Mack Brown: Nothing has changed
— -- SAN ANTONIO -- Besieged Texas coach Mack Brown said Thursday he has no interest in discussing his job status or campaigning for his job and that he plans to meet with new athletic director Steve Patterson and university president Bill Powers about his future.
Brown, speaking at a Valero Alamo Bowl news conference, insisted nothing has changed.
"There's been a little speculation about my job situation," Brown said. "We're not here to talk about me. My situation has not changed. I have the best president in the country in Bill Powers. He's done a tremendous job. We've lost an iconic athletic director in DeLoss Dodds. He's been my boss for 16 years. We hired what I think is a great athletic director in Steve Patterson.
"Any time the athletic director changes, it changes the game. I will sit down and talk to him and Bill and discuss the direction we're going. I'm looking forward to my meeting with Bill and Steve and then move forward."
When Brown returns to Austin from a Friday morning recruiting trip to Houston, he will meet with Powers and Patterson, a source told ESPN's Brett McMurphy. The specific time of Brown's meeting with Powers and Patterson is not known. The Longhorns' team banquet begins at 7:30 p.m. ET.
On Thursday morning, Brown attended an Alamo Bowl function in San Antonio and then later Thursday visited recruits in Beaumont and Longview, Texas, a source told ESPN.
Brown on Friday met with Roderick Bernard, a Sharpstown High wide receiver who has committed to Texas, in Houston and was to return to Austin to meet with several recruits, a source said.
While it is possible the process might come to a conclusion Friday with Brown resigning and the evening Texas football banquet becoming a celebration of Brown's career, a source cautioned the conversation might not go so smoothly and the situation could drag into or through the weekend. The source said there have been discussions about how Brown might transition to another role with the university.
Brown has been promised a "real, substantive conversation," according to a source, although a different source said it is believed Brown in the end will do what is in the best interest of the program and, realizing there is not stable support, step aside.
San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, sources told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.
No talks have occurred between Harbaugh and the school, sources told Mortensen, and no proposals have been exchanged. Harbaugh on Wednesday declined comment on reports he was on Texas' list.
Orangebloods.com first reported Tuesday that Brown will resign after 16 years as coach.
ESPN's Joe Schad and Brett McMurphy, ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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