts.

After a year coaching at Eastern Randolph, the Asheboro, North Carolina, native moved into the NFL scouting world, working for 17 years as a national and regional scout for the San Diego Chargers (2002-09), Buffalo Bills (2010-14) and San Francisco 49ers (2015-18).

Sparky Woods - Senior Advisor To The Head Coach

Woods brings a wealth of coaching experience to Chapel Hill, including 15 seasons as a head coach. After serving as Brown's offensive coordinator at Appalachian State in 1983, Woods ascended to the head job after Brown departed for Oklahoma. Woods spent five more seasons in Boone before five seasons as the head coach at South Carolina from 1989-93.

In addition to seven years as the head coach at VMI (2008-14), Woods has been an assistant at Memphis (1995-96), Virginia (1997-98), Mississippi State (1999-2002), Alabama (2003-06) and Richmond (2015-18). He also spent the 1994 season with the New York Jets.

Full UNC Football Coaching Staff
Mack Brown - Head Coach
Tim Brewster - Assistant Head Coach/Tight Ends
Phil Longo - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Jay Bateman - Co-Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Tommy Thigpen - Co-Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
Scott Boone - Special Teams Coordinator/Outside Linebackers
Dré Bly - Cornerbacks
Tim Cross - Defensive Line
Lonnie Galloway - Wide Receiver
Robert Gillespie - Running Backs
Stacy Searels - Offensive Line
Brian Hess - Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
Darrell Moody - Senior Advisor to the Head Coach
Sparky Woods - Senior Advisor to the Head Coach

Players Mentioned

Michael Carter

Antonio Williams

Javonte Williams

Related Videos