Mack's Texas Tenure At 10 Seasons And Counting

AUSTIN (AP) _ Going into his 10th season at Texas, Mack Brown has experienced the full range of highs and lows at a school where the pressure to win would wear out many coaches. <br/><br/>The highs? The

Tuesday, August 28th 2007, 8:03 pm

By: News On 6

AUSTIN (AP) _ Going into his 10th season at Texas, Mack Brown has experienced the full range of highs and lows at a school where the pressure to win would wear out many coaches.

The highs? The 2005 national championship (of course), Ricky Williams winning the 1998 Heisman Trophy and the run of victories over Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Southern Cal in a 21-game winning streak. And don't forget Bradford Hermes.

Who?

Hermes was a deaf walk-on defensive back and one of the special behind-the-scenes stories to Brown's nine-plus seasons in Austin. Brown says he'll never forget the lesson the player taught the coach about persevering in a world stacked against you.

In 2001, Hermes asked Brown to let him play his senior season. The coach, who earlier tried to discourage Hermes because he thought he might get hurt, let him get on the field for three games that year, one snap in each on special teams.

Through a sign language interpreter, Brown had asked Hermes how he would know when the play was over. Hermes told Brown he would stop hitting opponents when they stopped hitting him.

``It showed me that just because someone does something different it doesn't mean it can't be done,'' Brown said.

Brown was hired to do something different at Texas: win a national title. And it took awhile to do it, longer than many fans wanted to accept.

That brings up the bad times. The five consecutive losses to Oklahoma. Losing the Big 12 title game to Colorado in 2001, a defeat that kept Texas from playing for the national title.

The Sooners hung embarrassing losses of 63-14 in 2000 and 65-13 in 2003. The second came just as a future superstar named Vince Young was taking over at quarterback,

``At some point there's a pride factor that kicks in,'' Brown said. ``It didn't look like we were making the progress I knew we were making.''

No days were darker than Feb. 26, 2001, the day defensive lineman Cole Pittman was killed in a single-car crash as he drove back to school from his family home in Shreveport, La. Pittman's death was a devastating blow for a coach who works hard to create a family atmosphere in his program and provide a home away from home for his players.

It also forced him to be a leader not just on the football field, but in his players' lives as well. The day Pittman was to be buried, Brown told his wife, Sally, he didn't know how he'd be able to handle the day.

She scolded him, telling it was a great day to be a football coach. What he said and did that day would help heal his team's wounds and help them learn how to deal with tragedies in life.

``Instead of 'Poor me, I have to go do this,' it just flipped to, 'How can we help? What can we do?''' Brown said.

Brown got a raise Tuesday that will push his annual salary over $3 million by next season. He'll also get $3 million in bonuses if he's still coaching Texas through 2009.

Is he worth it? Athletic director DeLoss Dodds always says Texas pays coaches ``market value,'' and Brown's record says he should be near the top.

Even if he was a little late delivering one, UT's national championship was its first outright title since 1969.

In 1997, the season before he took over, season ticket sales generated about $8.2 million. By 2006, that figure had reached $26.8 million. The school is in the middle of a $170 million renovation at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium that will add 47 luxury boxes and push attendance to more than 90,000 next year.

``I'd say that before he got here, the program was a mile wide and an inch deep,'' Dodds said. ``Now it's a mile wide and a mile deep.''

It's been interesting watching Brown evolve with his program.

The first season was all fun. Williams' run to the Heisman made him a Longhorn icon before his drug problems in the NFL tarnished his image. Texas won nine games, beat Oklahoma and Texas A&M and won the Cotton Bowl. The city even held a downtown parade.

Things got a bit nasty after the first whipping by Oklahoma and Brown's sensitive side started to show more often than not. It seemed to get worse every time the Sooners won and Texas didn't win a Big 12 title.

Brown admits he was too sensitive to handle some of the criticism that comes at a place where fans are so passionate about football. But he has learned to grow tougher skin and handle the obstacles the job can throw at him. This summer, he stamped out a developing crisis before it spiraled out of control.

After a series of summer arrests of his players, Brown didn't retreat to his office and criticize the media. Instead, he met face-to-face with reporters to announce that two key players, linebacker Sergio Kindle and defensive end Henry Melton, were suspended for the first three games as punishment for drunken driving arrests. A third player, freshman defensive tackle Andre Jones, is suspended indefinitely while facing a felony burglary charge.

Brown admits he never thought he'd be here this long. He used to think five years might be the limit but that he and Sally have come to love the university and the program, its tradition, fans and pressure.

His greatest feeling wasn't standing on the Rose Bowl field after beating Southern California. It came later when the team met President Bush at the White House.

``Standing at the White House with the kids, with the president, and all your friends who have pulled for you for so long,'' Brown said. ``To see the satisfaction in an entire state, that's what will always be with me the rest of my life.''

Brown can't contemplate leaving.

``We've had a blast,'' he said. ``There have been some tough days. This place will make you stronger or it will move you out.''