![]() Brown in 2019 | |
Current position | |
---|---|
Title | Head coach |
Team | North Carolina |
Conference | ACC |
Record | 108–73–1 |
Annual salary | $5 million[1] |
Biographical details | |
Born | Cookeville, Tennessee, U.S. | August 27, 1951
Playing career | |
1969–1970 | Vanderbilt |
1972–1973 | Florida State |
Position(s) | Running back |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1973–1974 | Florida State (student/WR) |
1975–1977 | Southern Miss (WR) |
1978 | Memphis State (WR) |
1979 | Iowa State (WR) |
1980–1981 | Iowa State (OC) |
1982 | LSU (OC/QB) |
1983 | Appalachian State |
1984 | Oklahoma (OC) |
1985–1987 | Tulane |
1988–1997 | North Carolina |
1998–2013 | Texas |
2019–present | North Carolina |
Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
1985–1988 | Tulane |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 283–149–1 |
Bowls | 14–12 |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
1 national (2005) 2 Big 12 (2005, 2009) 6 Big 12 South Division (1999, 2001–2002, 2005, 2008–2009) 1 ACC Coastal Division (2022) | |
Awards | |
ACC Coach of the Year (1996) Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2005) Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award (2008) 2× Big 12 Coach of the Year (2005, 2009) | |
College Football Hall of Fame Inducted in 2018 (profile) |
William Mack Brown (born August 27, 1951) is an American college football coach. He is currently in his second stint as the head football coach for the University of North Carolina, where he first coached from 1988 until departing in 1997, when he left Chapel Hill to become head coach for the University of Texas. In 2018, Brown was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[2] Two days after Carolina fired Larry Fedora in November 2018, Brown was announced to return as the Tar Heels' head coach after a five-year hiatus from coaching, which he spent as an ESPN analyst.[3]
Prior to his head coach positions at Texas and North Carolina, Brown was head coach for Appalachian State and later, Tulane. He is credited with revitalizing the North Carolina and Texas football programs.
Brown coached the Longhorns to victory against the top-ranked USC Trojans at the 2006 Rose Bowl game to cap off an undefeated season, win a second consecutive Rose Bowl, and the national championship in what has been considered the greatest game in college football history.[4][5][6] Brown's Longhorns defeated Red River Showdown conference rival Oklahoma in 1998, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2013.
In 2006, he was awarded the Paul "Bear" Bryant Award for "Coach of the Year".[7] Brown achieved his 200th career win during the 2008 season, making him the first Texas coach to reach that mark. He resigned after the 2013 Alamo Bowl,[8] leaving as the second-winningest coach in program history (11 wins behind Darrell Royal).
Since returning to Chapel Hill, Brown has become Carolina's all-time winningest coach, passing Dick Crum for most wins in program history. As of 2024, Brown also has the most career wins among active NCAA Division I FBS football coaches.