I hope Mack and Sally Brown, after their strongest supporters and naysayers said goodbye in their own ways, found a quiet moment to have a good cry.
Their 32-year celebrity marriage has been centered around Mack’s Hall of Fame coaching career since they met on a blind date in the middle of the 1992 UNC football season. They were rarely apart after that evening.
Mack welcomed her as a partner and began to form the most famous coaching couple in the country, as they got to know each other and married just before the 1993 season. “Miss Sally” began mothering the players and befriending the moms in recruiting to tell her husband who was coming and who wasn’t and why.
They formed a blended family of his two young girls and her two young boys from first marriages that eventually gave them six grandchildren and hundreds of lifelong friends from the sidelines to the coastlines, the locker rooms to conference rooms. Their home was always open to the inner circle.
Their three decades as a coaching couple could not have ended sadder for them and all who cheered for their teams. Mack became a lightning rod for his endless optimism and talking points that sometimes sparked ridicule for coming up short, as the soft-spoken Sally handled many of their business dealings behind the scenes.
Sally and Mack Brown, date unknown, scanned from a photographic print by Hugh Morton. (Photo via Hugh Morton and UNC Libraries.)
After leaving Chapel Hill for the greener pastures of Texas, they returned to give it one more shot at their hometown school. And as Mack promised more than he ultimately delivered, the love-hate of all high-profile public professionals reared its head.
The heartbreaking 35-30 loss to N.C. State on Saturday followed what was reported to have been contentious weeks over his future at the university he truly loves. Should they stay or should they go, and who was really making the decision about that? The school or the Browns?
And there they were, after UNC announced his firing last Tuesday, hugging and posing for pictures with the seniors as they came out of the home tunnel one by one and took the field with their teammates. They loved their hundreds of players over the years and considered them family, and the atmosphere they created should be the blueprint for college football — but unfortunately it’s not at many schools.
They were gracious and generous with their time and money to the college communities in Chapel Hill and Austin, serving on committees on and off both campuses and developing enough good players and people that 144 of them have been drafted by the NFL to date.
How could a university that does so much the right way botch this up? It could have been a happy and appreciated ending with room for the Browns to stay connected officially or unofficially and maintain a home in Chapel Hill.
“I’m excited about the next chapter of my life,” Brown said after Saturday’s loss to State, the fourth straight over their arch football rival. Maybe he doesn’t know what that chapter is yet, but he has so much to offer the game that has gotten out of hand this decade there will surely be a role for him somewhere.
Supposedly, talks began when Mack offered to retire in front of his team after the devastating 70-50 loss to James Madison following three wins to start the season, then walked it (and talked it) back. It was the beginning of blowing one of the easiest schedules in Carolina history and in the nation this fall.
That initial loss turned into a 3-4 record, followed by three straight wins over teams that finished near the bottom of the ACC. Despite having an off-weekend, Carolina then looked unprepared at Boston College and was badly outplayed. A strong finish could have given Brown his best record (9-4) in his six years back at UNC. But after the lopsided loss to BC, the apparent simmering power struggle erupted when he talked ambiguously about his future.
Maybe the Browns’ closest friends and biggest supporters could gird them if Mack wanted to coach another season. But he made the mistake of saying publicly he was coming back when he meant that was his preference.
Brown works for athletic director Bubba Cunningham — who works for a new chancellor and a Board of Trustees. They wanted Mack to retire gracefully with his legacy intact. He refused and was fired the next day.
Questions loom why the news could not be held until after the State game, when it would have been far less shocking. But it was the lead story for five days while the basketball team lost two of three in Maui, another buzz kill.
The winningest football coach in UNC history with two high-profile tenures of 16 years should not have had to go out this way. Yes, there was a difference of opinion, and the Browns can be very stubborn as a partnership. But Mack’s popularity in the game and around the country will make Carolina the villain.
North Carolina head coach Mack Brown yells at his players to stop fighting with rival North Carolina State players on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (Photo via AP Photo/Chris Seward)
When he bolted for Texas after the 1997 season, a somewhat similar drama went on. The new Kenan Football Center had been completed for the players to dress and train and meet before the coaches moved into the fourth floor. Sally had a successful career as an upscale home developer, and she was furnishing Mack’s new office with the famous fish tank she brought in.
But Cunningham’s predecessor Dick Baddour and the late chancellor Michael Hooker would not give Brown the modest raise he needed to stay. And after they left a top 10 program behind, it plummeted under Carl Torbush and John Bunting followed by the academic/athletic scandal under Butch Davis.
Cunningham’s first hire was Larry Fedora, who had one 11-win season but failed to sustain UNC’s recruiting and won only five games over his last two years before he was fired the morning after another home loss to State. Brown, who had fallen out of favor at Texas after winning the 2005 national championship, was a convenient hire and made the Tar Heels an annual bowl team, but there was never a succession plan for the 67-year-old veteran.
Now 73, his age and the rumor mill cost UNC commitments who would have signed this week, and the transfer portal has not brought in enough players to cover those who were leaving. That won’t help in hiring his successor, when candidates learn of the NIL shortfall and the thin roster left in the program.
“I want to get out of the way and let them hire a great coach,” Brown said at his post-game press conference, smiling and looking relieved.
A sluggish, late-arriving crowd that almost filled Kenan Stadium before a cheap shot by a Wolfpack blocker sidelined star linebacker Kaimon Rucker, the rivals got extra chippy and the fans woke up. It turned into a great game in the second half with Omarion Hampton scoring on two explosive plays and Jacolby Criswell throwing two of his three touchdown passes. But the defense, which needed three coordinators over six seasons, failed again.
After congratulating a few State players and coaches, Brown walked off the field for the last time as Carolina’s head coach, holding Sally under the arm.
Featured image via UNC Athletics Communications.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
UNC is the villain! Mack Brown was treated shamefully, and he deserved better. The winningest football coach in UNC history fired before his last game?! Incredulous.
Mack wanted to wait the end of the season to announce he was stepping down- for the players who he recruited and who had endured an awful trauma with the death of Tyree Craft. Carolina ain’t got no class any longer. The UNC PR machine went into full gear to try and smear Brown. Notre Bubba Tulsa Dame swatted at him.
It’s the most egregious act of infidelity since Dean Smith was burned in effigy. By the way Art, the natives are coming after Hubert Davis next. Just watch.
Nice article.
I am 86 and the class of 1964 grade. I feel bad for coach but with out Roker solidifying the defense, well losses happened.Hope everything turns out well for the Browns.
I’m embarrassed for the way this was handled. I detest the people involved that had so little concern and regard for a man that has led the NC football program to more wins than any other, and done that in the right way, the UNC way.
Coach Brown isn’t perfect. UNC dropped the ball in a big way on this.
Well done Mr. Chansky!
I’m with UNC.