Mack Brown blasts North Carolina administration for firing him before end of season

A topsy turvy week for fired North Carolina coach Mack Brown ended with some clarification on the back and forth that transpired surrounding his ouster.

Brown wanted to coach through the end of the regular season, feeling that was most fair to his players, and North Carolina wanted to make a change. At the end of the day, the program won out and forced his hand.

“All I wanted to do was wait until the end of the year,” Brown explained. “And they wanted me to retire on Monday, before the (NC) State game. We haven’t beaten State, it was really important for these kids to play well and have a chance to win. I didn’t want to break their hearts on Monday. So I said, ‘No, I won’t do that.’ And then they wanted me to do it on Friday. Well I sure wasn’t going to do it Friday before the game.”

Instead, North Carolina canned Mack Brown, the long-time college football coach.

The Tar Heels lost the matchup with the Wolfpack on Saturday afternoon in a 35-30 contest, adding insult to injury. Brown further broke down who he had spoken to during the week that promulgated the change.

“As far as the he-said, she-said and the, what you’d call the ‘source close to the University,’ for a few of ya, I don’t need any of that,” Brown said. “There were three people that talked about this. And it was me and John Cryer, chairman of the Board of Trustees, and athletics director (Bubba) Cunningham. I never talked to the chancellor, didn’t have one conversation with him.”

Brown revealed, too, that he didn’t even necessarily disagree with the decision to find a new football coach. He just disagreed with the handling of the transition.

In particular, he cited the death of North Carolina player Tylee Craft as a hardship he had to navigate with his players.

“I agree with the administration that we need a change of leadership at the top,” Brown said. “I just wanted it to happen after the season was over. These poor kids have had so much turmoil in their lives and I think the administration’s into finding a football coach, and I’m into saving lives and making sure that they’re healthy, making sure that they’re mentally healthy. And when you have a four-game losing streak, that’s hard for kids. They’re not used to that. Especially here. We haven’t had that happen.

“And then especially with a sick, young guy. So, you’ve got a four-game losing streak and then you lose one of your best friends that you’ve watched die, at 23 years old. So, I wasn’t thinking about me. I wasn’t thinking about my future. I was thinking about what’s best for these young people. And that was what our whole staff did. And I was so proud that they came back and gathered themselves and were able to beat Virginia on the road, which is hard to do here. Then they were able to beat Florida State on the road. Then they were able to beat Wake Forest.”

In any case, North Carolina will proceed now with the search for a new football coach.