As if tomorrow’s game didn’t carry enough emotions for the Tar Heels, with Senior Day and a rivalry matchup with NC State coinciding once again, Tuesday’s news of Mack Brown’s imminent exit from Chapel Hill poured gas on that flame.
Brown’s trouble beating the Wolfpack in recent years is no doubt one of the reasons athletic director Bubba Cunningham made the move. NC State has beaten UNC three straight times, including a 19-point shellacking in Raleigh last season which wasn’t even that close.
This year’s Wolfpack has had its struggles, with freshman quarterback C.J. Bailey stepping in after starter Grayson McCall’s exit due to injury. NC State, like Boston College last week, will need a win against Carolina to clinch bowl eligibility.
UNC’s four-year senior class, which includes standouts like receiver J.J. Jones and linebacker Power Echols, has never beaten NC State. Brown, during the last five years of his first stint in Chapel Hill and the first two years of his second, beat the Wolfpack in seven straight meetings.
Now, Brown and his senior class will run out of the Kenan Stadium tunnel for the final time tomorrow afternoon. Though Tuesday’s press release did not say when Cunningham broke the news to the head coach, one can read between the lines of Brown’s weekly radio show, hosted at Top of the Hill on Franklin Street on Monday night.
When asked about the meaning of the NC State game, Brown had this to say:
“This is really important for us to pull it all together and come back and have a great effort on Saturday. I want everybody to show up and be great for these seniors. The last time you play in Kenan Stadium, as much energy and time and blood you’ve put in that stadium, it’s really emotional. So we want these seniors to leave with a win.”
Whether Brown knew his fate on Monday night is up to speculation. But the Hall of Famer has certainly devoted his energy and time – and perhaps blood as well – to Kenan Stadium, with improvements on the football field matched by upgraded facilities and amenities around it, funded by Brown’s efforts. The man literally shaped the modern image of Carolina football.
So what seemed to be simply a ho-hum edition of the UNC-NC State series suddenly has been injected with life. The Tar Heels are playing for pride, but also to give the modern architect of their program the swan song he has earned.
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