Since the Vince Young and Colt McCoy era the Texas Longhorns
Football program has been in steep decline with a 21 win and 16 loss record
over the last 3 years despite having financial resources, high end facilities,
and top-five recruiting classes that most University programs only dream
about. Mack Brown makes over 5 million
dollars a year, at the most valuable football program in the country estimated
in the range of $800 million.
Mack Brown has a lot of great qualities; he represents the
University well off the field, great at Banquets, dealing with boosters,
visiting hospitals and the soft coaching duties necessary at a high profile
program like the University of Texas. But make no mistake, college football is
big business these days, the longhorns are even trying to get their Longhorn
Network off the ground to increase Texas prominence even more. The problem is
this is all contingent on having an elite program, and Mack Brown is paid to
win games, he is one of the highest paid coaches in college football due to the
elevated expectations regarding having an elite winning program defined as top
5 in the polls each year with a major BCS bowl appearance annually.
So Texas has the most financial resources at their disposal,
high end facilities, the best recruits, great fan sponsorship, their pick of
assistant coaches, and yet they are just a middle of the road average at best
performer over the last three years. Mack Brown dealt with the poor performance
by bringing in new assistant coaches hoping to deflect some of the pressure and
criticism for the poor performance on the field, but the quality of performance
remains average at best. It isn`t just the record, it is the level of play that
concerns critics the most, routinely getting blown out by interstate rivals,
and putting on lackluster performances that have fans scratching their heads
year after year.
Last night Kansas State University fans chanted as the game
was winding down “We own Texas” after beating them for five straight years, a
KSU program that lacks all the advantages that Texas enjoys, all except one; a
Great Head Coach. So Mack Brown is the only constant, he is really good at
everything expected of a high profile coach except for the most fundamental
aspect of his job coaching and leadership in setting the tone for exceptional
performance on the field. The glad
handing and relationship management is the icing on the cake; first and
foremost you are paid to win games in the modern era of big time college
football.
The University of Texas Football Program is not getting a
positive return on their investment in the head coach at this point. Mack Brown
often positions himself as more of a CEO than a head coach, well the Texas
program is starting to look like RIMM to Alabama`s AAPL, and RIMM`s sharp
decline led to an executive change at the top. It is time for Texas to have a
leadership change at the CEO level, before it becomes too late and their
program has declined to the point where they are no longer “selecting” the best
athletes in the state, but rather taking Texas A&M`s leftovers. Think in
terms of HP, when a company declines too far, all the CEO changes in the world
cannot turn a losing organization around.
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