Mack Brown, College Football Hall of Famer

By Chris O'Connell in Sports on January 8, 2018 at 9:52 am | No Comments

Mack Brown, a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the Longhorn Hall of Honor, and, as of last month, the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame, added another to his list. On Monday morning, the National Football Foundation announced that Brown will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He is the 22nd Longhorn and the third Texas coach, joining Dana X. Bible and Darrell K Royal.

Brown called it “absolutely a dream come true” from the ESPN set in Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium, where Alabama will face Georgia for the College Football Playoff championship game on Monday night. Brown will participate in the opening coin toss.

Brown took over as head coach at Texas in 1998 after helming Appalachian State (1983), Tulane (1985-87), and North Carolina (1988-97), where his Tar Heel teams went 69-46-1 and were invited to a bowl game in his final six seasons. He also had a stop at Oklahoma in 1984 as offensive coordinator under fellow College Football Hall of Famer Barry Switzer.

“It was absolutely a labor of love,” Brown said, of his coaching career. “Now to be able to represent so many tremendous people as a member of the College Football Hall of Fame is a tribute to a lot of great teamwork. In 30 years as a head coach, everything we were able to accomplish as a program was because of everyone involved and all of their hard work, passion and determination. I’ll humbly and proudly accept this for all of us. It’s truly a special honor and one that my family and I will forever cherish.”

Brown’s Longhorn teams were 158-48 (.767), made bowl games in 15 out of 16 seasons, won the 2005 BCS National Championship, played for the same title in 2009, and won three BCS bowls. His 158 wins are second all-time at Texas after Royal (167), and his 10 bowl wins and 12 straight bowl appearances are UT records.

Brown won the Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Award following a perfect 13-0 season capped off by a 41-38 win over USC to give Texas its first national championship in 35 years. He also won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award in 2008, and was twice named Big 12 Coach of the Year (2005, 2009).

“What Mack Brown did for Texas Football is unbelievable,” Texas Athletics Director Chris Del Conte said. “When you have the 16-year career he had here at The University of Texas, it was second-to-none. He is truly an icon in the history of college football and a Longhorn legend.”

Tags: college football hall of fame, mack brown