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Mack Brown Died a Stubborn Fool



Not long ago I was talking with a couple friends of mine about Mack Brown announcing he would retire at the end of the season. One of my friends quoted Harvey Dent saying "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain". To which I replied that Mack died a stubborn fool. Now this might be an extreme statement on my part, and neither of my friends agreed with me, but it got me thinking. Mack’s legacy at Texas will not be defined by him staying longer than he should or the struggles his teams have had over the last fours yet. However, both of these are things I feel have tarnished Mack’s legacy. Even great coaches like Bobby Bowden and Lloyd Carr, both of whom stayed on at schools longer than they should have, are still remembered positively. They had far more years of success than they did years of struggle. Mack is the same way. While he has had some years where his teams came up short or underachieved some of his greatest achievements weren’t on the field but what he did off. Mack has always been more of a recruiting coach or politician, and less of an Xs and Os guy. If you ask around the UT athletic department you’ll be sure to hear endless stories of the way Mack touched the lives of his players and staff. With that being said though I can’t help but think that because of Mack’s stubbornness in some ways he hurt the program more than some will care to admit. I strongly believe that Mack doesn’t want to leave the program at the end of season. He has said on numerous occasions that he feels he can return the program to its glory days. I get the feeling that Mack got his feelings hurt from all the Saban to Texas talk. He didn’t like the fact that it appeared he was already being replaced before he had officially said he was done. So he dug in and resisted change. It is no secret that even with all the cries for coaching changes from the fans Mack has had big guns like Bill Powers, Deloss Dodds, and Joe Jamail backing him. If I were to guess what happened the week of the football banquet it would go something like this. Mack sat down with Powers and new AD Steve Patterson and told them he wasn’t leaving. Powers was on his said and Patterson wasn’t going to fire Mack. Whoever at Bellmont that is in contact with Saban and his agent told Nick that Mack wasn’t leaving and he should go ahead and do whatever he feels is best for him. So Saban went and signed his contract extension, essentially closing the door on him being the next HC in Austin. Shortly after this happened I think some high up people got to Mack and told him to either step down or he will be fired. Now, I have no connections in Austin so this is purely an assumption on my part. It could be entirely false and far fetched, but I truly don’t believe that Mack wants to leave Austin. For this I think Mack died a stubborn fool. There are plenty of other good coaches out there that Texas can hire. Saban is a fantastic coach but no one knows for sure that he was a done deal to Austin and no one knows for sure what he could have achieved in Austin had he been hired. What I do know is that the longer Mack stayed on and the more uncertainty he created the more he hurt the program. Most recruits don’t want to commit to a school if they aren’t sure that the current coach will be there in a years time. Shortly after Mack officially resigned one of the top in state recruits for 2013 announced that he was dropping Texas from his list of possible schools. IMO Mack didn’t want to be told to leave, he wanted to go out on his own terms. At the end of the day though, whether it was his choice or not Mack is gone. He dug in and you could say he fought valiantly but he lost. The past 16 years have for the most part been good for Texas. Mack helped mend a split fanbase and helped Texas get to a level in which it hadn’t been in some time. In due time once everyone has settled down and can look back on this situation with a level head Mack will be remember as a great coach. Until then Mack has left a bitter taste for some, myself included. I hope Texas can win against Oregon, its what Mack deserves.

Be excellent to each other.

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