Once again, how lucky for Carolina that Mack Brown came back.

Despite the tough luck and bad pub UNC has had over the last 20 years, three factors have kept Tar Heel athletics among the best in the nation.

One is that this is such a great place to go to school that thousands of students still want to come here and, in turn, our Olympic sports programs have continued to kick butt with ACC and national championships.

Two, what shape would Carolina Basketball be in if Roy Williams had said no a second time back in 2003? Three NCAA titles… well, you get my point.

And, three, if you know of the apathy that deadened UNC football for the prior two seasons, there is no coach on the planet who could have triggered the success and excitement Mack Brown has in his first season back that still has one very big game left for a 5-6 team.

Having watched Brown since his first stay here, I am amazed that what he said upon taking the job again last December at 67 years old is absolutely true. Mack assured everyone that, despite being off the sideline for five years, he was a better coach than he has ever been.

Is that not uber-evident now? Hiring a great staff and hitting the recruiting trail right away, he flipped players from other schools, started signing studs from in-state and out, then coached a thin team up to be competitive every single week. And he doesn’t miss a thing.

Take Saturday, for example. Yes, he could have bitched that so few of a sold-out stadium showed up in cold and rainy weather. But he never mentioned it after letting those brave souls who stayed to the end of a 56-7 slaughter of undermanned Mercer onto the field to celebrate with the team.

Not only will his players remember that day forever, how about those fans and children who got the invitation they will never forget?

With the Tar Heels leading 49-0 at the half, Brown played everyone in uniform and eligible in the second half to not only give them a chance to see meaningful minutes, and keep his regulars healthy for Saturday night at N.C. State, but also to be gracious to his overwhelmed opponent.

And he heaped credit where credit was due – on his coaching staff and his kids, beginning with the sensational and steady freshman Sam Howell, the first high school star Mack visited. And it is No. 7 who has kept Carolina in the game every week of this comeback season.

So the good outweighs the bad… and will keep getting better.

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