CHAPEL HILL – Tennis great Andre Agassi was once pilloried for saying “image is everything” in a series of Cannon Camera television commercials some 30 years ago because it exalted the importance of looking good over actually being good.
It implied they could easily coexist, but flare came first.
Agassi, naturally, was an outstanding player, but it wasn’t until he dropped the flamboyance and more embraced substance when he finally started winning grand slam titles, later racking them up after losing his long, flowing locks for a more conventional look.
North Carolina Coach Mack Brown’s only hair issue is that it has grayed quite a bit since he roamed the Kenan Stadium sidelines in the 1990s. But he’s also been all about achievement through his distinguished career running college football programs, and like Agassi, Brown knows a thing or two about style, as well.
Not the over-the-top stuff and never at the expense of substance, but Brown understands being the cool place to be will attract a greater number of quality players and serve as a more comfortable home for the Tar Heels already a part of his program.
Family. Cool. Looking good. Respect. Winning. And reward.
Those are the elements to Brown’s program, 12 months in the making and each box already checked.
Each rung was needed, too.
Larry Fedora’s “Fed Spread” offense kept scoreboards busy throughout the ACC, but so did his defenses. The Heels racked up points and set records but lacked substance on the other side of the ball or within the depths of his program. Over time, the Fedora style appeared somewhat forced and proved to lack necessary staying power.
Enter Brown. And enter a more fortified foundation that is very real and a proven success.
His style is partly innate. Those who interact with him are charmed, those who rely on him are satisfied, and those who learn from him are nourished.
And some are simply comfortable with the 68-year-old head man of the Tar Heels, who during his time away from the sidelines added a prong to what worked in the past.
“One of the things that’s really helped us be effective with recruiting, I think, is being on TV for five years and the kids and families saw me,” Brown said last week. “I didn’t go away; I had a presence and it’s really been interesting that they think they know me. I was in their home for those five years.”
Brown was in the broadcast booth at ESPN and ABC after leaving the post at Texas, where he coached a Heisman Trophy winner and won a national title while leading the Longhorns to another title game appearance. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame a year ago because of that success but also what he accomplished at UNC for a decade beginning with his hiring in late 1987.
He led the Tar Heels to three 10-plus win seasons in the era of 11-game schedules and his last two Carolina clubs finished ranked in the top 10.
Brown returned to Chapel Hill a year ago, not for a reunion of storytelling and chewing the fat about the good ole days, but to make new memories. He came back to hammer in a few more nails and finish what he started as a 36-year-old brown-haired young man charging hard up the corporate ladder.
He’s still charging as hard as ever, some who know him say, and that’s why other concerned programs are recruiting against Brown with more gusto than they did when the Heels were churning out 1,000-yard rushers and NFL defensive gems like it was their birthright in the 90s.
“Some major schools are recruiting against us now, saying I’m going to quit and I’m too old,” he said, offering a wry smile no effort could conceal. “And I thought, ‘How cool is that?’ That’s a great compliment that we’ve got somebody recruiting against us in our first year.”
Those efforts certainly haven't worked that well.
The Tar Heels inked 25 prospects last week in the early signing period and have a national ranking of No. 17. The other schools UNC must rise well above before setting its sights on the biggest dogs on the block didn’t come close to faring as well as the grayer, yet wiser man who also out-everythinged them two decades ago.
N.C. State has the No. 50 class, Virginia is No. 55 and Virginia Tech is No. 78. That’s emphatic success for Brown one year into his reclamation project.
Brown has been one of the top recruiters in the nation since before becoming a head coach at Appalachian State in 1983. He has built cultures within programs that appeal to most prospects and their families. His honesty is a generous and fair approach to recruiting and in dealing with players on his current roster.
For Brown, it’s also part of his style, not really a flare but the result of running a program with that mindset results in kids who are at UNC really wanting to be at UNC. Naturally, they have fun, they smile, they’re spirited and on the field this fall they were resilient. Six losses by 24 total points, including by a point to unbeaten defending national Clemson. Nothing by more than a touchdown.
And one of the other hooks is making UNC the cool place to be, a line that has rolled off of Brown’s tongue almost as much as anything related to his offense and defense in the 12-plus months since he said “I do” to athletics director Bubba Cunningham’s courtship.
A big part of that is parlaying his TV persona and recognizability into something that works for the Carolina program. It started with the roster he inherited and continues there and on the trail.
That’s why Brown will jump at any chance to get back in front of the camera, whether it’s to discuss his team or issues surrounding the sport he so dearly loves.
“Any time ESPN wants us on, I’m going to go,” he said. “I did feel like it was important to young coaches that I tell them what I’ve learned now that I didn’t know when I was here at 36.”
His players see it and they dig it.
“I’ve seen him on ESPN - suit and tie,” junior running back Michael Carter said, smiling. “Fresh.”
Record-setting true freshman quarterback Sam Howell bought Brown’s pitch a year ago, flipping his commitment from Florida State in the 11th hour before the early signing day and going with Brown and the Tar Heels. Now, Howell puts in perspective what it means having his head coach on the tube all the time.
“It’s awesome for the program, just more people are finding out about us through Coach Brown,” Howell said. “He’s all over every TV, almost every single day. We’re blessed to have him back here.”
As the 6-6 Tar Heels prepare to take on Temple on Friday in the Military Bowl, UNC and Brown recently agreed to a one-year extension on his contract meaning it’s still five years. That will happen following each season because being at five years shows UNC’s commitment to him, thus squashing other programs’ negative recruiting messages.
But it also means every December a week or two before signing day, UNC will put out a release saying it has extended Brown, telling the football world he’s plenty good enough, spry enough and effective enough to continue running the program for the foreseeable future.
This message and approach gets Brown and UNC style points because it’s directly intertwined with substance. It allows him to send out a loud message combating the junk on the recruiting trail.
“I’m going to coach here as long as I can,” he said. “As long as I’m effective for North Carolina, I will be the football coach.”
Agassi became the whole package once he blended style with substance. Brown has always had both, but this time around at UNC he may have more of each.
At least one year in, it appears that way. And appearances do mean something.
