Getty Image / Grant Halverson
UNC football coach Mack Brown is one of the few true legendary coaches still coaching in college football today. He’s entering his 36th season as a head coach with his first head coaching job back in 1983.
Now in his second stint at UNC, he will be 73 when the Tar Heels open on the road against Minnesota, and he’s the oldest FBS head coach in the country.
When it comes to recruiting, coaches will use every advantage and line of attack against other programs that they can. Coaches have been attacked over their advanced age for a long time. After all, players want to know that the coach they are committing to is the coach they will play for during their career.
And, at 73, it’s reasonable for people to think that Mack Brown will be hanging it up soon. Nick Saban just retired at 72, for instance, and it’s not like he was past his window of competing for national titles.
I’m sure when Mack Brown returned to coach after spending five seasons in the ESPN booth after being dismissed from Texas in 2018 that coaches were telling recruits back then that he wouldn’t be there for long. But, he is entering his sixth year at UNC, and he has a message to the coaches who have used his age against him.
Mack Brown absolutely cooking:
“Every coach recruiting against us says I’m going to quit. And six of them have been fired that said that already. So they ought to be worried about themselves.”
Mack turns 73 two days before UNC’s opener. pic.twitter.com/OGWBbynXZc
— Travon Miles (@TrayABC11) July 25, 2024
I’m not sure if he’s referring to just ACC coaches, but I can think of a few that probably fit who he is talking about. Former Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente, former Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins, and former South Carolina coach Will Muschamp are three coaches that come to mind when thinking about coaches who shared recruiting territory with Mack Brown and have been fired since Mack Brown returned to UNC.
Brown is 38-27 in his second stint at UNC after going 69-46-1 in his first stint from 1988-1997. This year could be a challenge though, as he’s without first-round pick and star quarterback Drake Maye.