CHAPEL HILL – When Larry Porter learned Robert Gillespie was leaving North Carolina for Alabama, he sent Mack Brown a text message.

Porter worked for Brown at Texas in 2013, so he already knew the UNC coach quite well, so he had the Hall of Famer’s number. He also knew if he got a response, there was a chance he’d replace Gillespie as the Tar Heels’ running backs coach.

Brown said Thursday he received at least 50 texts from coaches interested in the position, but it was Porter who stood out the most.

“I will always look at someone who can recruit the area first,” Brown said. “That’s really important to me to get the best players in our footprint. I will look at someone who is experienced if I can because if you have experience and you bring passion with it then you got knowledge with that experience.

“And if you bring that energy and passion that’s a great combination. I like somebody with familiarity with this state and this place. Larry has done all of that.”

So, Brown replied to Porter’s text, and not long after they were reunited. And for Porter, he was returning to Chapel Hill, where he coached the backs from 2014-16 under former head coach Larry Fedora.

“For me, it was a very easy decision,” Porter said Thursday. “Carolina is a very special place. For starters, Coach Brown. For me, he’s a great leader, he’s a man’s man, he’s been a mentor and a friend for years.

“So, as you move forward in life, you start to value and cherish different relationships, and my relationship with him is one that I truly cherish and am looking forward to strengthening.”

Porter also noted how strongly he believes in the mission and values set forth by the university. Specifically, it’s “elite” academic, athletic, and social cultures, and that students are surrounded by “people with motivated minds, progressive thinkers, visionaries.”

Porter said all the boxes are checked, and that includes the football stuff, which matters quite a bit, too.

In fact, he was at the Orange Bowl last month and was impressed with was he saw from the Tar Heels despite them losing to Texas A&M.

“I got a chance to look and watch those guys get out there and perform and play that game and really be in position to win deep into the fourth quarter,” he said. “We’re on the cusp of doing something very, very special here at Carolina. I think it’s just a matter of time, and probably a lot sooner than later, of putting ourselves in position to be among the elite in college football.”

Porter was most recently the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Auburn, but he lost his job when Gus Malzahn was fired in the fall.

Auburn’s full recruiting classes during Porter’s time on The Plains were ranked Nos. 12, 12, and 10. That doesn’t count 2017, because that class signed a month after Porter was hired, and this year, as Porter left long before it was filled out.

At UNC, Porter coached the Tar Heels for all three of Elijah Hood’s season, and in 2015, Hood ran for 1,463 yards and 17 touchdowns. A year later, Hood ran the ball 73 fewer times, as he was banged up a bit, and finished with 858 yards and eight scores. In those two seasons combined, Hood ran the ball 363 times for 2,321 yards, which is an average of 6.4 yards per carry.

The Tar Heels lost a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Michael Carter and Javonte Williams, and have very little experience at running back returning. They did bring in Tennessee graduate transfer Ty Chandler to give the room a been-there-done-that guy and needed gravitas. Chandler ran for 2,046 rushing yards averaging 4.9 yards per carry, had 465 receiving yards on 46 receptions and added 780 yards in kickoff returns for the Volunteers.

Porter has already met with each player in his position group as well as spoken to their parents. He’s laying down the foundation of the room’s standard and recognizes he really won’t entirely know what he has until the Tar Heels get through spring practice.

“We won't try to rush it, but there will be a standard that they all will be held accountable for each and every day,” he said.

But that’s the norm in the program. Brown has a way everyone at UNC goes about their work and how the players handle their responsibilities.

This is nothing new to Porter, he’s been through it with Brown, and he also knows the lay of the land at Carolina, too.

To both Brown and Porter, that made this an easy match.