Texas Longhorns head coach Mack Brown will step down in the coming days, “high-level sources” told Orangebloods.com.
There has been no official announcement from the university, and several other outlets have reported a decision is expected by Thursday, when Brown is scheduled to meet with university president Bill Powers.
Rumors of Brown’s departure from Texas have been ongoing for several years as the Longhorns struggled to become a national power again.
The 62-year-old Brown would end a 16-year run at Texas with a 158-47 record, including 15 bowl appearances, 11 bowl wins (two of which were BCS bowls) and a national championship.
Brown arrived at Texas in 1998 after nearly a decade as head coach at the University of North Carolina. He led the Tar Heels to three 10-win seasons and six bowl games.
Brown had a string of nine consecutive double-digit-win seasons snapped by an ugly 5-7 campaign in 2010. That year marked the first losing season for Texas under Brown and followed an appearance in the 2009 BCS National Championship game.
Texas had never failed to win at least nine games prior to the 2010 season, but the Longhorns have not reached the 10-win mark since.
After a 1-2 start to the 2013 season, Texas won six straight games and re-entered the Top 25. However, the Longhorns lost two of their final three games, including a 30-10 loss to Baylor on Saturday in the Big 12 championship game.
That loss may have been the final straw for new athletic director Steve Patterson.
Instead of the Fiesta Bowl, the 8-4 Longhorns are headed to the Alamo Bowl to play Oregon.
Reports surfaced earlier in the season that Texas might be targeting Alabama coach Nick Saban after it was discovered that a current and former Texas regent discussed the Texas position with Saban’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, after last season’s BCS championship game. Saban denied he was interested in the job.
Last week, Powers told the Austin American-Statesman that the school is not pursuing Saban.