Gene Chizik left Chapel Hill in early February 2017 with a heady curriculum vitae of accomplishments in the world of coaching football. He was unbeaten with Auburn as defensive coordinator in 2004 and unbeaten with Texas the next year. He had two national title rings—from Texas in 2005 as an assistant to head coach Mack Brown and from Auburn in 2010 as head coach himself. He had stabilized the floundering defense at Carolina in 2015-16 and even picked up another championship ring—that from the Tar Heels' 2015 ACC Coastal Division title team.