The perfect storm lasted less than 24 hours, hopefully longer.
By 10 pm Tuesday, the basketball Tar Heels had ended the most embarrassing three days in N.C. State history by scoring the most points ever against the Wolfpack, which the previous Saturday had scored the fewest points ever in a 47-24 home loss.
Twenty-four hours after that blitzkrieg, the raucous return of Mack Brown concluded with a National Signing Date party for donors and season tickets holders that had to rival anything he had at Texas except maybe for ESPN coverage. Now, with 24 recruits in the fold, the work for the 2019 season begins for the 67-year-old head coach.
That high-energy party in the Blue Zone that Butch Davis built before he crossed too many lines at UNC was one symbol of what a difference 20 years makes since Brown last coached here. He finally moved into the office at Kenan Football Center that he built in 1997.
“You know why Mack can do it here?” asked honored basketball alumnus Lee Shaffer, whose son by the same name was an All-ACC linebacker for the Tar Heels in the early ‘80s. “Because he did it at Texas and knows what it takes.”
What it takes is a great coaching staff under a Hall of Famer that signed a remarkable recruiting class in just two months, including two in-state flips, a quarterback from Florida State and a wide out from Penn State. That staff includes two of Brown’s former players and an assistant who coached tight ends that played a total of 62 seasons in the NFL. And another assistant who says Brown changed his life after coming up from the dirt with a “Let’s get this work” video that went viral from a meeting with their new players.
Brown’s staff is made up of go-getters from winning programs at Army, Texas A&M, Auburn and Ole Miss, plus two fellow “senior” sounding boards and ex-colleagues for the CEO/head coach two years after he became eligible for Medicare. Brown has already made it clear to all pertinent parties that he will only spend time and effort on what will help his program win and raise money for UNC.
“We’re here to win,” echoed one of the assistants after which Brown countered to the crowd, “The staff is confident. You have them for a day. Now we have them every day.”
Keep the storm brewing, coach.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe:
Related Stories
‹

Chansky's Notebook: 'Be The One'Is that Miami game still ringing in your eyes or ears? Due to the ACC Network still being a work in progress, we had several ways to follow Carolina’s classic win over the Hurricanes in Kenan Stadium Saturday night. Best bet, of course, was to be there. The game sold out after the Tar Heels stunned South Carolina […]

Chansky's Notebook: Start With SwaggerStarting a freshman quarterback doesn’t matter for UNC now, does it? When Mack Brown announced freshman Sam Howell would be running the first team offense as the time clock to the opener against South Carolina begins to tick, what does he have to lose? Howell is a true freshman who was playing high school football when redshirt […]

Chansky's Notebook: Rebuilding YesteryearMack Brown must love the song lyrics, “Yesterday’s gone.” For those who wonder what has changed between Mack I and Mack II as the Tar Heels football coach, there is quite a difference. After leaving Carolina with a top ten program in 1997, Brown spent 15 seasons at Texas rebuilding one of the proudest college […]

Chansky's Notebook: A Dear John LetterArt Chansky ruminates on what’s going through Mack Brown’s mind since the 2019 football schedule was released: An open letter from Mack Brown to John Swofford: Dear John, I know you don’t make the ACC football schedules, but as the guy who brought me to Carolina 30 years ago, couldn’t you have used your clout to cut me […]

Chansky's Notebook: Mack's The StoryIf God is a Tar Heel, he will let us play football in the fall. The news about Mack Brown won’t go away, or even subside. His current recruiting class has climbed to 14 in number and No. 3 in the country, and there are almost a dozen uncommitted prospects who are among the best […]

Chansky's Notebook: An Attractive PickIs the Sam Howell news helping Carolina’s bowl prospects? This week, every year, it is always fun to read the bowl predictions by all the news outlets. Literally they change every day for various reasons. One of those reasons may be the continued ascension of Carolina freshman quarterback Sam Howell, who has received the following […]
![]()
Chansky's Notebook: The Time Is RightIt’s high time the Tar Heels took back the rivalry with N.C. State. Recently, Mack Brown recalled the first year his Carolina football team defeated N.C. State. It was 1993 after five straight losses to the Wolfpack of Dick Sheridan. After the game, Brown was informed that one of his assistants had body-slammed a Wolfpack […]

Chansky's Notebook: Keeps Getting BetterOnce 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 […]

Chansky's Notebook: DEE-Fense (Clap, Clap)!It’s the D, not the O, most responsible for Carolina’s fast start. Before the season I asked Lee Pace, who is the best writer of Tar Heel sports around, how he thought Mack Brown’s first team of his second tenure would do. Pace predicted Carolina would be 4-0 going into the Clemson game because a […]

Chansky's Notebook: Digging Deep On MackInside Carolina has the Mack Brown story right on the money. This is a tough week for Mack and Sally Brown. Cedric Benson, an all-star running back and one of the Browns’ favorite players at Texas, was killed in a motorcycle crash. His funeral is Saturday and the Browns will be there to celebrate and […]
›
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines