Mack Brown and Texas have a new extension in place, but that isn’t the interesting part. The interesting part is that he’s not retired yet. He had a coach-in-waiting in Will Muschamp. Muschamp went to Florida. Now, Brown has no one like that under contract, so he’s staying. Is that truly wise?
Mack Brown isn’t exactly a spring chicken, and there’s a point at which your effectiveness runs out. Just ask Bobby Bowden. Plus, I would hate to see a Joe Paterno-like situation at Texas. (Not the scandal, just, he gets let go and his heart can’t take it.) I think that would be really sad.
I know that Mack Brown brought back Texas football. He made them relevant again, and he even started beating Oklahoma again. So, he’s the golden child and he’s going to be at Texas, if they like, until it’s all over. However, you kind of have to know when to walk away.
At 60, Brown is pushing it in age. You could say that people have coached far longer, and they have, but there comes a point at which your message runs out and younger guys need to have a chance to step in and take over.
Now, I have nothing against Mack Brown, and I’m glad that he gets paid as well as he does, but, in this college sports climate, it’s kind of hard to not think about how badly it could go for the older coach who hasn’t let go yet. Sure, 60 isn’t ancient, but it isn’t young either. I think we need to consider that he might want to step aside soon (especially since he had someone already designated as a “coach-in-waiting.”) That tells me he was almost done.
I just want him to know when to walk away so that Texas football stays on top and doesn’t have to go through what FSU and Penn State are going through now.
photo credit: Andrew Czap
