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Former App State Head Football Coach Mack Brown to be Inducted into NC Sports Hall of Fame

By Tim Gardner

Former Appalachian State and current University of North Carolina head football coach Mack Brown will be inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020, the organization has announced.

The inductees will be enshrined during the Hall’s 57th annual banquet on May 1 at the Raleigh Convention Center.

The N.C. Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1963. A permanent exhibit, the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame is located on the third floor of the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh and features significant objects and various memorabilia donated by inductees. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. Admission is free.

“I’m very excited about joining the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame and it’s a chance for me to thank so many people who have blessed my life,” said Brown, who maintains a home in the Avery County township of Linville.

Brown is a 42-year coaching veteran, including 31 as a head coach at North Carolina (1988-97, 2019-current), Texas (1998-2013), Tulane (1985-87) and Appalachian State (1983).

Brown has a head coaching record of 251-128-1 (.661). He is the winningest active coach in Bowl Subdivision history.

He is already enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame (Class of 2018). 

Brown is entering the second season of his second tenure as North Carolina’s head coach.  In his eleven seasons leading the Tar Heels, he has compiled a 76-51-1 record, including a 4-2 bowl games mark.

He went 6-5 as Appalachian State’s head coach.  He led the Mountaineers to a 27-25 upset of Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Wake Forest for that 1983 season’s top highlight.

He coached the University of Texas to the 2005 National Championship and is one of just six active coaches who has won a national championship.

The 2005 Paul W. “Bear” Bryant National Coach of the Year and the 2008 Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year, Brown also is one of a handful of coaches to lead two programs to top-five national finishes.

Besides Brown, retired National Football League (NFL) star Julius Peppers and retired National Basketball Association (NBA) player Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues headline this year’s class of inductees to the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.

Peppers played at Southern Nash High School and later at the University of North Carolina before a 17-year NFL career–much of that spent with the Carolina Panthers. Bogues rose to fame as a 5-foot-3 point guard at Wake Forest University and later with the Charlotte Hornets during a 14-year NBA career.

The 12-person class also includes former Boston Red Sox player Trot Nixon and college basketball TV analyst Debbie Antonelli.

The rest of the class includes late longtime University of North Carolina track and field/cross country coach Dennis Craddock; Charles Kernodle, the Burlington Williams High School football team doctor for more than 60 years; former Greensboro Page High head basketball coach Mac Morris; retiring North Carolina State University Wolfpack Club executive director Bobby Purcell; former University of North Carolina at Charlotte athletics director Judy Rose; former Raleigh-based preps sports writer Tim Stevens; and former NFL player Donnell Woolford.

“This year’s class encompasses all fields of athletics, including professional, collegiate, high school and special achievements,” said Nora Lynn Finch, president of the Hall. “This 58th class of inductees and their outstanding accomplishments continue to build on the rich sports heritage of North Carolina. We look forward to celebrating this special time in our state’s sports history.”