Mack Brown Resigns As Texas Longhorns Head Coach
Mack Brown has resigned as head football coach of the University of Texas after 16 years.
The December 30 Alamo Bowl game against Oregon will be his final game for the Longhorns. This decision — which reportedly will be made official at a 2 pm Sunday press conference — ends weeks of speculation of who would run the program moving forward. Rumors were running wild that Nick Saban would leave Alabama to take over the Texas job, but Saban signed a contract extension last night to stay in Tuscaloosa.
Brown’s win-loss record at Texas is 158-47, including a win in the BCS National Championship Game at the 2006 Rose Bowl, “but it’s his record of 30-20 in the last four seasons — including a record of 18-17 in the Big 12 — that did him in at the end.”
In a statement about his resignation, Mack Brown. 62, said, in part, that “I love The University of Texas, all of its supporters, the great fans and everyone that played and coached here. I can’t thank DeLoss Dodds enough for bringing our family here, and Bill Powers and the administration for supporting us at a place where I have made lifelong friendships. It is the best coaching job and the premier football program in America. I sincerely want it to get back to the top and that’s why I am stepping down after the bowl game. I hope with some new energy, we can get this thing rolling again.”
Of Mack Brown’s decision to step down, Athletic Director Steve Patterson noted that “He’s been a tremendous coach, mentor, leader and ambassador for our university and our student-athletes. He is truly a college football legend. I’ve had a number of talks with him recently, and he has always said he wanted what was best for The University of Texas.”
In these high-profile affairs, it’s difficult to know if behind the scenes an incumbent voluntarily made a decision to quit or was pushed out. Brown earlier seemed to suggest he wanted to coach the team another year. Presumably the school will begin the search for a new head football coach immediately, assuming the Longhorns don’t have someone already waiting in the wings to replace Mack Brown.
