AP source: UNC's Koenning won't return next season

By foxsports
Published

North Carolina associate head coach for defense Vic Koenning won't return next season, a person familiar with the situation said Thursday.

The person said in a text message to The Associated Press that Koenning won't coach against Rutgers in the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 26. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school has not announced any coaching changes.

Team spokesman Kevin Best declined to comment by email on Koenning's status.

UNC's 4-2-5 defense struggled all season under Koenning's direction, ranking among the nation's worst by allowing 38.9 points and 495.7 yards per game. That included giving up a school-record 70 points and 789 yards in a September loss at East Carolina, followed by 50 points the next week at Clemson and 50 again two games later at Notre Dame.

The Tar Heels (6-6) have already allowed more points than any team in school history with one game to play.

Head coach Larry Fedora hired Koenning when he first arrived in Chapel Hill before the 2012 season. Koenning had been an assistant coach at Illinois the year before coming to North Carolina, serving as interim coach for the Fight Hunger Bowl after the firing of Ron Zook.

Koenning, who also coached safeties at UNC, had stints at Kansas State, Clemson, Troy and Memphis as an assistant. He was head coach at Wyoming from 2000-02.

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