72-year-old Mack Brown fires back at rival coaches who are critical of his age

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown offered a sharp rebuke to critics who questioned his age on Thursday.

According to ABC 11's Travon Miles ( h/t On3's Griffin McVeigh ), Brown, who turns 73 in August, revealed rival coaches have used his age against him on the recruiting trail. The 2005 BCS national champion offered a fantastic retort.

"Every coach recruiting against us says I'm going to quit," Brown said. "And six of them have been fired that said that already. So they ought to be worried about themselves."

Brown, who first became a head coach at Tulane in 1985, is in his second stint with the Tar Heels. He previously coached the program from 1988-97 before leaving for Texas (1998-2013). Brown was rehired by North Carolina in 2019 and has been the head coach for the past five years, going 38-27.

His defiant tone suggests he has no plans to hang up his coaching headset anytime soon. Considering Brown's work with quarterbacks Sam Howell and Drake Maye, he shouldn't feel the need to.

Howell finished his three-year collegiate career (2019-21) with the program records for passing yards (10,283) and touchdowns (92) while adding 1,009 rushing yards. Maye, a two-year starter, had 8,018 passing yards, 63 touchdowns and 1,209 rushing yards from 2022-23.

This offseason, Brown added former LSU and Texas A&M quarterback Max Johnson, the son of Super Bowl-winner Brad Johnson, via the transfer portal.

He had his best season in 2021 at LSU when he went 225-of-373 for 2,814 yards, 27 touchdowns and six interceptions.

North Carolina begins its season at Minnesota on Aug. 29.