Mack Brown on state of college football: ‘A lot of it’s working, the rest is fixable’

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown got his first head coaching job in 1983 at Appalachian State, and since then, there’s no question that the college football landscape has changed drastically right before his eyes.

NIL has allowed student-athletes to get paid in an unprecedented way and the transfer portal gives them flexibility to attend multiple schools throughout their college careers. But when paired together, at large the NIL and the transfer portal represent a double-edged sword with benefits and downsides during their infancy stages.

Brown recently spoke about the duality of college football’s new elements, also opening up how he and the Tar Heels are adapting to the evolution of the sport off the field.

“I’m okay with the transfer portal, I’m okay with guys making money,” Brown said. “The combination of the tampering with NIL and the transfer portal is really really dangerous. Because you shouldn’t be buying people off other people’s teams and that’s what’s happening and that’s the sad part. That’s where it’s not good.”

“I don’t want them just to stay here for money, I don’t want them just to come here for money,” Brown added regarding retaining and recruiting players. “But I also think it’s very unfair of us to ask them to compete and us not try to help them when the rules say we can help them.”

Many leaders, decision-makers, and even outsiders of college football are yearning for rules, regulations, or some type of guard rails to be placed surrounding how NIL has impacted recruiting. Which has been made even more complicated by the transfer portal and all in all has resulted in resulted in antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA and disarray on the recruiting trail.

But while the negatives of college football have been harped on at length, the positives are also undeniable and often under-discussed. As Brown cited a sentiment he heard from a Nike executive regarding the state of college football that stuck with him.

“He said crowds are better, TV ratings are better than they’ve ever been, we’re starting a playoff … There’s so much excitement. Kids are getting paid, some of the kids need some money and they’re being taken care of for the first time in their history. Transfer if you don’t like what’s going on. The setup is better than it’s ever been and I think that’s true and it kind of got me when I thought about it,” Brown admitted.

“But we sit and gripe about the things that we don’t like and aren’t working, but a lot of it’s working and the rest of it’s fixable. And I think that’s the thing that got me when I came back to the players and said yeah, you’re playing at maybe the best time to ever play. I mean I made 15 dollars a month.”

Brown provided a refreshing take on the college football landscape, and also gave some honest insight on how North Carolina’s NIL collective is continuing to work towards growing alongside the changes.

“We’ve made a lot of progress in our collective, we’re still not where we need to be,” Brown said. “We still need people to give to the collective, and I’m working as much to try to build up the collective as I am coaching right now very honestly. Because it’s very very important moving forward and I don’t know that it’s going to change rapidly. I think it will change over the next couple of years, I’m not sure if it’s tomorrow.”

He also harped on the importance of retention and recruiting players that he feels will stay with the program for the long haul. One of the several new facets to recruiting that exists as Brown and others across the country will look to adapt and generate success in a new college football ecosystem.