Mack Brown caught off guard by Texas-Oklahoma's move to the SEC
Mack Brown may be back with the North Carolina Tar Heels, but he spent 16 years as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns. As the Longhorns eventual move to the SEC continues to dominate headlines, their former head coach weighed in on being caught off guard by the development.
“Texas and Oklahoma joining the SEC caught me off guard,” Brown said, in an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show. “I’ve got a lot of friends out there, and it was never discussed until I read it.
“I was in the middle of ACC media day, and Jeremy Sharp, our director of communications, walked up and showed me. Right in the middle of my interview. Texas and Oklahoma were leaving. He said ‘Get ready, here it comes!’ and I thought, ‘Really!’”
Even one of the greatest coaches in the history of the Longhorns was caught blind by the move.
Mack Brown on Texas almost joining Pac-12
Interestingly, Brown also mentioned that Texas was hours from joining the Pac-12 under his watch.
“We were not days, we were probably hours away from joining the Pac-12 at one time,” stated Brown. “Then ESPN came in and the Longhorns network happened, so the Big 12 stayed together.”
Imagine seeing Texas and USC play eachother year and year? While the university turned down the Pac-12’s offer for a multitude of reasons, Brown highlighting Texas’ deal with ESPN is incredible insight.
Even though Brown hasn’t coached in the Big 12 since 2013, he still has a soft spot for the conference. The former Longhorns head coach was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year twice, in 2005 and 2009.
“The Big 12 had Colorado and Nebraska, they left. Missouri and [Texas] A&M left,” Brown said. “There was a lot of changes throughout the Big 12. I would hate to see the Big 12 go away, because I had 16 good years there as part of that conference.”
While Brown may have a soft spot for the Big 12, his focus has turned back to the ACC. As the coach of the Tar Heels, the former Texas coach has them on the upswing.
Mack Brown: “I do think we’ll see a group of ‘Super Conferences’ in our lifetime.”
Finally, Brown continued to state that we could see a group of ‘Super Conferences’ in our lifetime. In addition, Brown gave his thoughts on changes we could see in the College Football Playoff.
“I think what we’re seeing Paul [Finebaum] is with some of the tv contracts being renewed over the next number of years, I think we’re going to finally see the mega-conferences that people have talked about for years,” said Brown. “I don’t think the twelve-team playoff will fly with all these changes, I think that’ll be pushed behind and we’ll start looking at it again.
“I’d still like to see us go to eight before twelve. But I do think we’ll see a group of ‘Super Conferences’ in our lifetime.”
Brown may have overseen the drama between Texas and the Pac-12, but he’s watching as a spectator as the university moves to the SEC. Still, his thoughts on the future of not just the Longhorns, but college football as a whole carry weight.