Chapel Hill, NC - The North Carolina Tar Heels addressed their defense on Monday, hiring Gene Chizik as the team's defensive coordinator.

Chizik most recently was the head coach at Auburn where he led the Tigers to the 2011 BCS national title. He was fired, however, in 2012 after a 3-9 season and has since worked as an analyst for ESPN.

"I'm thrilled to join Coach Fedora's staff and I appreciate the trust he and athletic director Bubba Cunningham have in me," said Chizik. "It is a tremendous opportunity to coach at one of the most prestigious Universities in the country and live in Chapel Hill. I'm committed to the student-athlete experience they expect at Carolina, and look forward to developing our players into the best they can be in all areas of their lives."

Chizik is familiar to the defensive side of the ball, serving as the Texas Longhorns' coordinator when they captured the 2005 national championship following a stint leading Auburn's defense.

North Carolina allowed an average of 497.8 yards per game and ranked 117th nationally in total defense this past season. Vic Koenning was in charge of the Tar Heels' defense the previous three seasons before taking the defensive coordinator position at Troy.

Chizik was head coach at Iowa State from 2007-08. He also coached previously at Clemson, Middle Tennessee State and Central Florida.