Being the head football coach at the University of Texas is no small task.
Ask Mack Brown, who was in charge of the Longhorns' football program in 1998-2013.
At Texas, Brown went 155-48 and won a national championship in 2005. He also won two Big 12 Conference championships and six Big 12 South Division titles.
"It's so much different from what anybody thinks," Brown said. "What you do and what you say every day is national. You have to be careful not to get hung up on what people say and what people think about you because there's a lot of opinions. It's a state of 27 million people. The most important thing is to be yourself and coach the football team."
Brown, 64, spoke at the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday afternoon at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock and spoke on several topics, including his coaching career and his current position as a college football analyst on ESPN.
During his coaching career, which included stops at Tulane (1985-1987) and North Carolina (1988-1997), Brown's record was 244-122-1.
Over the past two years, Brown has had time to reflect on his career and admitted Monday he could've left Texas after the 2009 season when the Longhorns lost to Alabama in the BCS Championship Game.
"I heard Lou Holtz say one time, 'If you stay five years, that's enough. If you stay seven, that's an eternity. If you stay 10, that's too much.' I stayed 16," Brown said. "People get tired of you. They want new entertainment. They want new stories. They want new jokes.
"Coaches really should change every five to seven years and move on. The place would be happier and the coach would be happier."
Charlie Strong (Batesville, Central Arkansas) replaced Brown before the 2014 season. The Longhorns went 6-7 in 2014, losing to Arkansas in the Texas Bowl, and have started 2-4 this season. But they ended a three-game losing streak with a 24-17 victory over rival Oklahoma on Oct. 10.
Brown said Strong has been doing a good job at Texas and added he was impressed with the Longhorns' victory against the Sooners.
"It's becoming his team," Brown said. "The Oklahoma win really helped him. I think people think now, other than Baylor, he has a chance to win the rest of his games."
During his speech, Brown also expressed his support for Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema and said he can turn the Razorbacks around and take them to a second consecutive bowl game.
"I would tell Bret to keep doing what he's doing," Brown said. "It worked for him at Wisconsin. It worked for him in the bowl game against Texas. They were so physical.
"I believe in Bret. I think he's a tremendous football coach. He loves this place. He's got people stirred up again about Arkansas football. I think he'll be successful before he finishes."
Brown was linked to the SMU job last year and has been rumored to be the next athletic director at Texas. But Brown said he's enjoying his time at ESPN.
"I don't have to coach again," Brown said. "You miss parts of it. There are parts you don't miss. I don't miss the call at 2 in the morning. I don't miss kids getting hurt. I don't miss that loss where you get back at 4 in the morning and look at video. But you do miss a lot of other things.
"I'm not going to chase it, but if somebody calls me and I'd like to coach there and it's a really good place, then I'll talk to him."
Sports on 10/20/2015