Before Saturday’s game against JMU, UNC head football coach Mack Brown mistakenly referred to JMU head coach Bob Chesney as Bob “Cheney.”
Immediately after JMU’s 70-50 win over the Tar Heels, Brown asked his players if they thought they should retire. After a disastrous loss to a coach he had never heard of, Brown, who won 285 games and a national championship with Texas, immediately considered retirement.
Life passes by in the blink of an eye.
“It’s an embarrassing day, a shocking day,” Brown told the media immediately after the loss. “You can’t be in North Carolina and lose to a Group of Five team. That’s it.”
Brown doesn’t think NC State should lose to a Group of Five school, but the Tar Heels haven’t been dominant against Sun Belt teams in recent years, beating Appalachian State by a combined eight points in 2022 and 2023 and only beating Georgia State by a touchdown in 2022. Appalachian State beat NC State in 2019.
After a 20-point loss to JMU this season, a frustrated Coach Brown walked into the locker room and asked his players if they still trusted him to lead. Although the players responded that they did, Coach Brown later told the media that he regretted asking the UNC players if they should retire.
“Young people shouldn’t be put under that kind of pressure,” Brown said.
Coach Brown has no plans to step down anytime soon, but the loss to JMU intensified calls for him to resign from fans and the media, and depending on the results of the remaining games this season, it’s entirely possible that Coach Brown will choose to step down after the 2024 season.
As for JMU, the Dukes have continued their elite play since moving to the FBS. JMU is 22-5 since being promoted from the FCS with notable wins over App State, UVA and UNC over the last three seasons. The Dukes hold a winning record against ACC teams during that span and are 2-1 against teams from Power 4 conferences.
Of JMU’s five losses at the FBS level, only three have come with JMU’s starting quarterback and head coach vacant (to Georgia Southern in 2022, Louisville in 2022 and Appalachian State in 2023). Todd Centeio took a loss against Marshall and was limited against Louisville in 2022. Last year’s bowl loss to Air Force came after head coach Kurt Cignetti left for Indiana, leaving the Dukes with several volunteer coaches to fill personnel holes.
The Dukes have proven themselves to be an elite Group of Five program with a full roster over the past three seasons, and yet Brown was so depressed after a home loss to JMU that he considered retirement.
Photo courtesy of JMU Athletic Communications