Mack Brown fiercely fights back against retirement rumors, negative recruiting tactics
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Mack Brown brought some passion to his meeting with reporters at ACC Media Days on Thursday.
Brown, 72, has long been the subject of retirement rumors. Brown will turn 73 before Carolina’s first game this fall. He’s the oldest active head coach in FBS by more than 3 years, with 69-year-old Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz as the next closest.
While speaking with reporters in Charlotte, he aggressively addressed the idea that his career may be coming to a close sooner rather than later — and had a pointed message for the coaches who have been using his age as a negative recruiting tool.
“Every coach recruiting against us says I’m going to quit,” Brown said. “And 6 of them have been fired that said that already. So they ought to be worried about themselves.”
Earlier in the day, Brown said that he still feels a “purpose” in his daily work as Carolina’s coach.
“I feel such a purpose, more than any time in my life that I can help with their lives,” Brown said. “That’s pretty powerful as you start looking at it. That’s why I got back into coaching. I feel even more strongly about that.”
For one reason or another, North Carolina’s 2023 and 2024 recruiting classes haven’t be as heralded as most of Brown’s previous classes he’s signed during his second stint in Chapel Hill. Including transfers, Carolina’s 2023 and 2024 classes rank No. 31 and No. 32 nationally, respectively, per 247Sports Composite rankings. Brown signed top-20 classes from 2020-22.
Looking ahead to this coming fall, Carolina is facing an uncertain future following the departure of quarterback Drake Maye to the NFL. The Tar Heels have 3 quarterbacks who are competing for the right to replace him in 2024: Max Johnson, Jacolby Criswell and Conner Harrell.
That uncertainty has not led to high expectations for UNC this season. Carolina’s win total over at FanDuel is just 7.5 and the Tar Heels are 8th amongst ACC teams in conference title odds at +3300.
Carolina will open the 2024 season against Minnesota on Aug. 29.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
