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1998-2008
This season marks the 10th anniversary of Mack Brown coaching at Texas. The Texan takes a look back at the highlights of his past 10 years here.
Pre-1998
Before Mack Brown took over at Texas, the Longhorns were coming off a 4-7 season that led to John Mackovic's dismissal. The season came after Texas' inaugural Big 12 championship in 1996. Longtime Sports Information Director and author Bill Little described the late 80s and early 90s as a "merry-go-round" for Texas football.
"We were searching for the brass ring but couldn't catch it," Little said. "We would get small doses of success but couldn't sustain anything. For the most part, we had fallen off the landscape of the dominant college football teams."
That's when DeLoss Dodds called Brown. Brown had previous head-coaching jobs at Appalachian State and Tulane before landing with North Carolina in 1988, where he coached until 1997. Brown struggled his first two seasons at North Carolina, going 1-10. After that, he reeled off eight straight winning seasons and had back-to-back 10-win seasons in 1996 and 1997.
"We wanted to find the best coach in college football," Dodds said. "We had to recruit Mack to come here, but a lot of that was done by great people such as Darrell K. Royal, which made the job a lot easier."
Brown, the man with a southern accent and an inviting smile, was Dodds' third football coaching hire at Texas. Fans not only called for Mackovic's firing in 1997, but Dodds' also, as evidenced by a sign in a Youtube video that said, "Flush the John and dump DeLoss."
"Of course I felt pressure then," Dodds said. "This is a job where you always feel pressure."
1998: Enter Mack Brown
Brown orchestrated quite a turnaround in 1998, leading the team to a 9-3 record and a victory in the Cotton Bowl. Little called the season a "Cinderella Season." The team played freshman quarterback Major Applewhite, but the big story was Ricky Williams, who won the Heisman that year.
"The biggest thing [Brown] did was bring back Ricky Williams," Dodds said. "Of course he really did a lot that year to build relationships with all of the high school football coaches in the state and the Texas alumni."
Little pointed to the fact that Brown did not sit the returning players in a rebuilding effort, something typical of most new coaches.
"We had some experienced players coming back," Little said. "Mack didn't want to rebuild; he wanted to reload."
Low point
Brown has won at least nine games in every season so far since he's been at Texas. However, Brown went his first six seasons at Texas without going to a BCS bowl game and without winning a conference title. He received criticism for going five seasons without beating Oklahoma from 2000-2004, and critics started calling him "Coach February," a nickname given because of his success recruiting but inability to win the big game. Skeptics pointed to his past failures, trying to beat Florida State while at North Carolina, as a disturbing pattern.
"A lot of people were losing to OU in that time," Little said. "They were very good, and Florida State was the same thing when Mack was at North Carolina. Way too much was made off of that game. It never should have had that big of an impact on his career."
FireMackBrown.com was started during his first six seasons. At the end of the 2003 season, Brown's longtime defensive coordinator Carl Reese resigned under pressure.
Led by Vince Young, Cedric Benson and Derrick Johnson, Texas went to its first ever BCS game in the 2004 season, going 11-1 and beating Michigan in the Rose Bowl. The Web site calling for his firing was shut down afterward.
"That 2004 season and win in the Rose Bowl led to the national championship," Little said. "Once they got over that hump, the road to the national title got a lot easier."
Other low points for Brown include the sudden death of Cole Pittman in February 2001 and various players' arrests before the 2007 season.
"What got him through those hard times was his leadership ability," Dodds said. "Mack does a great job of making his team like a family and building relationships with the players. He does that stuff on a daily basis, and it helps him deal with the players in tough situations."
Dodds said Brown's recovery from knee replacement surgery while coaching after the national championship season was another low point for him.
"It was very tough on him. It may actually be the lowest point for him," Dodds said. "But with the way Mack is, he never let it get the team down."
High point
Texas went undefeated in the 2005 season, starting the season ranked second in the country and ending the season ranked second with a berth in the national championship game.
Despite the loss of star linebacker Johnson and running back Benson from the previous season, the Longhorns thrived on the leadership of Young.
"All of the relationships he built with the players, the high school coaches in the state of Texas and the alumni led up to that 2005 season," Dodds said.
The Longhorns returned to the Rose Bowl to play in the national championship against back-to-back national champion USC, led by two Heisman winners - quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush.
Despite being down in the fourth quarter, Texas came back to win the game, capped off by a Young touchdown on fourth down. Brown won Coach of the Year that year.
The coach who "couldn't win the big game" just won the biggest game of all time.
Dodds said his favorite memory from the national championship is not the game, but Brown's speech afterward.
"Don't let this be the best thing that ever happens in your life," Brown said. "Maybe it'll be the best sports event, but don't let it be the best thing. Make sure you're a better father than this today. Make sure you're a better husband than this today, because this goes away. ... It's a game."
Last season's victory in the Holiday Bowl marked Texas' fourth consecutive bowl victory and the seventh consecutive 10-win season. So far Brown is 103-25 at Texas.
"The more I've gotten to know Mack Brown, the more I think of him as an outstanding coach and person," said Johnnie Johnson, a Texas defensive back who played at Texas from 1976-1979 and recent inductee into the National Football Foundation's College Hall of Fame. "He is an excellent recruiter and coach. He gets players to buy into what he's saying because he's believable, honest, and he builds relationships with them and earns their trust. I apply his techniques in the world of business."
What the future holds
Brown has said he wants to coach as long as possible - as long as he still enjoys it.
"I hope he coaches for another 10 years," Dodds said.
Brown still has some things to prove, like showing he can win a national championship without Vince Young.
"A coach's legacy is based on when he sets the bucket down," Little said. "I still see him winning at least another national championship in the future."
The UT System Board of Regents voted unanimously in 2007 to raise Brown's salary by $300,000. His annual compensation is $2.81 million, and his contract runs through the 2016 season. His contract includes buyout clauses if another school attempts to hire him.
Brown also could be a potential replacement to Dodds as athletic director whenever Dodds decides to retire.
"I hope the next AD will be somebody of his caliber," Dodds said.
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