Mack Brown takes a shot at North Carolina for firing him before the end of the season

Well, Mack Brown didn't hold back.

The now former UNC football coach discussed how this decision played out, clearly stating that there were mixed views on how to handle the situation.

While there will always be two sides to the story, Brown provided his testament to the narrative:

“All I wanted to do was wait until the end of the year. And they wanted me to retire on Monday, before the NC State game. We haven’t beaten State, it was really important for these kids to play well and have a chance to win. I didn’t want to break their hearts on Monday. So I said, ‘No, I won’t do that.’ And then they wanted me to do it on Friday. Well I sure wasn’t going to do it Friday before the game.”

Brown indicates that it was an issue of when to actually break the news. Brown goes on to say that he agreed with the decision to change leadership, but the timing was the factor that the two sides simply couldn't agree upon.

“I agree with the administration that we need a change of leadership at the top,” Brown said. “I just wanted it to happen after the season was over. These poor kids have had so much turmoil in their lives and I think the administration’s into finding a football coach, and I’m into saving lives and making sure that they’re healthy, making sure that they’re mentally healthy. And when you have a four-game losing streak, that’s hard for kids. They’re not used to that. Especially here. We haven’t had that happen.

And then especially with a sick, young guy. So, you’ve got a four-game losing streak and then you lose one of your best friends that you’ve watched die, at 23 years old. So, I wasn’t thinking about me. I wasn’t thinking about my future. I was thinking about what’s best for these young people. And that was what our whole staff did. And I was so proud that they came back and gathered themselves and were able to beat Virginia on the road, which is hard to do here. Then they were able to beat Florida State on the road. Then they were able to beat Wake Forest.”

Let's face it: this group experienced a lot of adversity this year, and the way this situation went down just added to it. While this was a decision that could've came following the game on Saturday, it's one that added unneeded chaos and controversary around the program, something the university doesn't need as it searches for its next head coach.

In the same token, Brown wanting to wait until the end of the year (or season) would put the program behind in terms of finding a new head coach. Brown left Cunningham and North Carolina no choice but to fire him, as his second tenure with the program ends bitterly.

Let's just say, this situation wasn't handled rather well...