The Habe on the Horns – Paying Respect

AFTER ROUNDS of speculation, Mack Brown announced his resignation Dec. 14. Brown will leave his post as Texas’ head football coach immediately after the Longhorns play Oregon in the 2013 Valero Alamo Bowl Dec. 30. [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]

Brown’s announcement ended a sad saga that overshadowed many of the on-the-field achievements for the 2013 Texas football team. His resignation also set in motion a mad scramble to find his replacement — someone who’ll likely take the Longhorns into a new direction, on and off the field.

Some will say Brown’s tenure on the 40 Acres was all but decided by an early season swoon by his 2013 team, a squad that seemed poised to break back into the upper echelon of college football. But the team floundered in September, then later on in November and December to fall to 8-4.

Brown repeatedly refuted reports about his resignation, some as far back as September. He stuck to his guns on that declaration, going as far as telling recruits he’d remain the Texas football head coach during a breakfast meeting that took place the same morning he made the announcement.

By the time you read this, Brown will have been vilified for the program’s lack of success in the past four seasons. His critics will spew facts about his 16-year tenure that detail that Texas has won “only one” national championship and just two Big 12 championships with Brown at the helm, and how in the past four seasons the Longhorns have won just one more conference game (18) than they’ve lost.

They’ll say Brown brought assistants to Texas who weren’t ready for the harsh demands of the job. They’ll hold up Manny Diaz, who was fired after the Longhorns’ defense failed to stop BYU’s running game in September, as prosecution exhibit No. 1.

They’ll point to quarterbacks Case McCoy, David Ash and the departed Garrett Gilbert and say Brown lost his touch. They’ll comment on his verve in recruiting those players rather than Robert Griffin III, Andrew Luck, Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston. Three of those players won Heisman Trophies playing for teams other than the Longhorns.

The bottom line is that the detractors will be correct on many of those assertions and that it may be time for Brown to step down. Heck, the legendary Darrell K Royal even retired from his post in 1976 after facing this kind of scrutiny and criticism when his team went 5-5-1.

But Royal was never hung out to dry like Brown or left to be disrespected. Ten thousand fans never booed him in his home stadium when his picture was played on the massive Godzillatron screen that income from his successful coaching allowed the Texas program to erect. That has to hurt Brown more than anything, especially after all he has meant to Texas football and Austin itself.

Now that Brown has resigned, we must admit that he deserved to be treated better than these past three months. Yes, college football is big business and coaches are evaluated in wins and losses, but Brown certainly did more than enough to earn our respect. In the end, some of us forgot about civility in the face of innuendo and the perceived need for change. To me, the whole affair and how it’s been handled is a damn shame.

Just sayin’, ya know?

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