Just Who Is Mack Brown?

So now the speculation begins anew regarding Mack Brown and just how good a coach he is. I don't believe it is always warranted, but it makes for great water cooler talk.

We have to give credit to Brown for being a great coach. Look at his overall record. Look at his record in all his Texas Novembers. Notice he's one of two Texas coaches to ever win a national title.

But we almost have to ask: how great is he? Barry Switzer? The kind of coach whose team is hated nationwide because they are a perennial top 5 for decades.

Jim Tressel? A coach whose team will return to the title game every few years. This one was indirectly presented by Scott in his earlier post.

Tom Osborne? A coach who always fielded elite teams but took a number of years to to take it to the top.

Or Phil Fulmer? The coach who always fields a squad no one looks forward to playing, won a national title, but hasn't really had a sniff at a national or conference title since.

My bet is Brown falls somewhere between Osborne and Tressel. I don't know that Brown and his staff have quite the savvy of Tressel and his underlings, but Brown can flat out recruit and spends his days in one of the nation's most fertile fields for football talent.

So I don't know if Texas fans should expect to play for the title every three or four years, but this won't be the last.