Texas Forced Out A Good Man

The world of 'what have you done for me lately' has claimed another casualty. Yesterday Mack Brown resigned after 16 seasons as the head coach for the Texas Longhorns. Mack won at least 10 games 9 different times for the Longhorns. He appeared in multiple national championships, winning the 2005 title in what was likely the finest BCS title game. Brown won 158 games at Texas and 244 games overall as a Division 1 coach. Those 158 wins were the 2nd most by a Texas coach behind only the great Darrell Royal. His championship in 2005 was the first for Texas in 36 years. So how could he possibly be forced out?

The answer is that he didn't do enough lately and since his 2009 championship appearance Mack went just 30-20. For the university with the most dollars that just wasn't good enough and now Mack is gone. Never mind, that he turned the season around and put a great product on the field this season. He wasn't contending for the title so it was not good enough. I wonder how things would have been different had Colt McCoy not been injured in that 2009 championship. Perhaps, Texas would have won the title and done better recently. We will never know that, but we do know that Mack Brown will no longer coach the Longhorns. It may end up being a good move on the field, but it will be tough for Texas to replace a guy like Mack Brown.

I have no doubt that Texas can get a guy that may have more on field success than Mack Brown. I can think of three guys right now that would jump at the Texas job and have success on the field. Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel, and Bobby Petrino would all likely win the title at Texas, but is that really worth it? Do we want to sacrifice all Brown has done to bring in a win at all costs coach. Does integrity no longer matter? Does the nation's largest program being clean not matter?

Look, I realize wins and losses matter. I realize Brown's time was probably up. However, I also realize the message it sends to young coaches if a guy like Mack Brown is forced out for a coach with less integrity. Mack Brown ran an unbelievably clean and classy program at UT. Most people rooted for the Longhorns in that 2005 championship because it was Brown's clean program against a very controversial USC program. He beat one of the best teams in history and brought a title back to Austin. The guy could coach and coach a team you could always be proud of. A guy like Urban Meyer can coach too, but when a player flipped fans the bird on national TV, Urban did nothing. The example your team sets means something. I just hope that isn't lost with the end of Brown's tenure. I hope Texas does the right thing and hires a class act. Time to show everyone that the Texas Longhorns really are proud of their team on and off the field. Don't you dare try to take Jimbo though.

Mack you did it with class and I appreciate that. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

-Noland