Former college football head coach Mack Brown took a shot at his former employer, North Carolina, for how they structured the program in 2025. The Tar Heels fired Brown following a 6-6 record in 2024.
Brown went 113-79-1 in his two stints with North Carolina. He coached the program from 1988-1997 before leaving for Texas and winning a national championship with the Longhorns in 2005. He returned to the Tar Heels in 2019.
Mack Brown took a shot at North Carolina
During an appearance with Dusty Dvoracek and Danny Kanell on Sirius XM College Sports Radio this week, Brown gave a backhanded compliment to his replacement, Bill Belichick. He said the school lowered its standards for the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach.
“As far as North Carolina and Bill Belichick now, he’s arguably the best coach ever,” Brown said via a transcription from On3. “They’ve committed money to it, they’ve helped him with academics. They’ve lowered those standards some. So there’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t be successful.
“And anymore, they’ve changed the roster. … So you’ve got a chance to succeed at the highest level, and I expect him to do that and I’m proud for him.”
Bill Belichick has an easier path to the College Football Playoff
Brown explained how much easier the situation is for Belichick than it was for him, claiming that the program has proper NIL funding for Belichick and hinting that a 3.0 GPA is no longer the standard for North Carolina football.
“North Carolina didn’t have NIL money and I said we were kind of a slow bleed,” Brown said of why it was “time” for him to leave the program. “We weren’t able to recruit the top kids like we were when we first got there. So it was time for them and it was time for me. It’s kind of like a divorce.
“Everybody was ready, it’s just who and how and how you split at the end. So it was best for me to get out. We always built programs on fit, and our last couple years there, we were having to get parents with money. We were trying to get kids over a 3.0. That’s who we could get.”
Brown claimed he told star running back Omarion Hampton (now with the Los Angeles Chargers) to leave North Carolina because they could only offer him $300,00, when he was receiving offers for more than $1 million.
North Carolina’s investment in Belichick appears to have paid off. 2025 season tickets have already sold out. One could argue the Tar Heels sold their soul for Belichick, especially with the many distractions around the program.
Unfortunately for Brown, his name doesn’t carry the same weight as the most successful NFL coach of all time, which is why he couldn’t secure the riches Belichick is now receiving for North Carolina.
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