Mack Brown Harshly Rebukes UNC Administration Over Handling of His Firing

The Tar Heels parted ways with their greatest coach on awkward terms.

Mack Brown before North Carolina's 35–11 win over Florida State on Nov. 2, 2024. / Robert Myers-Imagn Images

When North Carolina brought back coach Mack Brown before the 2019 season, it likely didn't imagine things would end like this.

On Saturday, the Tar Heels lost 35–30 to NC State to conclude a 6-6 season. It was Brown's final game on the sidelines after North Carolina fired him on Tuesday, and a sad ending for the greatest coach in Tar Heels history.

Meeting reporters after the game, Brown laid into North Carolina's administration for how it timed his exit.

“All I wanted to do was wait until the end of the year," Brown told reporters via Thomas Goldkamp of On3. "And they wanted me to retire on Monday, before the [NC] State game. We haven’t beaten State, it was really important for these kids to play well and have a chance to win. I didn’t want to break their hearts on Monday. So I said, ‘No, I won’t do that.’ And then they wanted me to do it on Friday. Well, I sure wasn’t going to do it Friday before the game."

The bizarre sequence of events capped a difficult year for the Tar Heels, who dealt with the death of wide receiver Tylee Craft on Oct. 12.

Despite Saturday's loss, Brown leaves with his legacy intact; his 113 wins over two stints at North Carolina are a school record.

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