It’s a Mack Attack: UNC Hires Mack Brown

Photo: www.usposts.net

Turn back the clock UNC fans, Mack Brown has been hired as the new head football coach.  Just a day after Larry Fedora was relieved of his coaching duties, athletic director Bubba Cunningham announced they had found his replacement in the former Carolina football coach.  Brown coached in Chapel Hill from 1988 to 1997, leading the Heels to a 69-46 record.  He then left Carolina for the dream job of coaching the University of Texas, the ultimate football school.  In 16 seasons there he took the Longhorns to 15 bowl games and won a national championship in 2005.

Ok, rapid reactions: As a Carolina fan, I really like the move.  Larry Fedora needed to go and he did.  Carolina needed a replacement and they got a coaching great.  Mack Brown certainly has the resume to impress just about any school.  He’s got a national championship under his belt, which is a big selling point to recruits.  And speaking of recruits, Brown is known to be one of the best recruiters in the country.  With the shape the Carolina football program is in now, I think hiring Brown is a home run.  Carolina is at the point where interest in playing football there is pretty low, as recruits are choosing other in-state schools such as rivals N.C. State and Duke.  Even though many people may feel that Brown is over the hill, he is confident he has one more good coaching run in him.  And if he does, he’s just as good as anybody (well, not counting Nick Saban).

This UNC football program has a lot that needs to be turned around, but there’s nobody better to attempt that than Mack Brown.  He will almost certainly bring in a very good coaching staff with him, and who knows, might attract some very good recruits right away.  I was surprised, however, just how fast they hired him.  I thought they would spend a few weeks with the interview process with several candidates.  But they must have felt confident that Mack was their guy and wanted to lock him up before he found another coaching gig elsewhere.  So while this season was rough, and I mean ROUGH, hopefully Mack Brown can right the ship and make Carolina football exciting again.  Only time will tell if he can.

Garett