In his North Carolina revival, Mack Brown produced some significant moments of success for the Tar Heels football program.
A win against heated rival North Carolina State wasn't among them across Brown's final four seasons at the helm, which concluded Saturday when the Wolfpack exploded for 22 fourth-quarter points in their 35-30 win.
It marked an end to an tumultuous week for Brown, who on two separate occasions in recent weeks declared his intent to continue coaching North Carolina but was relieved of his duties last Monday.
On Saturday night, Brown shed more light on the situation from his viewpoint -- including his contention that UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham and school leadership had approached him about stepping down just hours before the regular-season finale.
"I agree with the administration that we need a change in leadership at the top. I just wanted it to happen after the season was over," Brown said. "These poor kids have had so much turmoil, and I think the administration is into finding a football coach and I'm into saving lives, making sure that they're healthy, making sure that they're mentally healthy.
"I wasn't thinking about me, I wasn't thinking about my future. I was thinking about what was best for these young men. That was what our whole staff did."
Though Brown had declared his intent to keep coaching, he said he merely had attempted to buy time to address the situation at season's end.
"All I wanted to do was wait till the end of the year. They wanted me to retire on Monday before the State game," Brown, who won a national title at Texas in 2006, said. "We hadn't beaten State (as a senior class); it was really important to these kids.
"And I said, 'No, I won't do that.' Then, they wanted me to do it on Friday. I sure wasn't going to do it on Friday, 24 hours before the game and disrupt their entire lives.
"The thing I said was, 'I'll talk to you (Saturday) night about it, after the game, or I'll talk to you Sunday morning.' I don't know what the difference in Monday and Saturday night would have been.
"But, I don't want to get into, like I said, the he-said, she-said. I don't have to have sources close. (Leadership) knows exactly what I said."
Brown praised the state, region and those who had played for him and coached alongside him.
"I've spent 16 years out of my 36 years (as a head coach) at this place; I love the state of North Carolina," he said.
"I love my time; I want to thank the players, staff, coaches; I want to thank the fans.
"I agree it was time for a leadership change at the time, I was just disappointed the way it was done. We could have had a joint press conference."
Instead, North Carolina's search presses on, and the 73-year-old Brown exits just a few wins shy of 300 for his career with bowl eligibility secured for the 28th time in 36 FBS seasons.