During the 2024 ACC Football Kickoff in Charlotte, North Carolina head coach Mack Brown discussed the ever-changing college sports landscape.
Needless to say, college football is certainly much different now than it was when Brown – a nearly 50-year veteran of college coaching – began his head coaching career at Appalachian State back in the early 1980s.
“There’s been more changes in my last three years than my first 47,” Brown said in an appearance on ACC Network. “Somebody said today, ‘Why don’t you write a book about your first day at Appalachian and now the way things have changed?’ And I said, ‘Some people have to die first’ – we couldn’t say all the things.”
Of course, college sports have been completely altered by NIL and the transfer portal, and Brown was candid when offering his thoughts on the current state of college football.
Brown says, “We’re dealing with things we’ve never dealt with before,” and “the people that can adjust and make it work are going to be the ones that have the best programs.”
“It’s not ideal for any of us,” he added. “None of us voted for it, but it’s here. Amateurism is gone. We’re the mini-NFL. So now we’ve got to figure out how to handle it.”
Brown has served as a head coach for 35 seasons with stints at Texas, North Carolina, Tulane and App State.
The 2005 Paul W. “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year and the 2008 Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year, Brown is one of three active coaches to win a national championship (Clemson’s Dabo Swinney and Georgia’s Kirby Smart). Brown’s 282 career win rank seventh on the FBS all-time list and are the most among active coaches.
The 72-year-old Brown, who is now entering the sixth season of his second stint at UNC, admitted there was a time during COVID when he was questioning his decision to return as the head coach of the Tar Heels before the 2019 season.
That was until he got a speech from his wife, who helped him see that he was back for the good of his student-athletes, assistant coaches and college football in general.
“I’m sitting there one day and I’m pouting. I said, ‘Sally, I should have stayed in TV. What am I doing? I don’t even have a team. I don’t know if we’re going to play. We can’t practice. This is just ridiculous! I can’t believe we’re doing this.’ And she said, ‘Maybe you’re supposed to come back and help these kids because you’ve coached your whole life. These kids may not get another chance to play, and these seniors may lose their senior year. So maybe that’s what you’re back for? Maybe you’re back to help college football learn how to handle this because athletic departments are going to cut a bunch of sports and there’s not going to be money unless we play college football on TV.’
“And she said, ‘Maybe you’re supposed to help these coaches. You’ve got enough money. Your assistant coaches don’t. What are they going to do if they don’t get to play? Maybe you’re supposed to help the state. There’s a lot of people in the state that can’t eat. They’re losing their jobs.’ I said, ‘I gotcha!’”
–Photo courtesy Nell Redmond/ACC
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