"Coaching football, in real sense, is not about winning games." Well, you lost me there. No one doubts how much Mack cares for kids. Or just for people in general. And we've heard the "don't let this game be the biggest thing you ever do" quote, or watched it on the 2005 Season recaps. But Chris seems to be more interesting in defending the honor of Mack rather than our school's inability to put a competitive product on the field. I haven't really heard anyone attacking his love and/or passion for the sport. But the sport itself has passed him. Where is the defamation in that? Overdramatic much? LHN also has plenty of clips of Chris Hall getting manhandled by Suh over and over again on 12/5/2009. It didn't matter how much Mack loved you that night. Sometimes, other teams are better prepared than yours. And that seems to happen a lot more now than it did when Hall was playing.
And Mack's role in that was... what? Telling Chris to not let that game be the biggest thing to happen to him? Chris is attacking people whose viewpoint is that Mack isn't the coach for Texas, and turning it into a personal thing.
Seems that Suh has had some success against NFL teams. What does Suh have to do with Hall or Mack? I think we won that game on 12/5/2009 by the way
Speaking to what Mack meant to him personally is great, but he lost me when he started into the whole life perspective spiel. Anyone that has their year ruined by an eight win season probably does need to get a life, but that doesn't mean fans have to be content with those results.
Chris--no doubt you're a bright young man with a bright future, but sports today has become big dollar entertainment......one reason why coaches are highly paid is its a high risk venture--win or be replaced.....Mack was paid $5 million a year so no need to feel sorry for him---he knew what he was getting into when he came to Texas and he recognizes he had a great ride and became a wealthy man as a result of UT......time for a change so no need to criticize Texas fans and the likes of UT icon Earl Campbell who see the need for change.....part of being a coach is getting replaced at some point
He did not say anything about Earl Campbell. In fact Chris Hall did not say that it was wrong of the fans to ask for a change, either. He was angered by the the wrong things said about Mack Brown as a human being. Yes, he is right that in it was indeed going on. Even among a few fans here. That was wrong. So let's not criticize him on what he did, which was a nice thing to see. Having said that, I disagree with him that "coaching football, in real sense, is not about winning games. It’s about investing into and shaping the character of young men". Not true. Football is about winning and losing first. Wasn't it DKR who said "football doesn't build character; it eliminates the weak ones"? I also disagree with him that if a fan's "day, week, or year is ruined by Texas’ 8 or 9 wins", they "need some help". That is what we fans are, and collegiate players better know how dead serious a business wins and losses are. In fact I may even put some blame on Mack Brown for having had players who can think like this, while at the same time deeply respecting him for having won an NC and gone 61-9 once with players whom he taught/encouraged to think like this, but still brought out as winners. Miraculous, in some sense, what he accomplished with such a philosophy on life and football - which by all accounts he did live by. But that is tough to sustain too, as we found out. So, while I disagree with Chris Hall's complaint about fans getting caught up, I complement him for writing that piece in defense of a coach on whom even lies were being said, seemingly, out of anger about the recent W-L record.
way to much drama here...football is a sport...entertainment--nothing more nothing less...Mack has his money and he is fine with things--time to move on and hope next coach has as many years as Mack and can bring back the fun and excitement that we had 5 years ago..nice the kids he coached appreciate all the efforts Mack made to represent UT as best he could
By the way, you all should read the responses below that article by others, especially our baseball player Carson Kainer, who writes about getting a call out of the blue from Mack, when he had no clue that Mack even knew of him, let alone his situation. He was in hospital and "was floored", he says. Right after the NC that too. Amazing stories.
I would love to have Mack Brown as a neighbor. He would have to learn to live with a lot less square footage, but I digress. It is unfortunate that people felt it necessary to personally attack Mack. I have maintained that Mack was sincerely doing his best to coach and that he believed he could fix it all given time. Time was not on his side. As for Mr. Hall's take, I have some scary news for him. Every day of my working life I am trying to win, and if I don't win more than I lose, I will get run off and my family will suffer. I do not know how our culture slid to this "trophies for everyone" mentality, but its pure ********. Winning may not be everything, but losing sucks; hard.
Yes,"football is about winning and losing first." But when you put winning first in ALL aspects of that then you renege on commits who get hurt in their senior year of high school. You push out those recruits that are behind a bit. You lie to parents, high school coaches and the players themselves to get them in the fold or keep them there. There is a responsibility to running a big time program. You can use people to gain a competitive advantage or you can have some integrity. What do you do in business? Screw the customer out of some bucks because you can get away with it? Or provide good service at a reasonable price? Winning is everything? Let's hire Gordon Gekko. Money never sleeps. Winning never sleeps. Sorry, everybody needs to sleep. I hope Mack finally gets some rest. He absolutely deserves the good things in life that money can't buy.
@Mr. Fiesta, you can kinda see how proud some folks mamas and daddys must be of the internet tough guy nit-pickers they've raised. And for those who value post count above intelligence, well, so be it.
Let me be clear. I'm glad Mack Brown was our coach for 16 years. I like the good things Mack did. I respect him for honoring schollies for kids that got hurt or collapsed on the sideline with undiagnosed heart issues. I like that he gave his players a home away from home, or maybe a home for the first time. I like that he seldom had a grey shirt dilemma, that he dealt swiftly but fairly with discipline issues, and that the ncaa has not had much to look at in Austin. I like the renewed high school coach connection, and I generally like the man. But, one of the principal lessons to be learned from sports is that tending to the intricate details of preparation, like conditioning and fundamentals, will often trump pure talent, at least on the college level. That is a life lesson that hard work may get you where you want to be, even if someone else has more resources than you do. That is not a win at all costs attitude, that is an attitude that results in winning. Mack did not instill the attitude that would allow his teams to prevail against better talent, which was o.k. as long as he did not play a much better prepared team or a team with greater talent. I do not want a win at all costs coach. I want a coach who recognizes that the greatest expression of excellence is victory. I'm sorry if that is offensive to some.
I went back and reread what Hall wrote, and really, he was speaking more to Mack's commitment to his players, than commenting on the value of winning. I still feel the way I feel, but I'm not sure Hall was really suggesting that losing was cool as long as everyone got orange slices. And, if my kid would have played D1 ball, I would have slept better knowing he was in MB's care than if he was on a Saban coached MNC contender. The whole DeLoss "losing every now and then is good for them..." thing has a lot of us a little touchy, still.
