On November 18, 2008, the University of Texas announced Muschamp would succeed Brown whenever he retired. They agreed in principle to increase Muschamp's salary to $900,000. There was no timetable set for Brown's departure, and both Brown and UT said they expected Brown to stay a long time.[5][21]
Muschamp left in 2010.
Final years at Texas
In 2009, Texas went undefeated in the regular season to win the Big 12 South Division. They defeated Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game to earn a berth in the national title game against Alabama. QB Colt McCoy was injured early in the game and did not return, leaving the offense in the hands of inexperienced true freshman Garrett Gilbert. Alabama dominated Texas to win the national title. Brown would coach the Longhorns for four more seasons. However, the teams would not match the success of the previous years. In 2010, the team had a losing record and did not play in a bowl game for the first and only time under Brown. On December 14, 2013, he announced his resignation as Texas's Head Coach effective following that season's bowl game.Colt McCoy and other older players were covering for Mack by 2009. Who the hell goes into the 2009 season with a true frosh as a back up. He also passed on Manziel, Jameis Winston, Andrew Luck and RG3.
What Does It Say About Mack Brown That He Didn't Recruit Jameis Winston?
For what it's worth, a source at UT told Bruce Feldman of CBSSports on Tuesday morning that they did reach out to Winston's high school coach, but they didn't think Winston was seriously interested.
Feldman followed up on that tweet with a story that says Winston called Texas "four or five" times but didn't hear back. From Geoff Ketchum at Orangebloods.com to Travis Haney of ESPN.com, just about everyone seems to have a different version of what happened.
Almost every story has three sides: one side, the other side and the truth.
What is known is that Winston ultimately chose between Alabama and Florida State coming out of high school. Would an offer from Texas at any point in time have changed that? Maybe, maybe not. Here's what Winston said in the same al.com interview:
The Longhorns signed one quarterback in the 2012 class: Connor Brewer from Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, Arizona. Brewer, a four-star prospect according to Rivals.com, only lasted one year in Austin. Brewer tweeted over the summer that he was transferring to Arizona.
It was another swing and a miss in the grand narrative about Mack Brown recruiting Joe Quarterback to play defensive back for the Longhorns...if he recruited him at all. And it was only made worse when the news about Winston's one-time interest in Texas was dredged up again Monday night.
The most popular stories in the narrative involve Texas A&M's Johnny Manziel and former Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III, both Heisman winners who were reportedly viewed as athletes in the eyes of Texas.
"I don't remember what the conversations (about Griffin) were,” Brown said via a 2011 piece from the San Antonio Express-News. “Which is bad.”
Even Andrew Luck from Stratford High School in Houston, Texas, couldn't get an offer from the Longhorns, according to both ESPN.com and the Austin-American Statesman.
Where Brown deserves criticism—and he certainly gets it—is putting all his football-shaped eggs in the Garrett Gilbert basket while letting a prospect like Luck completely go by unnoticed. During that period, one backup, Connor Wood, transferred to Colorado. Wood didn't see any playing time with the 'Horns, but he racked up 400 yards passing and three touchdowns for the Buffaloes in Sunday's win over Colorado State.
Clearly he has some ability, but Wood was buried in the depth chart at UT behind David Ash and Case McCoy.
