Texas Rio Grande Valley launching Mack Brown-led football study
Former Texas coach Mack Brown is helping a Texas university determine if it should launch a football program.
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is launching a football feasibility study led by Brown. The school, located in McAllen, has an enrollment of 28,500. That number is expected to increase rapidly in the near future.
Here's what UTRGV president Guy Bailey told the McAllen Monitor. The feasibility study is part of a long-term strategic plan launched by the school, which has purchased 52 acres of land that could be used for athletics.
“Had we done our strategic planning later, we would have done (the study) later,” Bailey told The Monitor on Friday afternoon. “What you don’t want to do is do your strategic planning for the university and omit something like this. You don’t want to do something like this independent of broader strategic plans. That explains the timing of it.
“There is certainly a lot of community interest and a lot of other interest,” Bailey added. “Are we ready for it? That’s what the feasibility study will tell us, I think. We’ll be guided a lot by that.”
According to a release from the school the committee for the study will consist of "special advisors, faculty and staff, student leaders and community members, will work with the consultants chosen to conduct the feasibility study. The committee then will present its final recommendations to Bailey." Brown, now an ESPN analyst, is the chairperson of the committee.
“I am thrilled and honored to have been selected to lead this committee,” Brown said in a statement. “The opportunity to build a college football program from the ground up is unique, and I’m excited to be involved in the process. I know there are many passionate football fans in the Rio Grande Valley, and I can’t think of a better place to launch a college football program.”
Brown, currently serving in a consulting capacity for UT, retired from Texas at the end of the 2013 season. He came to the Longhorns from North Carolina following the 1997 season.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
