ACC Head Coach Takes Direct Shot At Mike Elko For Accepting Texas A&M Job

While addressing the media during the ACC Football Kickoff event, North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown did not hold back about teams negatively recruiting against him, particularly that of former Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Elko.

Because of Brown's age, Elko allegedly told prospective recruits that Brown would leave North Carolina. However, Elko left for Texas A&M following the 2023 season, while Brown is still at UNC coaching at 72 years old.

“Coach Elko said, ‘I’ll be at Duke longer than Mack will be at Carolina,’” Brown recalled. “I called him when he went out to A&M and said, ‘OK, you lied.’ He said, ‘Well, I didn’t think I was gonna [leave].’ I said ‘Yea, I got it. I hear all that.'”

Brown is heading into his sixth season back at North Carolina after coaching the Tar Heels from 1988-97. The veteran coach turns 73 next month but said he’s not ready to stop coaching yet.

The Tar Heels are coming off of an 8-5 performance in 2023 but enter this fall with a new signal-caller following Drake Maye's departure from the NFL.

“Every time you lose, everybody wants you to quit. … But as long as I’m being effective and having fun and love this stuff, I wanna keep doing it. Because probably the next time that I quit will be the last time I’ll coach. Because I doubt if I’ll do it again,” Brown said.

“Right now, every recruit that comes in, the first thing he wants to know is 'Are you going to quit?' Because every coach that recruits against us says I’m going to quit, and six of them have been fired that said that already. They need to worry more about themselves.”

Brown mentioned that he knows he will eventually have to step away from football. However, at the moment, he is healthy, energized, and determined to bring the Tar Heels a championship.

“I’m lucky, I’m healthy. I’ve got lots of energy. I’m having so much fun. And how many people get to change kids’ lives every day of their life? I mean, it’s just amazing,” Brown said.

“The only problem is when you don’t have energy. If you can’t hang in there with the energy, then you shouldn’t be coaching at my age. But if you’ve got the experience, and you’re passionate about it, and you love it, and you’ve still got the energy, I think it’s a cool thing.”

North Carolina opens the 2024 season against Minnesota on Aug. 29 in Minneapolis. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

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