My UT Vol brother-in-law wanted to know why I think Thigpen should rejoin the UNC staff, and I decided to post my response here.
Every coach aspires to more and wants to move up, both in terms of reaching the major conferences and going from a position coach to a coorodator and possibly head coach. Thigpen most likely wants to be a DC some day, sooner rather than later, with that leading to a head coach job somewhere. If he rejoins Chizik, he will mark himself as Chizik's #2. After they rebuild our awful D, Chizik will move on a head coach job. At that point, Thigpen will be all but assured of being named DC. Either UNC will want him to replace Chizik and maintain continuity, or Chizik will take him to his next HC job.
Every coach aspires to more and wants to move up, both in terms of reaching the major conferences and going from a position coach to a coorodator and possibly head coach. Thigpen most likely wants to be a DC some day, sooner rather than later, with that leading to a head coach job somewhere. If he rejoins Chizik, he will mark himself as Chizik's #2. After they rebuild our awful D, Chizik will move on a head coach job. At that point, Thigpen will be all but assured of being named DC. Either UNC will want him to replace Chizik and maintain continuity, or Chizik will take him to his next HC job.