Is Mack Brown Done at Texas?

Mack Brown

A couple of years ago it seemed crazy to think that Mack Brown, one of the most successful coaches of his generation might be fired, just three years after getting into the national championship with Colt McCoy and a group of future NFL players. But, after that, things have gone south in a hurry. Their first year removed from the McCoy era the Longhorns struggled to a 5-7 mark, then 8-5 and 9-4 years followed. This year, things were supposed to change. Junior QB David Ash was back along with a number of playmakers including Malcolm Brown, Mike Davis and defensive end Jackson Jeffcoat. So what happened?

If you were a Texas fan you probably shielded your eyes for all of their matchup with BYU. Sophomore QB Taysom Hill and the rest of the Cougars ran for 500+ yards in their blowout win of the then 15th-ranked Longhorns. That was an embarrassing show for the Longhorns and they responded quickly, firing defensive coordinator Manny Diaz. That didn't help the Longhorns out to much this past week against Ole Miss. The Rebels' star back Jeff Scott ran for 164 yards on 19 carries with a score to go along with it and QB Bo Wallace ran for 57 more. Texas currently sits at 1-2, with their only win coming against lowly New Mexico State, who is basically a FCS team. To make things worse, Ash who has struggled with injuries throughout his career at UT, will likely be out against Kansas State who has won 2 straight since their stunning loss to FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. Plus, Kansas State possesses one of the nation's speediest backs in John Hubert which hurts Texas severely as they have proven their rush defense is just embarrassing.

Texas has the resources to win championship after championship. The state of Texas is football-crazy and the Longhorns can recruit the state with ease. The Longhorns have a new Longhorn Network which allows them to televise all their games and gives them even bigger recruiting advantages over teams in the Southwest. Their reputation should give them four and five-star recruits just by itself and their historic relevance should as well. They expect to win double-digit game totals every single year, not 8-9 years that include losses to Oklahoma in the Red River rivalry. And, they most definitely don't include 21 point losses to BYU, a team filled with two and three-star commits and breaking in a new quarterback (Hill).

With a Red River rivalry versus Oklahoma still remaining plus matchups with Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas Tech still remaining the future isn't much brighter than the past. The rush defense has proven it is atrocious, surprising considering the talent on the defense. Baylor, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech can all score put up touchdown after touchdown, an issue for Texas, who is currently allowing 30.3 points per game. Plus, who knows how long Ash will be gone and senior Case McCoy, who is Colt's brother, has proven he can't win big games and struggles with turnovers. Even if new defensive coordinator Greg Robinson can get the defense going and the ground attack becomes dominant the schedule means things are going to tough for the Longhorns.

The numbers speak for themselves: From 2001-2009 Brown and the Longhorns were 101-16 and had just 4 home losses in that span. Since 2010, Texas is 23-18 and has lost 10 home games. One more loss, even if it is to an Oklahoma State or Baylor team that is clearly better than Texas right now, will mean the end to the Mack Brown era. Texas is just too good to be losing games the way they are. If he is fired Brown's future is definitely interesting. He is a big-name coach who has proven he can win and any program would like to have him (except Texas). It is going to take a lot for Brown to save his job at this point and that just isn't going to happen.