North Carolina and coach Bill Belichick are working toward hiring Bobby Petrino as the program’s next offensive coordinator, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday.

Offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens was fired earlier this month after the Tar Heels ranked 131st nationally in total offense (288.8 yards per game) in 2025.

Petrino, the former head coach at Arkansas, returned to the Razorbacks in 2024, where he served as offensive coordinator for the past two seasons. He took over as interim coach after the program fired Sam Pittman on Sept. 28. He’s also served as head coach at Louisville, Western Kentucky and Missouri State and the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

UNC sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that there are still multiple steps remaining before any potential hire is announced. No announcement is imminent and other candidates remain engaged in the process.

The move back into the top job at Arkansas marked a full-circle turnaround for Petrino, who was fired by the Razorbacks in 2012 for misleading officials about an extramarital affair with an athletic department employee. The Razorbacks went 0-7 under Petrino’s leadership this fall en route to a 2-10 finish, and Arkansas hired Memphis‘ Ryan Silverfield as its head coach on Nov. 30.

The Tar Heels are seeking to revamp their offense following a 4-8 season in 2025. Only five FBS teams finished this past season with fewer yards per game than North Carolina, which also ranked 121st in scoring offense (19.3 PPG) and 124th in rushing (105.3) in Belichick’s debut season at UNC.

Under Kitchens, the former Cleveland Browns head coach, the Tar Heels scored 15 points or fewer in six of their 12 games.

Petrino has built a reputation for turning around struggling offenses throughout his career.

As a head coach, he led Louisville from 2003 to 2006 before one season with the Falcons. At Arkansas, he went 21-5 in the final two seasons before he was fired in December 2012.

Petrino spent the 2023 season as the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M prior to joining Pittman’s staff at Arkansas in 2024. With Petrino calling plays, the Razorbacks improved from 107th to 10th nationally in yards per game (326.5 to 459.5) last year. Despite going winless in its final 10 games in 2025, Arkansas closed the regular season ranked inside the top 25 nationally in both scoring (32.0 PPG), total offense (454.8 YPG) and rushing (191.9 YPG) among FBS programs.

Each of the previous two head coaches Petrino has worked for — Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher and Pittman — have been fired within two seasons. If a deal is finalized, Petrino will arrive at North Carolina ahead of a pivotal season under Belichick, who went 2-6 in ACC play in 2025.

The Tar Heels’ intention to hire Petrino was first reported by On3.

Notre Dame and BYU, the top two at-large teams left out of this year’s College Football Playoff field, have agreed to a home-and-home series beginning next season, which marks a halt in the Fighting Irish’s longtime annual series with rival USC for the foreseeable future.

The 2026 game in Provo, Utah, is filling the final spot on Notre Dame’s schedule, as the other 11 games have been announced. Both Notre Dame and USC have said they want to continue the cherished rivalry, which began in 1926, but USC has expressed concern about the timing of the game, wanting it to be early in the season, when most Power 4 teams play marquee nonconference games.

The USC-Notre Dame game in South Bend, Indiana, typically takes place in October, while the matchup in Los Angeles ends the regular season.

“USC and Notre Dame recognize how special our rivalry is to our fans, our teams, and college football, and our institutions will continue working towards bringing back The Battle for the Jeweled Shillelagh,” Notre Dame and USC said in a joint statement Monday. “The rivalry between our two schools is one of the best in all of sport, and we look forward to meeting again in the future.”

The Fighting Irish finished No. 11 in the final CFP standings despite 10 consecutive double-digit wins to close the season, while BYU finished at No. 12 after an 11-1 regular season and a loss to Texas Tech in the Big 12 championship game. The dates for the 2026 and 2027 game (at Notre Dame) will be announced later.

The teams last met in 2022, as part of a Shamrock Series matchup in Las Vegas, and have played nine times with Notre Dame holding a 7-2 edge in the series.

Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he will take over calling offensive plays in the Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff opener on New Year’s Eve against Miami.

Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, who had called plays this season, is balancing responsibilities, having recently taken the head coaching job at USF.

Day added that Hartline will focus on coaching Ohio State’s receivers in the CFP.

“We wanted to take [playcalling] off of Brian’s plate because he’s got so much going on with what he’s trying to do,” Day said Monday. “Ultimately it will be my decision what calls go into the game.”

As head coach, Day called Ohio State’s offensive plays until last season, when he relinquished those duties to Chip Kelly. After the Buckeyes won the national championship, Kelly left to be the offensive coordinator for the Las Vegas Raiders and Day promoted Hartline from receivers coach.

Under Hartline, the Buckeyes rank 17th nationally in scoring, averaging almost 35 points per game, though they scored only 10 in their Big Ten championship loss to Indiana. The Buckeyes twice drove the ball inside the Indiana 10-yard line in the second half but failed to come up with any points.

Miami knocked off Texas A&M 10-3 on Saturday in the first round to advance to face the second-seeded Buckeyes at the Cotton Bowl.