Former Texas Longhorns football coach Mack Brown shares his wife’s dedication to giving back to the community.
“In many cases, coaches get so busy and they get so focused, that you don’t look outside your office or outside your team,” he says. “And really and truly, [with] the powerful position that you have in coaching, you need to reach out and help some other people.”
When Brown was coaching against then Alabama head coach Gene Stallings in the 1993 Gator Bowl, he met Stalling’s son, Johnny. Johnny had Down Syndrome and was in his 40s. Spending the whole week with father and son, he witnessed the “wonderful relationship” between the two.
Coach Stallings started the Rise School of Tuscaloosa and the Brown family was instrumental in starting an Austin location for the inclusive preschool.
“It’s a school that teaches these kids, the normally developing kids, to be able to work in the household with a child that might be different than them,” he said about the Rise School’s support for all students and its role in helping families cope with changes.
MJ&M, or the Mack, Jack & McConaughey fundraising effort, will benefit the Rise School of Austin. Events on April 16 & 17 feature golf tournaments, concerts, a live auction and fashion show.
What else did we need to ask Mack? David Brown put the call out on Twitter for questions. Here they are, along with Mack’s responses:
@DavidBrownKUT which player had the biggest impact on YOUR life?
— ctharvey (@Stuck_Pigg) March 2, 2015
“When you’ve coached 30 years as a head coach and another 12 as an assistant coach, there’s so many [players] and so many stories and just time and time again what you learn, I would think that I learned as much from Ricky Williams and Vince Young here at Texas as anybody out here.”
@DavidBrownKUT @ESPN_CoachMack Did you know VY would score on that 4th down against USC? #hookem — leticia ana (@LAMhookem) March 2, 2015
“You know, I thought he would. … It is one of the best college football games ever and we’re so proud for Texas fans and the state of Texas.”
@DavidBrownKUT @ESPN_CoachMack what would you have done differently in the last couple years, if anything?
— Jon Lawrence (@jonlawrence127) March 2, 2015
“Jon, there’s always things as you go back that you would have done differently, and at the same time I never second guess myself because with the information I had available, I did what I thought was best at that time. Where we really got in trouble is the quarterback.”
Mack Brown says he’s “actually making notes right now for a book.” Whether it’s in coaching or charitable work, he says this about making his mark:
“If my name was mentioned in conjunction with Texas football in the future, I would think that our staff left it better than we found it. The place in general, the facilities, the money, the national brand is much better than it was 17 years ago. And we did it the right way, we didn’t break any rules, we were never in any scandal of any kind, and because of that, we were able to reach out and help some people in the community with their charities.”
