The local Radio is going crazy and so is PackPride...It’s a good hire IMO...
I do not like the idea of a Mack 2.0
- Thread starter WoadBlue
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I have mixed feelings about this hire. But it's a done deal so I'm pulling for Mack all the way. Can't wait to see who his staff is going to be.
Archer, I’m with you, in Mack i trust. When I was in hs, Mack recruited me, he pushed me hard to come to the hill, but I was young and dumb and figured football would wait till after I did a few years in the navy. Hindsight is 20/20! Probably the dumbest things I ever done, if I had it to do all over again......well idk. He’s got a chance to do it all over again, and we are only a good coach away from the coastal this year... bring on Mack, a sure fire oc and dc, and let’s fill the stadium again
I’m concerned about the age factor and how it will be used against us in recruiting. Gonna have to assemble a great staff to offset that. Need to keep Thigpen.
I am so pumped about this hire. Was not at all excited about any of the other candidates being discussed. The guy at App State might do well but he has never recruited elite football players at this level. I hear alot of discussion about going with a Young coach. The only thing you get for sure with a Young coach is inexperience. You cannot pass on a College Football Hall of Fame coach. He built the only powerhouse UNC program in our lifetime. He then went on the win 10 games at Texas nine straight years. The other schools in NC better get ready for a beating. As Kirk Herbstreet said today on ESPN UNC is gonna be bringing in ELITE talent on both sides of the ball.
other schools using ageism against mack could backfire whenparents meet him and see his vitality and the insights and expertise that comes with experience.
To me this hire is like taking someone to the er. Unc fb had def flatlined. Recruiting was a JOKE, no discipline, no fans, very few w’s, and very few $! (Bowl games). We had to have immediate stability and discipline in the program. No more red bull rah rah player friendly bullshit. We needed a strong personality who commands respect and wont tolerate less. With this hire we get that and moving so quickly gives us at least some hope for getting to a bowl next season. Get the patient stable then move on to long term treatment.
I totally agree with this. This wasn't the ideal hire, but it has the potential to get this program back on track. I'm not saying it's guaranteed to work, but it least provides hope which we haven't had for a while. I'm really interested to see the rest of the coaching staff.
At the very least, Mack can put this program in a position to beat our in-state rivals again. That's the first step in getting us back to respectability.
...and win instate recruiting.
The new HBC has four areas to address before he coaches a single player.
He has to start mending fences around the state with HS coaches that Fed ruined.
He has to make the big-money alums feel that THEY are being listened to, whether they are or not. Like it or not, money is the lifeblood of successful programs. Fed gave an impression to many that they needed to open their wallets and STFU.
He has to schmooze the press, like it or not. They help mold the perception of UNC football. Fed made it clear that he and Trump feel the same about them.
He has to recruit. Most of the time a recruit's family's first impression of a program is the first home visit from the HBC. If you've never met Mack, you have no idea what Adoration At First Sight means. (If you think the recruit has never heard of him you have to assume the recruit has never watched a game on ESPN or is too blind to see the huge shiny Natty ring on Mack's hand.)
Now then...name the Coach we could get that would be better to address the immediate priorities than Mack?
He has to start mending fences around the state with HS coaches that Fed ruined.
He has to make the big-money alums feel that THEY are being listened to, whether they are or not. Like it or not, money is the lifeblood of successful programs. Fed gave an impression to many that they needed to open their wallets and STFU.
He has to schmooze the press, like it or not. They help mold the perception of UNC football. Fed made it clear that he and Trump feel the same about them.
He has to recruit. Most of the time a recruit's family's first impression of a program is the first home visit from the HBC. If you've never met Mack, you have no idea what Adoration At First Sight means. (If you think the recruit has never heard of him you have to assume the recruit has never watched a game on ESPN or is too blind to see the huge shiny Natty ring on Mack's hand.)
Now then...name the Coach we could get that would be better to address the immediate priorities than Mack?
You mention that Mack has to fix the relationship with the HS coaches in the state. What did Fed do to mess up those relationships? I'm a Tar Heel fan, but I live in Michigan, so I wasn't aware of everything going on with Fed's in-state recruiting.
Our in-state recruiting has gotten to the point where we are considered the last resort by too many NC HS coaches. Fed passes on many 3 stars because he wants to focus on some long-shot out of state talent. We then get to watch those instate players kick our butts while wearing dook, State or Wake jersey.
