MACK BROWN

Age:  57

School:  Texas

Alma Mater:  Florida State, 1974

Conference:  Big 12

Salary:  $2,910,000

Official Bio:   www.mackbrown.com

Years Coaching:  24

Career Record:  189 - 99 - 1  .654

Years at School:  10

Record at Texas:  103 - 25   .805

2007 Record:  10 - 3   .769

2007 Cost per Win:  $275,100

Attorney/Agent:  

Contract: 

December 2008 Buyout:  $4,000,000

Coaches Hot Seat Analysis

A couple of us here at Coaches Hot Seat remember talking about the hiring of Mack Brown by Texas in 1997 and our thought then was that Texas was going to be very tough now that they had a hired a competent head football coach.  After 11 years of David McWilliams and John Mackovic, Texas decided to get serious again about football in '97 and Mack Brown's arrival in Austin has certainly turned the fortunes of the Longhorns.  Of course, all Texas head football coaches will be measured by the standard set by Darrell Royal during his 20 year tenure (1957-1976) in Austin (167-47-5  .763 - 11 Conference and 3 National Championships).  By the "Royal Measure" Mack Brown has certainly done very well, by compiling a 103-25 (.804) record in 10 seasons, but the modern day Big 12 is a lot tougher than the old Southwest Conference, which is one of the main reasons Brown has only one conference title.  The expectations are very high at Texas and if Mack Brown wants to move from a very good to one of the great football coaches of this generation, he needs to win more big games, win more conference titles, and get the Longhorns into the mix for the National Title on a more regular basis.  Just like in the old days, the stumbling block for the Longhorns has been the Oklahoma Sooners, which goes back at least to the close relationship between Darrell Royal and Bud Wilkinson.  Mack Brown only has a 3-6 record against Oklahoma since Bob Stoops arrived in Norman, and getting past the OU game has been the main thing keeping Texas out of the Big 12 Championship Game and having a chance to play for the national title.

Mack Brown turns 57 this August and after signing a new deal last fall that extends his contract thru 2016 at Texas, the next 5 to 10 years will tell the tale if Mack Brown can enter the rarified air of Darrell Royal as one of the best coaches in the history of the game, or if Brown is a very good coach at a very good football school.  Mack Brown has rebuilt the Texas football program and has done a great job of putting Texas right at the top of the game of college football, but Texas fans want more, and Mack Brown understands those expectations as well as anyone possibly can.

One thing we will be watching closely in 2008 is the impact of two new assistant coaches to the Texas staff.  Major Applewhite returns to Austin to help on the offensive side of the ball, but more importantly in our eyes Will Muschamp brings some much needed passion and fire to the Texas defense.  One thing about Mack Brown is that he is not afraid to change up his coaching staff, and Applewhite and Muschamp should have a very positive effect on the Longhorns in the next few years, that is until they these two coaches get head coaching jobs of their own.

Coaches Hot Seat Bottom Line

We predict that Mack Brown and Texas will have a 10-2 record in 2008.  We know that Texas is a big state, but Texas is going to play 10 of its 12 games in the state in 2008, and that is really something when you are a member of the Big 12 conference.  With non-conference games against Florida Atlantic, at UTEP, Arkansas, and Rice, and a Big 12 game against Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas will be around home a lot this season, and that should produce another big year for the Longhorns.  The season starts easy enough with Florida Atlantic and a trip to El Paso to play UTEP, which should be a 2-0 start for Texas.  The third week of the season brings Bobby Petrino's Arkansas team to Austin, and this should be a fascinating match-up and a good gauge to what Petrino will be able to deliver in SEC games later in the season.  Texas has way too much talent to lose to Arkansas at home, but Petrino and the Hogs should keep it respectful.  A win over Arkansas puts the Texas record at 3-0.  Rice travels to Austin in week 4 and this game should be a walk-over, and that means Texas is 4-0.  The Big 12 schedule begins in week 5 with a trip to Boulder to play Colorado.  In 2007 Colorado surprised Oklahoma in Boulder, and Brown's Texas team will be very wary about this game.  In a close game until the 4th quarter, we see Texas getting the win, which takes their record to 5-0.  Up next is the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma in Dallas and this should be one of the best college football games of the year.  Oklahoma will be striking for a run at a national championship in '08 and in a classic UT/OU game, we see the Sooners winning in a close one.  A loss to OU puts the record at 5-1, but they are not out of the Big 12 race, yet.  After a tough loss to OU, Texas won't have the time to sulk around Dallas, with the defending Big 12 North champions, Missouri coming to town.  Missouri will also be shooting for a big year in '08, and Texas will have to play one of their best games of the year to beat the Tigers.  In a close game we give the edge to Texas at home, and a win over Missouri runs the Texas record to 6-1.  In recent years Texas has had trouble with Oklahoma State, but this game against the Cowboys is at home, and that means the Longhorns will get the win.  After 8 games, Texas is 7-1.  After the loss to Oklahoma, every game left the schedule is must win, but if Texas wants to get to a really big postseason game, a win in week 9 on the road against Texas Tech will be a must.  In '07 after Texas beat Texas Tech in Austin, Mike Leach delivered one of the great lines of the year about the officiating in the game, "It's a little like breakfast - you eat ham and eggs," Leach said. "As coaches and players, we're like the ham. You see - the chicken's involved but the pig's committed. We're like the pig, they're like the chicken. They're involved, but everything we have rides on this."  Now if that doesn't make you laugh, nothing will!  No doubt, Leach and Tech will be pointing to the Texas game in '08, and what we see as an all out brawl for second place in the Big 12 South and possibly a very big postseason game, the Red Raiders get the win, which takes the Texas record to 7-2.  After a tough loss to Tech, Mack Brown and his Longhorns will need to get back up quickly as what we believe will be a much improved Baylor team under Art Briles comes to Austin.  Texas should handle the Bears, which takes their record to 8-2.  With two losses already and out of the race for the conference championship, a trip to Lawrence to play Kansas is not exactly what Mack Brown would be wishing for.  Mangino has really turned the Kansas football program and in what we see as a very close and hard fought game, Texas beats the Jayhawks and runs their record to 9-2.  The last game of the year is at home against the Texas A&M Aggies, and we believe the Longhorns will be riled up to avenge the season ending loss to A&M in '07.  A&M should be improved under Mike Sherman, but expecting Sherman to beat Texas in Austin in his first year is a bit much.  After the win over A&M, that leaves the Texas record for '08 at 10-2.

10-2 would be a very good record for Texas this fall, but it would probably mean another year without a Big 12 conference championship.  Since 2000, Bob Stoops has won 5 Big 12 championships, and Mack Brown and Texas have only 1 conference title in that same period.  If indeed another year passes without a Big 12 title for Texas, certainly the Texas fans will start to question why Oklahoma has such an upper hand on the Longhorns.  No doubt, Mack Brown is a very good if not great football coach, but winning championships is the name of this game, and it is time to start adding to that Texas national title of 2005.

2008 Coaches Hot Seat Prediction:        10-2

Will Mack Brown be back for the 2009 season?      YES