University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Mack Is Back
November 28, 2018 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
The first time Bubba Cunningham met Mack Brown was in 1997, back when Cunningham was Notre Dame's associate athletics director for finance and facilities and Brown was in his first stint as North Carolina's football coach.
Cunningham came to Chapel Hill then to view the yet-to-be-completed Kenan Football Center. But he left impressed by much more.
"I met the most positive, enthusiastic coach I've ever met in my life," said Cunningham of Brown. "It left an indelible mark on me in his enthusiasm of what this place meant to him."
Fourteen years later, Cunningham still remembered Brown's passion for UNC. So when the school's athletic director position opened, the first person he contacted was Brown, then in his 14th season as the head coach at Texas. Despite his time away from Chapel Hill, Brown's enthusiasm for the Tar Heels' tradition and history remained the same.
Cunningham ultimately accepted Carolina's athletic director position. A few weeks later, he called Brown again, this time to learn more about the head coach at Southern Miss. On Dec. 9, 2011, Larry Fedora was introduced as UNC's next head football coach.
The Tar Heels experienced some success under Fedora. Sunday morning, though, his tenure ended when Cunningham announced his dismissal after seven years and two trying seasons. About 48 hours later, Cunningham was introducing Brown for the second time as Carolina's head coach, a position that Brown partly accepted because of his history with Cunningham.
Brown's enthusiasm for the University also drew him back.
"We had a relationship with Bubba," said Brown, referencing his wife Sally. "We trust him. That's so important. We were in a position where we didn't have a team, we didn't have a game coming up, we didn't have a bowl game. We didn't have to ask anybody's permission. I've done a whole lot of contracts.
"We're at a point where we didn't have to ask for the world to leave somewhere to go and we wanted to coach. And we wanted to coach here."
Here are five other notes from Brown's introductory press conference:
'A very easy move'
Brown said he interviewed for multiple head coaching jobs after resigning from Texas in 2013. But he left each interview feeling like the situation wasn't the right fit. That subsequently prompted him to ask Sally where she would go.
"She said, 'I'll coach with you, I'll travel with you to three different places,'" Brown recalled. "'I'll go to Hawaii, I'll go to the Bahamas if they start football or I'll go to Chapel Hill.'"
So when Cunningham called Brown about the UNC job, Brown didn't hesitate.
"We didn't know this would come up, and we didn't know it would feel right," he said. "And when it did, I asked Sally because she's put up with a lot with me in coaching. I said, 'What do you think? Do you want to do this?' And she said yes. So we moved very quickly to get here.
"We've got a full plate because we haven't been able to do anything. I just threw a bunch of clothes in a bag and headed this way. Somebody asked me this morning, 'How long are you going to be there?' And I said, 'The rest of my life, I guess. I don't think I'm going back.' So Sally will have to bring me some clothes, or I'll have to buy some here.
"We know this place, and we know you can be successful in football here. Austin and Chapel Hill are where we have more friends than anywhere else in the world. So it was a very easy move for us."
Things to work on
Because the events over the last few days unfolded so quickly, Brown said he hadn't had time to discuss the Carolina position with his kids, let alone start assembling a staff. He said he had a few coaches in mind, though.
Of more immediate importance to Brown on Tuesday was meeting the current players and staff, a task he accomplished later in the afternoon.
"We have to get this group to communicate with us, starting today," Brown said. "And after you learn to communicate with each other, then you can build up some trust and respect. Those are easy words, but they're very difficult to do. And it's something you've got to really work at."
Another early challenge will be recruiting. Brown said he's "further behind in that area than any other right now," and he'll need to catch up soon; college football's early signing period is less than a month away, on Dec. 19.
Recruiting North Carolina's best
In regard to his recruiting strategy, Brown said a strong emphasis will be placed on finding in-state players. That approach served him well in leading the Tar Heels to a 69-46-1 record from 1988-97. The 1997 squad, which went 11-1, featured 65 North Carolinians.
During Tuesday's press conference, Brown gave the crowd an idea of what his pitch will be to in-state players.
"You want to go to school where your parents, your high school coach and your friends can see you play," he said. "You want to go to a school where when you get through, you can get a job in an area where you've been popular and made a name for yourself on the football field.
"If they want to build a life in this state, go to the University of North Carolina, get a degree from one of the best academic institutions in the country, where the faculty is unbelievable. People know it's hard when you get that degree. And go play in front of people and fix a struggling program."
Relating to the players
In earning the current players' trust and respect, Brown said his most recent job as a studio and game analyst for ABC and ESPN, a position he held the last five years, might help him because they already know who he is. He also briefly met them in August, when he attended a practice while in Chapel Hill for a celebration of his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.
His wife will also help him relate to the players.
"Sally is the best thing I've got about being a head coach because she is the powerful person behind the scenes," Brown said. "She'll pull the kids off to the side and I'll find out more from her than I ever find out from them."
"Their way to get to me is through her. And I usually listen."
'I like a challenge'
When Brown left UNC for Texas, he said during his farewell press conference that he felt the need to go help a program that went 4-7 in 1997. He said Tuesday that a similar sentiment influenced his decision to come back to Carolina.
"I love this place, Sally loves this place," Brown said. "It needs to be really, really great in football. Every other sport is great. Football needs to pick it up. …. There's no question that I like a challenge. It energizes you; it keeps you up at night for a positive thing."
The Tar Heels will enter the 2019 season having lost 21 of their last 27 games. To overcome those recent struggles, Brown said limiting penalties and protecting the football will be critical. He also said success will come if "we pull together, we all are heading in the same direction."
"I'm going to tell (the players) to enjoy your holidays, because this is the last time you're going to have them," Brown said. "We're planning on winning next year. For the seniors, you can't say, 'We're going to rebuild. We're going to play all young guys.' We want to win next year.
"We want to win now."
