After a crazy week of speculations and denials, Mack Brown finally did what everyone expected him to do and resigned as the Head Coach of Texas.
While many in Bellmont are saying Mack Brown will be considered one of the greatest coaches in Texas history, the accomplishments that he did attain at least will cause some debate.
2005 National championship
Having that 2005 national championship could be that trump card for the Mack Brown loyalists. Mack Brown and Darrell K Royal are the only two coaches in Longhorns history that have won a national championship.
However, Larry Coker has a national championship as well, should we consider him one of the greatest coaches in Miami history? Should we consider Gene Chizik one of the greatest coaches in Auburn history? Winning a national championship doesn’t guarantee that you will be considered the greatest coach in school history.
158 wins
158 wins is not easy to attain in college football. With 12 games scheduled every season, he averaged over 9 wins a season. Great accomplishment.
However, some of those wins were against overmatched opponents. Mack Brown rarely lost non-conference games and had the talent to beat the Kansas and Iowa States of the Big 12. However, when it came to crucial Big 12 games like Oklahoma and 2008 Texas Tech, he wasn’t up to the task most of the time. So he beat the teams he was suppose to beat and struggled against really good teams with few exceptions (2004 Michigan, 2005 USC, 2008 Ohio State).
2 conference championships
This is one of the things that Mack Brown detractors will consistently point to on Mack Brown. In his 16 years at Texas, he only won the Big 12 twice in 2005 and in 2009. The 2009 one could be considered controversial on how it ended. The Mack Brown loyalists have a strong argument here. Mack Brown was in a division format in the Big 12 where there would only be 1 champion instead of the potential of co-conference champions. So while John Mackovic did win more conference titles in Texas history, he had 2 of them in the round robin format of the Southwest conference.
So what will ultimately be Mack Brown’s Legacy?Â
A convoluted one.
While he did win a national title and won the second most games in Texas history, he didn’t win when in matter most. He couldn’t beat Oklahoma as much as he should of. In fact, he had some of the biggest defeats to Oklahoma in the history of the rivalry. He is the only Texas coach to loss 4 games or more in 4 consecutive seasons. He grew the Texas brand into one of the most recognizable brand in the NCAA. He also made the most money of any collegiate coach while going 30-20 over the last 4 years. He had outstanding recruiting classes year in and year out but misses on Johnny Manziel, Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, and Jameis Winston while starting Case McCoy who had only 3 other BCS schools offer him.
At the end of the day, he will likely get more credit than he is due in some areas and not enough credit in other areas. He will be a lightning rod for the Texas faithful. Time heels most wounds so the view on Mack Brown might become more favorable, but the stats don’t lie. He didn’t accomplish enough to be considered one of the greatest coaches in college football or even Texas football history. He was a great man and ambassador of the Texas Longhorns, but his gameday coaching and on-field accomplishments with the resources he had left much to be desired.
