Before Mack Brown returned to coach the North Carolina Tar Heels, he spent nearly two decades coaching the Texas Longhorns.
The highlight of Brown’s coaching career came at Texas in 2005, when his Vince Young-led Longhorns beat USC in the National Championship. Brown never found the same success after that, though, eventually resigning from Texas in 2013.
While in Austin, Brown also had a few solid defensive units. Texas’ 2011 and 2012 units were led by Manny Diaz, but Brown fired Diaz after the Longhorns’ 40-21 loss to BYU in 2013.
As luck would have it – on Saturday afternoon in Durham, Brown and his UNC players will face a Duke Blue Devils squad led by head coach Manny Diaz.
Since coaching at Texas, Diaz has made stops at Louisiana Tech (2014), Mississippi State (2015), Miami (2016-2021), Penn State (2022 and 2023). Diaz was hired to be Temple’s head coach in 2018, but returned to Miami two weeks later.
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I don’t know how much bad blood Diaz has against Brown, considering it’s been a decade. But with a Duke team exceeding expectations early – and North Carolina coming off its worst loss in over a decade – Saturday is the perfect time for Diaz to enact his revenge.
Does Mack have enough in the tank to help the Tar Heels respond and continue their Victory Bell streak?
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