CHAPEL HILL – Sometimes, the truly big picture gets tossed aside or ignored in sports. Keeping score and stats will do that.
Games are played to determine winners, and wins are what fans want and how media judges.
But being a major college football coach to Mack Brown is about a lot more than scoring more points than opponents. It carries more depth than hanging another banner or making room for the next trophy. And it has nothing to do with his ego, or any coach who is in the profession for the right reasons.
“I was sitting and talking with Sally after the spring game and a couple of days later, and we thought about how fortunate we are to be here and coach these young people,” Brown said Tuesday at the Kenan Football Center. “You want a purpose, and you want a purpose in life.”
Brown’s purpose has always been to coach football. It was in his blood from the early days. A ballyhooed three-sport athlete in Cookville, TN, growing up, with athletic brothers and a demanding father, he always pushed himself to excel. But he really wanted to be around football, he wanted to coach, and he wanted to mentor. The latter two truly go hand-in-hand.
Brown believes that is the case now more than any time he can recall in his 47 years in the profession.
“There’s no better time than when you’ve got COVID issues, social justice issues, transfer portal issues, NIL differences, and more mental health problems in the country than ever before,” Brown said, continuing his thoughts about serving a purpose. “And in our world, there’s never been a time when leadership is needed more.”
The issues facing North Carolina’s football players aren’t unlike guys on other teams or college students in general. Really, it is the age group and the challenges and obstacles remain that have always marked that period in life. They will never change, but might at times be tweaked given the nature of society during their still-developing years.
College football players, however, may have more on their plate than at any time before. In the last couple of years, the freedom to make money off of their name, image, and likeness, as well as a stealth, largely guilt-free allowance to simply up and leave a program in the middle of the night without repercussion adds to the pressure on young athletes.
Handling money and making major and sometimes life-altering decisions are hard for seasoned adults, but imagine what it’s like for athletes treading through their short window of opportunity on the athletic fields. Brown’s understanding of these times and compassion for what some of his players are going through are genuinely a front-and-center part of his job. And he has no interest in backing away from it.
“You feel really, really needed for these young people and to sit and help them navigate through all the different things that are going on,” he said. “So, winning’s very important; you can’t get all the things done you need to do unless you win. At the same time, coaches are supposed to mentor young people. That’s what you do, that’s why you got in this business to do.”
Winning is hugely important on Power 5 campuses, given the investment schools are making. UNC has shoveled a considerable amount of money into Brown’s program since he returned late in 2018 to resurrect the struggling Tar Heels, as well as finish something he started and had rolling in the 1990s before leaving for a dream job at Texas.
Losing is largely unacceptable to Brown, he wears it hard. All one needs to do is check out his postgame press conferences after games versus Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, and even UNC’s ugly bowl loss to South Carolina last December. Each loss, including the ones not mentioned, weigh on Brown because he is the consummate competitor.
But he also carries each day a sense of balance that keeps him from tipping over and away from the other elements of his job and life that are also vitally important.
“I read yesterday that more mental health issues and more suicides right now than ever before,” he said. “So, we all have to take care of each other. But one of the real important duties of our staff is to make sure that we’re helping and taking care of our guys and helping them move forward.”
Moving forward includes having the entire college experience, from winning football games, developing as players, getting their degrees, social engagements, and how they view themselves when nobody is watching. The real them that sometimes only they know about.
That’s also Mack Brown’s job, and it is one he and his wife, Sally, have fully embraced.
Mack Brown Tuesday Press Conference
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