CHAPEL HILL – Mondays during the football season means Mack Brown holds his weekly press conference to go over the previous game while looking ahead to the next opponent.
This time, the prevailing theme in the North Carolina coach’s presser was about himself and comments he made to his team following an embarrassing 70-50 loss to James Madison this past Saturday at Kenan Stadium.
The 70 points are the most ever scored by an opponent in Chapel Hill and tied East Carolina in 2014 for the most points ever scored against the Tar Heels.
After the game, however, Tar Heel Illustrated and Inside Carolina learned about comments Brown made to his team in the locker room. He asked them if he was the right man for the job, and if not would walk away. IC reported Brown actually told the team he was quitting before walking it back.
Below is the full video of Brown’s press conference and full transcript of everything he said about the comments following the game:
Opening Statement
“I first want to address what was said Saturday after the game. I came in here and talked to you all (media) and I was very disappointed in the game, disappointed in me. As you all know, I don’t handle things well after losses. It’s probably the worst times in my life because I’ve got a spoiled life.
“Walking off the field, I was really disappointed because we had a great week of practice. We’re 3-and-0 and I felt really good about the team. And we made entirely too many mistakes during the ball game. So, as I was walking off the field, I thought I’m responsible for all this, it’s on me so I should ask the players about leadership and if they feel good about me moving forward.
“That’s something I shouldn’t do. I shouldn’t put that pressure on those young people at that point. I’m supposed to be a leader; probably the worst thing I’ve ever said in my life. After losses, you all have heard most of them, and that’s just what I do.
“Disappointed in me. I should have waited but the kids were overwhelmingly, ‘No, c’mon coach, let’s go, let’s move forward.’ We’re doing that and (are) excited the future. I love my job. I love these kids. I love this place. And that’s why I hate losing so much. And, didn’t really think that much about it after we did it. Moving forward and looking forward to playing Duke this weekend.
“But I’m supposed to be a role model for these kids, I’m supposed to take the negatives and turn them into positives. You’re supposed to learn from losses. I didn’t do that very well on Saturday night, and I’m supposed to be a mentor for young coaches, and I didn’t do that well either.
“So, disappointed in me, I’ll grow from it and not do it again and can’t wait to get back to work tomorrow.”
Q: You kind of addressed some of the confusion that arose in the postgame locker room, what exactly did you say to the team?
BROWN: “Let’s talk about Duke. What I said was, ‘if you all don’t feel like I’m the leader you need then I’ll go do something else.’ And they said, ‘Nah, man, we’re in, let’s go.’ I’s overwhelming, I wish I hadn’t put them in that spot. That’s all it was.
“And if I was going to quit, I would have come in here (for postgame press conference) and done it. We’re not talking about that anymore, let’s go to Duke.
Q: A question I need to ask you where you said if you would have quit you would have come in and told us, with respect to that, people who were in that locker room, the players and adults, left it was our understanding thinking you had quit. Are you saying they misinterpreted what you said in there?
BROWN: “Yes. (pause) I asked them if they wanted new leadership and they said no. I backed away to think about it, I told them, ‘Let’s go. Let’s go forward. Let’s get ready for Duke’ right afterwards.
Q: What does that say about the leadership of the players that they would stand up for you right away?
BROWN: “They were more mature than I was, that’s what really made me mad. They did what they’re supposed to do. And I’ve got to handle losses better. I promised Sally I’d do it when I came back and that’s something I haven’t done very well. I can’t stand losing, it makes me physically sick. And I feel responsible, and I put all the pressure on myself to have done it better and I didn’t do that. That’s what’s disappointing for me.”
Brown added in a response to the next question, which was more a statement: “I love my job and I want to keep doing it, and I’m glad they want me to keep doing it, too.”
Q: Are you concerned this is something that undermines your position or in the way people perceive the health of the program what happened at night as far as your comments being misconstrued or whatever?
BROWN: “No, we’re in a world of comments and rumors of I’ve heard and he said and we did, and the only thing I want to do is play better. And that’s what we’re got to do.”
Q: Because things came out of the locker room you’re saying were misinterpreted or incorrect, how do you go about fixing it from stuff getting out of the locker room?
BROWN: “I told them I was wrong and won’t do it again.”
Q: No, I’m just saying the interpretation and the reports that came out how do you deal with keeping stuff in the locker room when it’s supposed to stay in the locker room?
BROWN: “Things you used to say in the locker room were sacred. It’s obviously not anymore.”
Q: At a certain point, you can analyze film and come up with game plans and prepare, after a game when they score 70 points on you, how do you get the team better defensively?
BROWN: “The hardest thing about being a coach in general, but a college football coach, is that when you watch your team and you think your plans are good and you have a great week’s practice and they’re so excited about the game, and you’re getting ready for your fourth win in your mind, and you wanted to be 4-0 going into your rival game, and then it just falls apart. And there are no answers.
“That’s what’s so frustrating, and I think that’s what got me after the game. I just, ‘How does that happen?’ I mean, how can you go from watching them on Thursday be excited and throwing and catching and being in the right place, and then you let everybody down. And I’m a person who is who I am but I don’t like letting people down. I let our team down, I let our coaches down, I let our university down. And I hate that. I just hate that I’m the one that did that.”
Q: A question about the UNC punt that was blocked directly leading to a JMU TD, Brown ended up talking about his mood Saturday night.
BROWN: “I told them I need to keep my mouth shut after games and go to a dark place. I usually get away from the team. Some coaches don’t talk to the team after a loss, I have to talk to you all, and that’s not pleasant when I come in here mad at the world and mad at me and mad at everybody, and then I’m supposed to say nice things. So, even at 73, you can learn from some hard lessons.”
Q: Since the JMU game, what has been the substance and tone of your conversations with Bubba (Cunningham) and the chancellor have been like?
BROWN: “I told Bubba I apologized. And the chancellor’s great. I love Lee (Roberts). Lee texted me after the game and said, ‘Sorry about the game, you don’t need to be apologizing to me.’ He’s wonderful…
“I told Bubba I apologized, I shouldn’t have gotten emotional, I was trying to do what was right, I always try to do what’s right. I normally slow down when I get mad because I’m not a good person when I’m mad. I don’t handle things well.
“I don’t say the right stuff when I’m mad, I have a really bad temper, and I have learned that’s why I get by myself and I keep my mouth shut when I’m mad after losses. And in this time, it just grabbed me. It was a mistake. Like I said, I can’t change it.
“What you do is learn from it. I can learn at 73 that I messed up. It’s kind of like nobody in this room has been in that situation, so it’s easy to say, ‘well, that’s stupid.’ Come join me sometime. When you’re so disappointed in yourself and you’ve let so many people down, and you’re a guy who likes to please, that’s wrong.
“I wasn’t walking in there to quit, I was walking in there to say, ‘Hey, we stunk. If this isn’t working, help me, man, I’ll get out of here.’ That’s what my purpose was. It didn’t turn out well.”
Q: What were Bubba’s words back to you?
BROWN: “Bubba’s great. He probably agreed with me. I don’t think he said much, but ‘Hey, we’re good, don’t worry about it.’ All I can do is apologize and move forward. That’s it. Did I handle it right? No. Do I admit I handled it wrong? Yes, 100%.
“Do I wish I hadn’t done it? Yeah, but I did it, so I learned from it, I won’t do it again. I may come in here and say ‘no comment’ to you all from now on. If it’s a loss, ‘no comment, no comment, no comment, no comment, so comment. And if I do, you’ll understand why…
