With the June Jones era now over at SMU, speculation has begun about who will replace him as the Mustangs new permanent coach. One interesting name that has been thrown around in recent days: former Texas head coach Mack Brown.
FoxSports.com’s Bruce Feldman reported Monday that “well-connected SMU brass” are very interested in pursuing Brown and believe that he might want to return to the sidelines.
It certainly is an intriguing possibility for a Mustangs program that has once again fallen on hard times, and Brown would be an absolute home run hire for SMU. In 30 seasons as a head coach at Texas, North Carolina, Tulane and Appalachian State, Brown compiled 244-122-1 record. He found his greatest success with the Longhorns, where he went 158-48 with two conference championships and a national title.
Brown, who’s currently an analyst for ESPN, would make perfect sense for the Mustangs, as he’s extremely familiar with recruiting in Texas thanks to his tenure with the Longhorns. This would be ideal for a struggling SMU program that hasn’t recruited particularly well over the last several years under Jones.
Of course, questions arose as soon as this news started circulations, including whether or not it would be a good move to hire him considering his age. At 63, Brown might be too old and unwilling to take over a program that will be in the early stages of a rebuilding project. Some believe that the school would be better served to hire a young coach to breathe life back into the program, such as former Texas offensive coordinator Major Applewhite, who has already applied for the job.
However, SMU hired 71-year old Larry Brown back in 2012 to take over the men’s basketball program, and the team has rapidly improved in his first two seasons. If the Mustangs were able to land Brown, he’s bring instant credibility to a program that desperately needs it.
But even though SMU may be interested in hiring him and his age might not actually be as big of a factor as some have suggested, none of that matters if Brown doesn’t want the job. True, Brown never wanted to actually leave Texas and may want to coach again, but one has to wonder whether or not he’d want to deal with rebuilding the Mustangs given his age.
In reality, it’s hard to imagine Brown leaving his job at ESPN to take over a program in as much disarray as SMU, but stranger things have happened.
At this point, about the only thing you can guarantee is that the Mustangs won’t be hiring Charlie Weis.
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