Ballistic Brown Draws Rare Flag

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CHAPEL HILL – Mack Brown went ballistic Saturday afternoon.

Perhaps a culmination of his team’s inability to handle Notre Dame on either side of the ball at the line of scrimmage, and now four games of surprising problems defensively fueled his tirade.

But with 10:28 remaining in the third quarter of North Carolina’s 45-32 loss to the Fighting Irish at Kenan stadium, Notre Dame faced a fourth-and-goal at UNC’s 3-yard-line and was going for it.

Running back Chris Tyree crossed over the middle – right-to-left – and was targeted by quarterback Drew Pyne. In coverage was junior UNC linebacker Cedric Gray. The pass missed, but yellow flags quickly flew into the air. Pass interference on Gray.

Brown watched the replay on the video board above the Blue Zone, and as soon as he saw it, the Hall of Fame coach erupted giving the officials an earful complete with gyrations that got the Carolina fans roaring with approval.

It also drew Brown an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

“I think he got mad because I was out on the field,” Brown replied after the game, when asked what he said to get the flag. “I told him in my experience 34 years guys come over and say, coach, I know you are upset, lets walk over here and let’s talk about it, and they manage it. He had a quick release.”

It actually cost the Tar Heels just one yard, and on the next play the Irish scored to take a 38-14 lead. The game wasn’t over, but it was a fairly pivotal play, especially given UNC’s offensive firepower and the potential it can explode for points in bunches.

Brown didn’t back away from disagreeing with the call after the game.

“We really want to win,” he said. “We want a fair chance to win, and we want to compete as hard as we can, and we want to make each other accountable. If I feel like something has been taken away from the kids on a play, it's my responsibility to stand up for them. That is simply what I'm doing.”

And from the sounds of it, Brown will do it again. He is frustrated, his team was struggling, and there wasn’t any way Carolina’s coach would back off on this.

“If somebody wants to throw a flag at me for questioning a call, good for them,” Brown said.

He couldn’t recall getting such penalty previously in his career. And he didn’t appear the least bit concerned he now has that on his immense resume.

Brown wanted to make a point to the refs, and did just that.