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The North Carolina football team suffered a difficult defeat on Saturday as they went down at home against James Madison. This was a pretty bizarre game as the Dukes had already hit the 50-point mark by the time halftime rolled around. It was disappointing to see for Tar Heels fans as the team has had some good seasons in recent years, but head coach Mack Brown clearly has his work cut out for him right now.
Saturday's loss was so bad that Mack Brown started to wonder if he should be the head coach of the North Carolina football team. He apparently asked his players for their thoughts in the locker room after the game.
Because of that, there were some rumors going around that Brown might step down. He told his players that if they felt like they weren't getting the proper leadership, he would step down. Brown is disappointed with himself for putting his team in that position.
“I shouldn't have put that pressure on them, so I'm disappointed in me,” Brown said, according to an article from ESPN. “I love my job, I love these kids, and I love this place. That's why I hate losing so much.”
After the game, Brown felt responsible for the loss, and that's why he asked his players that tough question.
“As I was walking off the field, I thought ‘I’m responsible for all of this. It’s on me. So I should ask the players about leadership. If they feel good about me moving forward,’” Brown said, according to an article from On3. “That’s something I shouldn’t do. I shouldn’t put that pressure on those young people at that point,” Mack Brown explained Monday. “I’m supposed to be a leader, and probably the worst things I’ve ever said in my life are after losses. You all have heard most of them. And that’s just what I do.”
The players supported their coach when he did ask the question.
“Disappointed in me. I should’ve waited,” Brown said. “But the kids were overwhelmingly, ‘Nah, come on, coach. Let’s go. Let’s move forward.’ And we’re doing that and excited about the future and love my job.”
Mack Brown is disappointed that the talk left the locker room
After the conversation that Mack Brown had with his team, some rumors started to swirl about his future with the North Carolina football team. Brown is a bit disappointed that they left the locker room and went public.
“Things used to stay in the locker room,” Brown said. “The locker room is sacred. It's obviously not anymore.”
The whole weekend is something that North Carolina wants to move on from entirely. The game didn't go well, and the aftermath of the loss clearly didn't go well either.
“I was very disappointed in the game,” Brown added. “Disappointed in me, and as you all know, I don’t handle things well after losses. Walking off the field I was really disappointed. We had a great week of practice. We’re 3-0. Felt really good about the team and we made entirely too many mistakes during the ballgame.”
Now, Brown wants to learn from his mistakes so he can be a better role model for his player. The Tar Heels are putting this one behind them and focusing on their big upcoming rivalry game with Duke.
“Love these kids,” Brown said. “I love this place and that’s why I hate losing so much. Didn’t really think that much about it after we did it and moving forward and looking forward to playing Duke this weekend. But, I’m supposed to be a role model for these kids and supposed to take the negatives and turn them to positives. Supposed to learn from losses, and I didn’t do that very well Saturday night.”
The Tar Heels will look to bounce back this Saturday on the road against Duke. North Carolina will kick off against the Blue Devils at 4:00 ET, and the game will be airing on ESPN2. Duke is currently favored by three points.
