Brown as recently as Monday said he planned to return next season, but Bubba Cunningham, the UNC athletic director, informed Brown later Monday that “he will not return as head coach.”

On Monday, Cunningham informed Mack Brown, who returned for his second stint ... Hiring the Tulane coach worked well for UNC the first time, with Brown in 1988. Why not again? Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, 42, has put together an impressive record as a head ...

Mack Brown came back for this season to show, at age 73, he was still the right man for the job. In some ways, he was. But it was impossible to look at the results and want more of this.