Some of those Coaches say Fed seems to think he's too good to talk football with them. You may think it but you can NEVER let them know you think it.
Some of those Coaches say Fed seems to think he's too good to talk football with them. You may think it but you can NEVER let them know you think it.
You always should talk football with HS coaches, because they love the game to coach it for little money.
Very happy about the Mack hire.
Thank God we didn't just settle for Satterfield or Houston and being mediocre (at best) for the foreseeable future.
Thank God we didn't just settle for Satterfield or Houston and being mediocre (at best) for the foreseeable future.
After watching the press conference, I feel better about the hire. I think he can get this thing headed in the right direction. I had no confidence Satterfield or Houston could do that.
Fedora completely made high school
Coaches across the state feel less than or just that he wasn’t vested in state. He talked a big game but just wasn’t a good ambassador to the nchsaa coaches. My son coached high school football for a brief time for one of the better programs in the state and their staff routinely went to chapel hill when butch was there to look at film, have mini sessions with coaches during summer camps, hell would even go to lunch with the guys in the cafe, etc. a much different environment with Fedora here to say the least. I wish him well. I’m glad he’s gone.
Coaches across the state feel less than or just that he wasn’t vested in state. He talked a big game but just wasn’t a good ambassador to the nchsaa coaches. My son coached high school football for a brief time for one of the better programs in the state and their staff routinely went to chapel hill when butch was there to look at film, have mini sessions with coaches during summer camps, hell would even go to lunch with the guys in the cafe, etc. a much different environment with Fedora here to say the least. I wish him well. I’m glad he’s gone.
Good article on Fedora's instate recruiting
https://www.greensboro.com/sports/a...cle_f1f07027-32e3-5e75-8319-3ec355018676.html
https://www.greensboro.com/sports/a...cle_f1f07027-32e3-5e75-8319-3ec355018676.html
Butch is largely credited with dissolving the good will UNC has in state. Fedora didn’t do enough to repair it.
Not true at all frankly. I will say that Butch tried to swim in some different ponds in the southeast that previous Tar Heel coaches had little success in and he ventured out of state a little more because our profile was higher at the time, but can tell you first hand the experience my son had with the staff during his time with a prominent Charlotte high school. In addition, long time unc assistant, Ken browning was still on staff under Butch and served as the nc high school coaches liaison, just as he had for many years before. Ken Browning is widely respected in the Tar Heel State for his relationship with N.C. coaches given that he was a high school coach himself for many years at Ledford and Northern Durham starting out so he could relate to the grind of being a high school coach for pennies on the dollar.
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No coincidence that the good will with in state coaches ended when Fedora didn’t retain Ken after working at UNC for 18 years as an assistant coach and high school coaches liaison......
http://capitalsportsnc.com/?p=3048
Don’t be surprised if Mack brings back Ken in a similar capacity (not assistant coach but in an administrative type role to help reboot the in state relationship with HS coaches). Last I heard, Ken was still living in Durham.
http://capitalsportsnc.com/?p=3048
Don’t be surprised if Mack brings back Ken in a similar capacity (not assistant coach but in an administrative type role to help reboot the in state relationship with HS coaches). Last I heard, Ken was still living in Durham.
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Butch burned bridges. Believe what you want. Your son may have had a good experience, others didn’t. Just like some coaches liked Larry and this staff and others didn’t.
This is like the arguments regarding Presidents doing great/poor with the economy "oh, it was going down the tubes when he got into office, nothing he could do"
Butch wasn't at UNC long enough to fully tank relationships with HS coaches, IMO. Fedora certainly was.
Your first part is correct. It’s a stupid argument and cannot be proved or disproved. It was no secret that Butch was arrogant and pissed off some HS coaches. Fedora didn’t do enough to mend fences either. But neither coach actually had all the coaches turn their back on the program. UNC got plenty of NC talent under Fedora.
Ticket, again you are missing the point. The relationship was less about butch or fedora even but more so the conduit/person actually facilitating the relationship. Mack, Butch and others before him had Ken running that ship. Fedora chose to go a different route when he let Ken go and it backfired because he wasn’t committed to the relationship with time, and frankly didn’t have the personality to “fit in” with many high school coaches. I don’t think fedora overtly made a personal decision to say hey screw these high school coaches in NC, but he didn’t do enough to maintain that relationship and it slowly but surely went away. That’s pretty well known across all coaching circles and in the media.
