Mack Brown's Message For SEC Bound Longhorns: "You Better Win"

Mack Brown has been in this business for a long time, and he knows what it takes to succeed at the highest levels

Matt Galatzan | Aug 19, 2021

Former Texas Longhorns head coach Mack Brown has been successful at every stop of his career, whether it has been as a head coach, a coordinator, or an assistant.

On Wednesday, Brown joined 'The Paul Finebaum Show', to discuss his upcoming season, but more importantly, the moves of Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC.

When asked about the Longhorns' chances for SEC success, Brown had some very simple advice to heed above all else-- win.

“I would think, just in listening to AD’s across the country and the presidents, all of these moves are about money and securing your place at the highest level of sports long-term,” Brown told Finebaum. “And obviously most of that is TV money. And also the better schedule that you have the more enticing it is for season ticket sales and fans, but you’ve gotta win. I think that’s what all of this comes down to. If you don’t win, regardless of whether you’re Texas or Oklahoma or Ole Miss or North Carolina or Clemson, it doesn’t work. Because I’ve tried it both ways and people like it better if you win.”

It may seem like a lazy answer on paper, but if any current college football coach can speak to the rigors and challenges of winning at the highest levels in the sport, its brown.

Brown began his career as a wide receivers coach, with stops at Florida State, Southern Miss, Memphis, and Iowa State, before becoming the quarterbacks coach at LSU in 1982.

Brown then got his first head coaching gig at Appalachian State, before heading to Oklahoma as the offensive coordinator, leading one of the nation's top offenses and helping the Sooners reach the Orange Bowl

After that, Brown got his first Division One head coaching job at Tulane, followed shortly by his hire at North Carolina, where he took a long-dormant program to three 10-win seasons, six-straight bowl games, four bowl wins, and won an ACC Coach of the Year award in his final season.

Brown then arrived at Texas, where he guided one of the most successful eras of any college football team ever, appearing in two national championships games, winning one, taking home two Big 12 titles, and leading the Longhorns to 15 bowls in 16 seasons.

During that time, Brown also led the Longhorns to nine straight 10 win seasons, won at least nine games in 13 of his 16 seasons, and cultivated three Heisman finalists, with one Heisman winner.

Brown then went back to Chapel Hill, where he once again has the Tar Heels in a position to challenge for both conference and national titles, and a top Heisman contender at the head of his offense.

Needless to say, Brown knows what it takes to be successful, and Texas should listen.

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Published Aug 19, 2021

MATT GALATZAN

Matt Galatzan is the Managing Editor and Publisher of Texas Longhorns On SI and Texas A&M Aggies On SI and a long-time member of the Football Writer’s Association of America. He graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry in 2014 covering the Dallas Mavericks and SMU Mustangs with 247Sports. He then moved to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of the Longhorns and Aggies sites a year later. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels, including Twitter on @MattGalatzan.