Had to be moved off the mainpage so here it is if anyone wants to check it out:
The rumblings of retirement started in earnest last January when InsideTexas.com brought to light a meeting betweent Texas regents and Jimmy Sexton, agent of Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban. Certain factions within the Texas powerbase were looking to make a coaching change after three years of sub par seasons under storied Head Coach Mack Brown.
In the months that followed, Darrell McPhaul, a co-owner of HornSports.com reported a progression toward Saban. One more season of blowout losses was enough, as McPhaul and the folks at InsideTexas continued to remain steadfast the end was near, and Nick Saban could be coming to town. Though we don't know yet if Saban is coming, we do know this: Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com reports sources tell him Texas head coach Mack Brown will step down after 16 seasons in Austin, allegedly by the end of the week, when the annual football banquet will become a celebration of his career in Austin.
For voluntarily leaving the position, Brown will receive a $2.75 million buyout and step into a "special assistant to the president" position at $500,000 per year through the end of his contract, according to Chip Brown. Mack Brown is under contract through 2020 at a salary of $5.4 million per year.
Brown will finish just behind the legendary Darryl K Royal as second all time in wins at Texas. Since his hire for the 1998 season, Brown is #4 in wins despite the last few years. He won the 2005 National Championship and Big 12 Championships in 2005 and 2009. The height of the Mack Brown era was his 101-16 record from 01-09, and a 69-9 record from 04-09.
After losing the National Championship to Alabama in 2009 when Colt McCoy went down early, Brown and the Longhorns fell to a 5-7 disaster in 2010, one from which the program has still not recovered. Brown made sweeping staff changes but still managed only 8-9 win seasons in 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Brown apparently held on to the end, with his lawyer and prominent booster Joe Jamail making controversial remarks about the UT fan base and saying earlier this week he didnt think UT had a quarterback, a veiled shot at mistake prone QB Case McCoy. There was also an ugly run in with Pete Thamel of Sports Illustrated at a banquet in New York.
For my part, I encourage you to try and let go of the last few years, and remember Coach Brown as the man who came here in 1998 and turned around the fortunes of the Longhorns so we now expect and demand excellence where we had not for so long.
Thank You Coach Brown, and Hook Em.