I can accept that part of it. Browning being let go was a mistake. But the type of player UNC could recruit changed with AFAM. The staff had to look to other areas, which meant some traditional guys got left in the cold so-to-speak.
I wonder how Mack will do now? This isn’t the same UNC he left 20 years ago.
I don’t disagree with AFAM. I also think we went through a stretch of “anything goes” from an admissions perspective with some borderline recruits,although it’ll never be stated nor confirmed, towards the end of butch’s tenure when it felt like we were close to Competing with the big boys. It will be interesting to see how it works out. I hope
It works out for us and it’s tremendous on all fronts but feel strongly that should Mack 2.0 fail, bubba should be in the unemployment line. In that scenario,Primary factors being fedora’s Contract and subsequent buyout that Bubba oversaw and then a failed Mack 2.0. I’d imagine that confidence would be at an all time low in that scenario.
From what I’ve heard, all UNC coaches have been tasked with making sure players stay eligible. We don’t have the AFAM classes to help and SACS is keeping an eye on us. UNC literally can’t afford anymore academic shenanigans. In light of that, UNC football has heavily recruited good schools/school districts. Look at how many players we have from The Triangle, Charlotte Metro, DC Metro, and Atlanta. Lots of prep schools, academics, and great public schools. We might have some knuckleheads at times on the field, but all good kids. Can’t remember the last time a UNC football player got in trouble off the field.
As for your thoughts on Bubba, I don’t think this was his move. This was all the PTBs. Bubba wouldn’t have the latitude to hire Mack overnight without a formal coaching search. The big money boosters wanted Mack back, and made it happen. I think Bubba was undercut this time.
I agree about who actually made the decision to hire in this case but the boosters and powers that be never seem to take ownership on the back end of it doesn’t work out. That’ll be unfortunate for Bubba.
For sure. He will fall on the sword. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts to quietly look for another job sooner than later.
Ken Browning was hired by Mack Brown back in the day when he was at Nothern Durham High School..If you lived in the 80s and 90s ND was a powerhouse in 4a football and would have won a ton of State titles if not for Richmond County and Greensboro Page...Coach Browning is a legend in the High School ranks in NC...
While I disagree with those who had no confidence in Satterfield, it's a moot point now. We have who we have.
I believe Mack has enough cachet to hire a quality staff, and that is of paramount importance right now. If he can do that, we have enough experienced talent returning on the offensive side of the ball to be good offensively right out of the gate.
The defense needs an influx of talent and an attitude change. In fact, the whole team needs an attitude change. Even though Mack wasn't at the top of my list, I will be pulling hard for him.
I believe Mack has enough cachet to hire a quality staff, and that is of paramount importance right now. If he can do that, we have enough experienced talent returning on the offensive side of the ball to be good offensively right out of the gate.
The defense needs an influx of talent and an attitude change. In fact, the whole team needs an attitude change. Even though Mack wasn't at the top of my list, I will be pulling hard for him.
A good friend of mine that went on his nefews ov said everything was unorganized. His words "Carolina is a f@#$_&g joke". And this guy pulls for UNC. So it seems alot was wrong in the recruiting Dept. of LF
Well said Arch. When rumors of Mack returning started kicking around, I was cool with it provided he brought in a solid staff, and he is "all in" on restoring UNC football. Based on today's presser, I'm convinced that he is. I know I'm a lot more excited for next fall.
As for Satterfield, here's hoping he gets a good opportunity to prove himself at the next level sometime soon. Who knows... in a few years, he might be the perfect fit to take over when Mack retires, and keeps UNC on the right path.
Quote on Mack's potential impact on recruiting from GoHeels.com article
"It's all about making your place the 'cool' place to be. Carolina was that place when we left, and it will be again."
Stone said he'd had five calls from high school coaches in 24 hours and all of them said, "Home run hire."
"It's all about making your place the 'cool' place to be. Carolina was that place when we left, and it will be again."
Stone said he'd had five calls from high school coaches in 24 hours and all of them said, "Home run hire."
I will work because the right people are willing to spend what is necessary to make it work.
I don’t know whether Butch or Fedora ultimately destroyed our in state recruiting. Fedora certainly made it worse.
What I do know: Mack is the best hire we could have made to fix our relationships in state.
What I do know: Mack is the best hire we could have made to fix our relationships in state.
