Fedora: No Talks About Future Have Occurred

CHAPEL HILL – If Larry Fedora knows what his future is at North Carolina, he’s not showing his hand any and doesn’t plan on it.

The seventh-year UNC coach is laser-focused on preparing for Saturday’s contest against rival N.C. State, which is the last game of the season for the Tar Heels and could be his final game as the program’s leader.

Yes, he’s spoken to Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham, but Fedora said that’s a regular thing between the coach and his boss, who hired him away from Southern Mississippi seven years ago.

“I talk to Bubba every week,” Fedora said Monday during his weekly press conference. “Every week Bubba and I sit down and talk about the game and what went on in the game and everything. It’s no different from every week throughout the entire season.”

Have any of the recent discussions been about Fedora’s future?

“No, we haven’t talked about anything other than the games at hand,” the coach replied.

The Tar Heels are 45-42 overall and 28-27 in Fedora’s tenure at the helm, and over the last two seasons they are 5-17 and have lost 20 of their last 26 games dating back to the tenth game of the 2016 season. UNC has just two wins over Power 5 opponents in the last 26 games, beating Pittsburgh twice, including earlier in the season.

On the flip side, Fedora has led Carolina to two Coastal Division titles – a share of it in 2012 and outright winning it in 2015 leading the Heels to an 11-3 mark. In fact, UNC’s 11-game winning streak that season is the longest in-season win streak in the program’s history.

Prior to the 6-20 stretch that is ongoing, UNC had win 18 of 22 games. But, it’s the last 24 months that has his job security the subject of great debate and speculation his time in Chapel Hill could soon come to an end.

Complicating matters is the extension Fedora received following the 2015 campaign, in which he has four years and $12.2 million remaining. If UNC were to part ways with the 56-year-old coach, it would owe him the entire value of the contract.

But, Fedora isn’t focused on that or anything other than the task at hand. He rejected an opportunity to express what he’s most proud of about what his program has done on the field in his seven years.

“I’ll be honest with you, I’m not looking back at the last seven years,” he said. “I’m really concerned with getting this team ready to play a really good football team. I don’t have time to reminisce right now about what’s going on and what’s happened in the past.

“It’s more about what do we need to do to win this football game this Saturday.”

UNC (2-8, 1-6 AC) host N.C. State (7-3, 4-3) on Saturday at noon.