There’s no question that Mack Brown returning to Chapel Hill gave the UNC football program a needed boost, particularly after how Larry Fedora’s tenure ended.
Despite Brown leading North Carolina to bowl games in each year since he came back in 2019, Brown’s coaching abilities have repeatedly come into question, particularly this season.
Recently, Brown said he plans to coach past 2024. He also revealed, though, he hasn’t talked with UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham about his future.
“You never talk to your athletic director until the year’s over,” Brown said in his Monday afternoon press conference. “Everybody always does that. My total focus is on NC State. What an awful thing to be talking about me when we just played a bad game and need to beat (NC) State.”
The Tar Heels (6-5, 3-4) ACC are fresh off yet another embarrassing loss, falling 41-21 to Boston College on Saturday in Massachusetts. North Carolina was trailing 41-7 – yes, a 34-point deficit – until freshman running back Davion Gause scored two garbage-time touchdowns.
On Saturday, Nov. 16, the air surrounding Brown was positive once again. He led UNC to its third-straight win, holding off Wake Forest at home by a 31-24 margin, to help UNC clinch bowl eligibility for the sixth-consecutive season.
The Tar Heels started 2024 with three straight wins, then endured four straight losses, including an alarming, 70-50 home defeat against James Madison.
North Carolina started 2022 with a 9-1 record, then 2023 with a 6-0 mark, putting itself in fringe College Football Playoff contention. In each of UNC’s past two seasons, however, late-season collapses had fans questions Mack again.
I really like Mack as a coach, but I can see why fans are frustrated. Mack won a National Championship at Texas, so Tar Heel Nation is expecting a championship-caliber program.
If North Carolina can beat NC State on Saturday, the air surrounding Brown will be positive once again – and that result might influence Cunningham’s decision.
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