Brown was recently dismissed by North Carolina after expressing his intention to remain with the program another season. His 16-year tenure at Texas remains legendary, featuring a 158-48 record, nine consecutive 10-win seasons, and 11 bowl victories. Now, as he heads back to the city where he enjoyed his greatest success, questions swirl about his next move.

What’s Next for Mack Brown?

Social media has floated various possibilities for Brown’s next chapter, including speculation that he might take on a role addressing major issues like NIL reform and the transfer portal. However, the likelihood of Brown spearheading such efforts seems slim. The complexities of leading NCAA reforms might be too daunting, even for someone with his experience.

Instead, two more realistic paths stand out:

1. A Return to TV: ESPN, where Brown worked as an analyst before his return to coaching, could be a natural landing spot. With his wealth of knowledge and charisma, he remains a valuable voice in college football commentary.
2. A Role at Texas: Athletic Director Chris Del Conte has a history of bringing legendary coaches back into the fold. Gary Patterson, for example, joined the Longhorns in 2022 as a special assistant after stepping down at TCU. Brown could find himself in a similar position, serving as an ambassador or advisor to the program.

Coach Mack Brown just said that he is moving back to Austin after the first of the year.

One of three things will happen for Coach in his next chapter in life.

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1. Work with UT football in some capacity, perhaps as an offensive analyst. Special advisor to CDC?

2. Go back to TV…

— Tim Samuels (@Horns63) December 28, 2024

Brown’s Texas Legacy

Brown’s impact on Texas football cannot be overstated. Under his leadership, the Longhorns became a national powerhouse, culminating in the unforgettable 2005 national title. His success was supported by then-Athletic Director DeLoss Dodds, who now serves as a special assistant to the university president. The partnership between Dodds and Brown laid the foundation for one of the most successful eras in Longhorn athletics.

After stepping down as head coach in 2013, Brown briefly served as a special advisor at Texas, a role that allowed him to act as an ambassador for the program. A return to such a position could benefit both Brown and the university, strengthening ties with boosters, alumni, and fans.

My Prediction

While a consulting role at Texas is certainly on the table, my bet is that ESPN will come calling once again. Brown’s expertise and charisma make him an ideal fit for television, where he could continue to shape the narrative of college football. However, if Chris Del Conte offers a special role within the Texas athletic department, don’t be surprised to see Brown back on the Forty Acres.

For Mack Brown, this next chapter offers a chance to reconnect with the sport and community he loves, whether from the sidelines or the studio. His return to Austin is a homecoming Longhorn Nation will surely embrace.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Scan the rosters of Texas and Arizona State ahead of the Peach Bowl and the usual names pop out.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron. Arizona State All-American running back Cam Skattebo.

Another Longhorn who draws a lot of attention from Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham is Texas senior tight end Gunnar Helm, who has been catching everything thrown his way and even hurdling over defenders in a breakout season.

Helm’s 55 catches for 688 yards are both Texas tight end records as the No. 5-seeded Longhorns head into a New Years Day Peach Bowl matchup against No. 4-seed Arizona State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. He also has six touchdowns.

“He’s dynamic,” Dillingham said. “He’s not a tight end that clumsy and catches it and falls. He catches it and extends completions, which is something you never like to see when you’re going (against) a tight end … You don’t want them to catch it and run.”

In the transfer portal era of college football, Helm is a rare case of relatively unheralded recruit who stayed patient, stayed put and developed in to a first-team all-Southeastern Conference player this season.

“I think somebody this predicted me to have nine receptions this year,” Helm after he caught six passes for 77 yards and a touchdown in a 38-24 first-round win over Clemson.

“We’ve just got a great connection, and (he) just always is open it seems like,” Ewers said.

Rated a 3-star recruit out of Edgewood, Colorado, some recruiting analysts had him as the lowest-ranked player in the Texas class that came to campus in coach Steve Sarkisian’s first year in 2021. Helm had initially committed to former coach Tom Herman but stuck with Texas through the coaching change and a 5-7 season.

“I didn’t really have a choice,” Helm said earlier this season.

Also signed in that class was high school All-American Ja’Tavion Sanders, who over the 2022 and 2023 seasons would catch 99 passes and set the school’s single season and career pass catching records for tight ends. Helm caught 19 passes those two seasons.

The field finally opened up for Helm when Sanders turned pro after Texas made the playoff last season and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers.

Helm’s breakout game came in a 31-12 win at Michigan when he had seven catches for 98 yards and a touchdown. Against Clemson, Helm caught a touchdown pass in the second quarter. He was wide open in the end zone but had to leap high to cradle the ball and still toe-tap his feet in the end zone to stay inbounds.

His size (6-foot-5, 250 pounds), athleticism and versatility as a blocker have Helm projected as an early round draft pick in the NFL.

“We all know the path, his journey, the development that he’s had in our program. I’m super proud of him,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said. “(Ewers) can place balls in certain spots where he knows maybe if Gunnar doesn’t catch it, it’s probably incomplete … They’ve been together for three years now, and I think there’s a lot of trust there.”

This football season, The Texas Longhorns have had one of the best secondaries in the country, leading it to the SEC championship game and College Football Playoff. While there are several stars in the defensive backfield, All-Americans Michael Taaffe and Jahdae Barron make sure that everyone is on the same page.

While giving up the most yards of the season in the First Round Playoff game against Clemson, Texas got the win but still isn’t satisfied.

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik threw for 336 yards and the Tigers’ offense put up 412 total yards. Even though the Longhorns won 38-24, Taaffe and Barron wasted no time getting back to work.

“It’s the whole thing that Coach Saban always says,” Taaffe said. When you play a game not up to your standard but you still win, some immature players look at that like it’s a win. We can’t learn from it because we won, so let’s just keep moving on.”

Texas has been able to turn losses into lessons twice this season, and while they didn’t lose to Clemson, they still have a lot of work to do to be fully prepared for Arizona State. Back to practice after taking a break for Christmas, Barron was itching to get back out onto the field the second the clock hit 0:00 after beating Clemson.

“But this group that we have is so mature that Jahdae’s on the phone with me at 10 pm after the game,” Taaffe said. “He’s like ‘dude. I just watched it. We need to get better. We need to start tomorrow as early as 8 am and start getting better.’”

Taaffe, Barron and fellow Austin native Andrew Mukuba have led the Texas secondary, working tirelessly with defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski in the offseason to improve all aspects of their game.

Many doubted Texas’ ability to stop the run with the departure of T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy II. But Kwiatkowski was prepared, ready to make the changes needed to keep the Texas defense elite.

“So schematically we went to more of a post-style defense going into the season. We lost T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy and we had (Alfred Collins) and (Vernon Broughton) coming back. We weren’t sure how we were going to be able to play the run with two high safeties with lighter boxes, so that was the main catalyst to that switch. And then from the secondary standpoint playing with a middle closed we were able to play tighter coverage, play with more outside leverage on a lot of the route combinations that we’re seeing,” Kwiatkowski said.

“And then credit to those guys. They took their growth and learning to a new level. As much as we like to tell them to stay off social media and not listen to outside noise, they hear it, and so they knew they had to get better. And starting in January all the way to camp to now, they’ve attacked that challenge.”

Now, the Longhorn defense will have at least one more challenge ahead of them as they will head back to Atlanta to face Arizona State in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal on New Year’s Day at 12:00 PM.

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