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Duke-Carolina is a grudge match for more than the Victory Bell.
The Blue Devils have not beaten Carolina since 2018, the year Larry Fedora was fired and replaced by Mack Brown, who was serving as a football advisor for Bubba Cunningham.
After Fedora finished his last two seasons with a 5-18 record, Cunningham asked Brown if he would return to UNC as head coach.
Mack told him he didn’t want to take anyone’s job.
Cunningham said he had to fire Fedora due to the apathy that had engulfed his program, and Bubba was going to hire a new coach. Under those circumstances, Brown agreed to come back.
It is uncanny that his five-plus years in Chapel Hill mirrors what happened over his last five seasons at Texas. The Longhorns were undefeated playing top-ranked Alabama in the 2009 national championship game but lost quarterback Colt McCoy in the first quarter. Brown had not groomed a back-up for McCoy, and inexperienced Garrett Gilbert could not lead his team to a win over the Crimson Tide that would have been Brown’s second national title.
Brown’s 16-year stay at Texas went downhill after that disappointing loss, and he began replacing assistant coaches. The most publicized firing was of 39-year-old defensive coordinator Manny Diaz after the second game of the 2013 season, following a 40-21 loss at BYU in which the ‘Horns gave up 550 yards.
Brown claims he is still close with Diaz, who was the head coach at Miami when Brown returned to UNC and lost three games to his old boss, including a 62-26 romp at Miami and a 45-42 heartbreaker in Kenan Stadium. Diaz has resurfaced as the new head coach at Duke.
Others at Texas say Brown and Diaz’s “friendship” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. After the 2021 loss at Kenan, “mentor” Brown tried to console Diaz at midfield with a hug and prolonged handshake. Videos show the mad “mentee” trying to break away.
After two years as a defensive coordinator at Penn State, Diaz has Duke off to a 4-0 start with one of the best defenses in the country. And Carolina is counting on a red-shirt junior Jacolby Criswell to repeat at least some of his great throws that were overshadowed by the Tar Heels’ 70-50 loss to James Madison.
Diaz’s Hurricanes faced Sam Howell for three years and was gone before Drake Maye took over at quarterback. Brown has gone on to beat Miami all five times they have played, and Duke has a similar losing streak against the Hall of Famer.
So Manny Diaz has two streaks he would like to break at Wallace Wade Stadium. And this time he may have the defense to do it while Carolina may not have the offense to beat the Blue Devils and their new coach.
Featured image via Associated Press/Ben McKeown
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.
So Mack and his “Hall Of Fame” pedigree is about to face one of many underlings that he has fired (“blamed”) over the years?
Hmmm…So Manny Diaz, Jay Bateman (who is the DC at Texas A&M), former National Championship coach Gene Chizik, and a number of others couldn’t produce under Mack? Interesting!!
I’m starting to think that Mack is a lot like me: You don’t take responsibility yourself until ALL OTHER OPTIONS are exhausted! Manny, Gene, and Jay (at one time according to Mack) are/were among “the best defensive minds in the country.” But they couldn’t win and/or work out for long for “Hall Of Fame” Mack. Thank the Lord he didn’t have to depend on them to get inducted into the HOF. I guess Vince Young accomplished that for him!
By the way, if you don’t like what I’m saying, I’m (kinda) sorry. But Mack’s conference record percentage his past 10 years is a mere 54 percent (and look at the conference teams he beat). Very few worth a darn! But he’s here to stay because he and Sally decided to pick Chapel Hill over living in Hawaii.
But Mack, Hawaii is pretty this time of year (and in the winter, spring, and summer). You could spend some of that 5 mil you knock down every year!