Brendan Maloney: US Presswire
The Texas Longhorns have had a couple of rough seasons. Three years ago, they played in the BCS National Championship game, but in the two-and-a-half years since, things have not gone well for the Horns. This season, though they are 6-2, fans are not happy, primarily because one of the losses came in the form of the second-consecutive humiliating blow-out to the Oklahoma Sooners, and if you are Texas, that is completely unacceptable.
Though the team looked solid at the beginning of the season and appeared to be returning to Texas standards, the team now seems to be regressing. Many are wondering if it’s time for a change of direction.
As a result, fans are asking themselves the burning question: Will head-coach Mack Brown be back in Austin next season?
There is no doubt that when Mack leaves, he will be fondly remembered as the man who awakened the sleeping giant, guiding the Horns back to the top of the college football rankings, with 3 BCS wins, including a National Championship title in 2005, their first in 3 decades. In his tenure, Texas has had nine consecutive 10-win seasons and held the record for the most college football wins from 2000-2010.
But now things seem to have reached a plateau and rumors are heating up around the 40 Acres that Mack Brown very well may not be back next season.
It’s slowly starting to come out that Mack appeared to be set to retire a few years ago, back when Will Muschamp was named the Longhorns’ head-coach-in-waiting; instead, Brown decided to give it a few more years.
But if you’ve watched Mack this year at all this year, he doesn’t seem to be having fun anymore.
He has publicly commented on how the Longhorn Network is like having “two full-time jobs” and hasn’t really tried to hide his frustration with both responsibilities.
In my opinion, if Mack isn’t coaching the Longhorns next year, it will be his decision. I think he’s done too much for the program deserve anything less, and I don’t think those who hold the power would have it any other way.
Since Mack first spoke of retiring a few years ago, many thought he would take over as UT’s athletic director for DeLoss Dodds, who is not far away from retirement himself, but that talk has since cooled a bit.
Others have wondered recently if Mack would take over as the Longhorn Network football liaison, because after all, there is no better man to represent the program. Additionally, it would free up the next head-coach to focus on, well, coaching.
Who knows? To this point, it’s all conjecture.
Perhaps he’s just ready to go live his life away from football and away from college athletics. He’s earned it.
Either way, he deserves a graceful exit, and if many of the rumors swirling around Austin are true, that could happen sooner than we think.
