Mack Brown, whose charismatic style and disciplined approach propelled the University of North Carolina to the Top Five and the University of Texas to the 2005 BCS National Championship, began his second stint as head coach in Chapel Hill on Nov. 27, 2018.
A 45-year veteran of collegiate coaching, Brown has served as a head coach for 34 seasons with stops at Texas (1998-2013), North Carolina (1988-97, 2019-22), Tulane (1985-87), and Appalachian State (1983). Over his 34 seasons, Brown has posted a record of 274-144-1 (.655). Those 274 career victories rank eighth on the FBS all-time list and are the second most among active coaches. The 2005 Paul W. “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year and the 2008 Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year, Brown is one of a handful of coaches in college football history to lead two separate programs to Top-Five national finishes.
During Brown’s fourth season in his return to Chapel Hill, UNC won nine games, was the ACC Coastal Division Champions, and qualified for the Holiday Bowl, the Tar Heels fourth consecutive bowl trip. Carolina won nine games for just the second time since Brown’s first stint in Chapel Hill with 2015 being the other occurrence. It was UNC’s sixth nine-win season since 1982 with Brown-led teams accounting for five of them. Carolina also produced a major turnaround on the road. The Heels went 6-0 in true road games for the first time in school history. UNC and TCU were the only schools across the country with six road wins. The six consecutive road wins are currently tied for the second longest active streak in the nation. The Heels produced two All-Americans in WR Josh Downs and LB Cedric Gray to go along with 11 All-ACC honors. QB Drake Maye claimed numerous conference honors including ACC Player of the Year and went on to be named National Freshman of the Year by both the Maxwell Award and the FWAA. Brown mentored four NFL Draft Picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, bringing UNC’s total to 11 during his second stint, which is the most of any ACC school. UNC continued to recruit at a high level, producing another Top-25 signing class, while supplementing that with a strong group of nine transfers.
