College Football: 25 greatest head coaches of the 21st century
By Dakota Cox
Best college football coaches of 21st century: 6. Mack Brown
- Appalachian State Mountaineers (1983)
- Tulane Green Wave (1985-87)
- North Carolina Tar Heels (1988-97, 2019-Present)
- Texas Longhorns (1998-13)
No matter what happens at his new location, Mack Brown will always be remembered for what he did as the head coach of Texas. It fell apart towards the end of his Longhorns tenure, but they surely had their fair share of high moments.
By far, Brown’s best moment with Texas was when he led the Longhorns to a victory over USC in the Rose Bowl. Many believe that USC was one of the best teams in history, and Vince Young led Texas to victory. In that season, Mack Brown coached extremely well. The talent helped, but that team doesn’t make it to the Rose Bowl without Brown.
Shortly after that 2005 NCAA season, the Longhorns had another chance to win a ring under Brown. They failed to beat Alabama in Nick Saban’s first championship game with the Crimson Tide in 2009. However, this was still a great season for Texas. Many believe that they would have won that game if Colt McCoy didn’t go down with an injury in the first half.
The end of his Texas tenure wasn’t the best, but there were plenty of good years before then. Before the four rough seasons to end it, Brown led Texas to nine straight seasons with 10 or more wins. He carried Texas to one of their best times in history.
After a few years of retirement, Brown has decided to return to the coaching world at North Carolina. In my eyes, anything he does there will be a bonus. His legacy is already cemented. This will just add wins to his record.
As far as most fans are concerned, Brown will always be known as a Texas coach. He has brought UNC back to relevancy, but this is not what he will be known for when he retires for good.