Mack Brown
Head Coach
Appalachian State (1983)
Tulane (1985-87),
North Carolina (1988-97)
Texas (1998-2013)
- Overall Record of 244-122-1 (66.6%).
- Ranks 10th for most coaching victories in FBS history with 244.
- Led teams to 20 consecutive winning seasons (1990-2009) and 22 bowl games during his 30 seasons as a head coach.
- Guided Tar Heels to a 21-3 record during last two seasons at UNC.
- Led Texas to the 2005 National Championship, two Big 12 titles and 162 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP poll (2000–10).
Eddie Watson always told Mack Brown he had to do something in life he loved, or else he would never make it. That was Grandpa. He was a legendary coach at Putnam County (Tenn.) High. And he told Brown to dream big.
This big? National championship-winning, College Football Hall of Fame-level big? Almost, Brown concedes with a laugh, reflecting on his move to Texas after head coaching stops at Appalachian State, Tulane and North Carolina, where he notched 69 wins in 10 seasons.
"No, but I did want to come to Texas because I thought we could win the national championship here," Brown said. "But I had a blessed life, and I told my grandfather when I decided I want to be a head college football coach that I want to win a national championship and then I either want to go work for TV or I want to go and be an athletic director.
"And in my life those choices have been there for me. He scripted it for me and it's worked out better than I could have ever dreamed."
No kidding. Brown, now an analyst for ESPN, is just the third coach from Texas, North Carolina or Tulane and the second from Appalachian State to be inducted. He could not have reached those heights, however, without a massive North Carolina turnaround job, rebounding from consecutive 1-10 records to post eight straight winning seasons, including three 10-win campaigns and four top-25 finishes.
At Texas, he boasts the highest winning percentage in school history and trails only legendary coach Darrell Royal in number of wins. Brown led the Longhorns to 13 top 25 finishes, bowl berths in all but one season, two Big 12 titles and an appearance in the 2009 national championship game.
And though he may always be remembered for authoring one of the greatest wins in college football history — a stunning Rose Bowl comeback over USC to win the 2005 national title — the quiet moments after the game are what Brown cherishes.
He saw Coach Royal, then 81 years young, re-decorating the equipment truck, replacing the "3" with a taped-up "4" to mark Texas' new national title. He saw USC greats Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush seek him out to congratulate him. He saw famous alums and fans like Matthew McConaughey and Roger Clemens. And then he saw his young players, who had just done the unthinkable, staring back at him and looking for advice. He thanked them all, but he cautioned them to be responsible and not let a bad decision steal the thunder from a memorable night.
"It just hit me that my granddad had always said: 'You don't want to be that high school quarterback that wins the state championship and he's 40 years old and still wearing the letter jacket and he's a deadbeat dad without a job talking about the game,' " Brown recalled. "I thought it was my responsibility to say that at that moment. I'm not sure if it was appropriate at that moment, because the kids looked at me like I was crazy, like I was trying to throw cold water on a fire.
"And now 12 years later so many of them come up and say: 'Coach, we didn't get it that night; we get it now with our children and our wives and our families and our jobs. We get it: That was a wonderful moment, but it's not the best one.' I felt like that that was just probably my grandfather speaking through me."
That effect has not been lost on anyone.
Coach Brown will officially be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame during the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4 in New York City.
