Mack Brown's return to Chapel Hill has been marked by a lot of "the first time since ..." references.
On Thursday, Brown was back at the ACC Kickoff for the first time since leaving Chapel Hill after the 1997 season. Brown was in charge of the Tar Heel program from 1988-1997. He then left for a 16-year stop as the head coach at Texas, Brown had been working as an ESPN analyst until he was lured back to Chapel Hill in December.
During his time with reporters in Charlotte, Brown talked about the season opener which will take place right down the road from The Westin Hotel. Bank of America Stadium will be the site of the Belk College Kickoff on August 31. That game against his former Texas defensive coordinator and head coach in waiting will set the early tone for Brown's second tenure at North Carolina.
"Number one, it's in Charlotte which is a key recruiting place for us. So, I'm excited about that," Brown said Thursday at the ACC Kickoff.
"In the old days, when you played a neutral site game, only the home team could bring recruits. Now, both North Carolina and South Carolina can invite their recruits. So it will be a huge day for recruiting. I admire Will and pull for him. You never like coaching against your buddies. But that's the way it is. You forget that when kickoff starts. It's an exciting game for us and Charlotte's so important to us. We need to play well."