North Carolina shuts down idea of Mack Brown retiring

Mack Brown is wrapping up his fifth year in a second stint with North Carolina. Things have gone well in Chapel Hill but with Brown’s age, there is always going to be a question about retirement. He has stepped away from the game before and gotten into the media.

While there might be rumors swirling about Brown’s future with the program, they were shut down on Thursday afternoon. North Carolina assistant AD Jeremy Sharpe said Brown will be back for at least the 2024 season.

“It’s that time of year, so someone is going to start this rumor in hopes of affecting our team and/or recruiting like they’ve done past 2 years,” Sharpe said in a statement. “Mack (Brown) is full steam ahead. In fact, he already has spring practice planned & is currently setting up recruiting visits for December, so no, he’s not retiring.”

A report regarding Brown potentially retiring came out on Thursday, saying the talks of a move being made by the North Carolina head coach being “much louder.” Brandon Marcello of 247Sports pointed toward Brown being emotional following Saturday’s win against Duke.

“Industry sources the last two weeks have been telling 247Sports to watch out for a potential retirement from Mack Brown,” Marcello said Thursday. “It feels like we go through this every year, but the chatter is much louder this time around. He was very emotional after the double-overtime win over Duke. Industry sources believe he might step away after his second stint at North Carolina.”

Brown is one of four active college football head coaches with a national championship to his name. He originally left UNC to take the Texas job, where he won the title in 2005. His time in Austin went through the 2013 season where he took a break from coaching for five seasons.

North Carolina opened back up, giving him an opportunity to return. Brown has a record of 38-24 since getting back into coaching and has made an appearance in one ACC Championship game.

This season, North Carolina has an 8-2 record with just two games remaining, giving them the opportunity to have their first 10-win season since 2015. Before then, Brown’s final year in Chapel Hill was the last time the Tar Heels hit double digits in the win department.

While all attention is currently on Saturday’s contest against Clemson, there is now some clarity on Brown’s future coming from inside the program.