By Brian Murphy, WRAL

North Carolina coach Mack Brown apologized Monday for locker room comments made after Saturday’s shocking 70-50 home loss to James Madison, statements some took as the veteran coach quitting.

“I wasn’t walking in to quit, I was walking in to say, ‘Hey, we stunk. If this isn’t working, tell me and I’ll get out of here,” Brown said Monday. “That’s what my purpose was. It didn’t turn out well.”

UNC players were not made available after the loss to James Madison. The Tar Heels (3-1) matched a program-record for points allowed in the game. No players will be made available this week before UNC’s game with rival Duke (4-0), the ACC opener for both teams.

Brown said his players were overwhelmingly positive about moving forward. He said he should not have put that kind of pressure on the players.

“I’m supposed to be a leader,” he said, adding he was “disappointed in me.”

Brown said he never meant to suggest he was stepping down or quitting.

“I I love my job,” Brown said. I’m glad I’m doing it. You won’t hear it again. I wasn’t trying to quit. I was trying to say, ‘What’s wrong? I can’t believe this thing got messed up so much. Am I messing it up?’ That was my purpose.”

The 73-year-old Brown is already a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He won a national championship at Texas and is 110-74-1 during two stints at North Carolina. He said Saturday’s loss was as bad as he can remember.

The Tar Heels allowed 53 points in the first half. They turned the ball over five times, including an interception return for a touchdown. They allowed James Madison to recover a surprise onside kick. They allowed 611 yards of total offense against a team that began its transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2022.

Brown, who is often emotional, said he allowed his emotions to get the best of him Saturday.

“I normally slow down when I get mad because I’m not a good person when I’m mad,” Brown said. “I don’t handle things well. I don’t say the right stuff when I’m mad. I have a really bad temper and I have learned that that’s why I get by myself and keep my mouth shut when I’m mad after losses. And in this time, it just grabbed me. It was a mistake. I can’t change it. What you do is you learn from it. I can learn at 73 that I messed up.”

Brown said he often goes to a “dark place” after losses. He said he promised his wife Sally that he would take losses better when he returned to Chapel Hill for a final chapter of his coaching career in 2019.

It’s a promise he has not been able to keep.

“I’m supposed to be a role model for these kids and supposed to take negatives and turn them into positives,” he said. “I didn’t do that well on Saturday night. And I’m supposed to be a mentor for young coaches, and I didn’t do that well, either. So disappointed in me. I’ll grow from it and not do it again.”

He added: “Even at 73, you can learn from some hard lessons.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com