Larry Fedora’s New Hat: UNC Announces Hire Of Next Head Coach

North Carolina ended the Butch Davis and Co. era last night with a 41-24 loss to Missouri that wasn’t that close. The program now turns to recruiting under new coach Larry Fedora, who came to Chapel Hill by way of a Conference USA title at Southern Miss.

It won’t be that difficult for Fedora to be a better coach than Butch Davis. But it will be almost impossible for Fedora to be a better talent evaluator than Davis. Quite simply, Davis is regarded as the top talent evaluator in the game. And I’m not talking about finding a kid with no offers and turning him into a starter. No, I’m talking about “finding” a three-star player and having the vision to see him becoming an All-American at another position.

Interesting note: Fedora will still coach Southern Miss in the Hawaii Bowl. Practice and prep for that game will take away from recruiting time, but have you ever tried to deny a man a trip to Hawaii? You haven’t and shouldn’t.

A little UNC reaction via Carolina March, from earlier in the week:

Fedora reached an agreement in principle with the Tar Heels to be next head coach, according to a tweet from the always excellent Bruce Feldman. Feldman reports that his source told him the deal was agreed to early Wednesday morning, meaning an announcement could be on its way shortly.

The Tar Heels job isn’t an exceptional one, but as SB Nation’s Bill Connelly notes, it’s probably a step up from the head job at Southern Miss.

Larry Fedora is expected to accept the head coaching job at North Carolina, according to multiple reports, including CBSSports.com, which lists a host of confirmations.

Fedora is the head coach at Southern Miss, which he led to an 11-2 campaign this season, capped by a surprise win in the Conference USA championship game against previously undefeated Houston.

Malzahn is as highly regarded as assistants come despite a 2011 downturn at Auburn. Some have noted his offense slowed down a tad this year, which suggested he might be losing control of his own side of the ball.

The UNC job offers all the resources it chooses to offer -- ommmmmm -- as the school has the money and prestige to compete in football. New athletic director Bubba Cunningham is looking to make a splash. Cunningham and Malzahn have ties already, having worked together at Tulsa before hitting the Southeast.

Withers has led the Tar Heels to a 7-5 record on the season. He replaced Butch Davis, who was fired on July 27.

Withers previously said he’s had a lot of fun coaching the team through the remainder of the season.

The latest piece of evidence, though, could only possibly come from the Auburn side of the equation. From AL.com’s Evan Woodbery:

The Twitter activity tab is the 2k11 private plane tracker, apparently. The DEAD GIVEAWAYS have either been removed or buried beneath all sorts of varied accounts on her follower list. She’s not newly followed by very many Heels fans though, which, you know, it’s basketball season.