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Mack Brown’s Hall of Fame coaching career is ending. A look back at his accomplishments

chip alexander
·2 min read

Inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2018 and winner of a national championship at Texas, Mack Brown’s legendary coaching tenure will end after this UNC football season.

The school announced Tuesday that the 73-year-old Brown will not return for the 2025 season, closing the books on his second tenure with the Tar Heels.

It’s an accomplished career, which began as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Florida State, before he landed his first head coaching job at Appalachian State.

Here’s a look at Mack Brown’s career:

Just because UNC had to move on from Mack Brown doesn’t make it any easier

Head coaching record

Overall: 288-154-1

Overall record at UNC: 113-78-1

Record at Texas: 158-48

Record at Tulane: 11-23

Record at Appalachian State: 6-5

Overall bowl record: 14-12.

National championship: 2005, with Texas

Coaching highlights

– At Tulane, takes Green Wave to its fifth bowl in 40 years with an appearance In 1987 Independence Bowl.

-- Dec. 16, 1987, named head coach at North Carolina at age 36, succeeding Dick Crum.

-- Oct. 22, 1988, wins first game at UNC, beating Georgia Tech 20-17 at Kenan Stadium.

UNC football coach Mack Brown on the sidelines during the 1989 season.
UNC football coach Mack Brown on the sidelines during the 1989 season.

– In first tenure at UNC, Brown builds a program from depths of 1-10 finishes in first two seasons to one that was 10-1 in 1997 and ranked No. 6 in the final AP poll. UNC was 10-2 and No. 10 in 1996.

North Carolina coach Mack Brown (left) and Florida State coach Bobby Bowden chat before the 1997 UNC-FSU game in Chapel Hill, when both teams were ranked in the top five.
North Carolina coach Mack Brown (left) and Florida State coach Bobby Bowden chat before the 1997 UNC-FSU game in Chapel Hill, when both teams were ranked in the top five.

– At Texas, had nine straight seasons of 10 or more wins from 2001-2009. Longhorns were 13-0 in winning the national championship in 2005 and finished 13-1, losing to Alabama in the BCS title game, in 2009.

Texas coach Mack Brown flashes the Hook ‘Em Horns” sign as coaches, players and cheerleaders sing the alma mater following their win over Oklahoma.
Texas coach Mack Brown flashes the Hook ‘Em Horns” sign as coaches, players and cheerleaders sing the alma mater following their win over Oklahoma.

-- In 2018, inducted into College Football Hall of Fame.

-- Nov. 27, 2018, begins second stint at UNC, being hired to replace the fired Larry Fedora.

-- Aug. 31., 2019, wins first game of “Mack 2.0” era with 24-20 victory over South Carolina in Charlotte.

– In Brown’s second tenure at UNC, Tar Heels win the ACC’s Coastal Division in 2022 before losing to Clemson in the ACC championship game. UNC also played in the 2020 Orange Bowl.

-- Nov. 2, 2024, Tar Heels give Brown first coaching victory over his alma mater with 35-11 win at Florida State.

UNC coach Mack Brown and his players ham it up for a team photo at the team’s picture day at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill in 1997.
UNC coach Mack Brown and his players ham it up for a team photo at the team’s picture day at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill in 1997.

Brown coaching file

1973-74: student coach, wide receivers, Florida State.

1975-77: wide receivers coach, Southern Mississippi.

1978: wide receivers coach, Memphis State.

1979-81: wide receivers coach, offensive coordinator, Iowa State.

1982: offensive coordinator, LSU.

1983: head coach, Appalachian State.

1984: offensive coordinator, Oklahoma.

1985-87: head coach, athletic director, Tulane.

1988-97: head coach, North Carolina.

1998-2013: head coach, Texas.

2019-24: head coach, North Carolina

North Carolina coach Mack Brown celebrates the Tar Heels’ 59-39 victory over Virginia with the student section on Saturday, September 18, 2021 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina coach Mack Brown celebrates the Tar Heels’ 59-39 victory over Virginia with the student section on Saturday, September 18, 2021 at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.