‘If I call, he answers.’ How 49ers coach Will Healy forged a bond with UNC’s Mack Brown.

The list of sports celebrities at the 2016 Bobby Dodd Award dinner in Atlanta was impressive. But as the emcee introduced them and began ticking off their accomplishments, Will Healy got nervous.

Former coach Mack Brown and his brother Watson were there. Coach Mike Houston had just won a national championship at James Madison. Former Atlanta Braves player Brian Jordan was on hand, as was D.J. Shockley, a former all-SEC quarterback at Georgia. Mike MacIntyre accepted the Dodd award as the nation’s top college football coach at Colorado.

Then there was Healy, who had just completed a winless first season as Austin Peay’s coach.

“So they’re reading off all the accolades of all these celebrities,” Healy said. “And I start to think: ‘What the hell are they going to say about me? That Will Healy goes 0-11 in his first year at Austin Peay?’ ”

They could have mentioned that Healy’s grandfather played for the legendary Bobby Dodd at Georgia Tech (which he did). And Healy admits that might be why he was invited to the dinner.

Instead, the emcee never even got to Healy.

“They actually left me off the list,” Healy said. “They didn’t mean to at all. But that’s the most thankful I’ve ever been about anything.”

Healy made the most of the evening, however.

‘One of the best young coaches in the country’

Brown, who had won a national championship coaching at Texas and who was then working as an analyst at ESPN, sat at Healy’s table. Healy picked Brown’s brain for much of the evening, asking him questions about how to run a program, game-day preparation, all kinds of things.

When the banquet was over, Healy asked Brown if he could get his phone number. Since that night they’ve kept in touch, usually more than once a week and even as they’ve moved on to different jobs.

They were to meet again on the field on Saturday, when Healy’s Charlotte 49ers (0-1) were scheduled to face Brown’s 12th-ranked North Carolina team (1-0) at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. The game was canceled due to the coronavirus on Thursday, however, when several members of Charlotte’s offensive line were placed in contract tracing quarantine.

“He’s been steady for me,” Healy said of Brown, who first coached at UNC from 1988-97 before going to Texas, where the Longhorns won the national championship in 2005. After leaving Texas, he worked at ESPN before returning to North Carolina for a second stint in 2019.

“If I call, he answers; if not, he texts,” Healy said. “He helps me with any kind of information I might be interested in. He’s so spot on with anything you throw at him. Every time I talk to him, I get something different out of it.”

Brown, 69, has a 252-128-1 career record in 32 seasons as a head coach. Healy, 35, has 20 victories in his four-plus seasons as a head coach at Austin Peay and Charlotte.

“(Healy) is a good friend of mine,” Brown said. “He’s one of the best young coaches in the country. He’s smart; he’s got high energy. He’s very innovative. I love watching him. He’s a superstar who’s got it all moving forward. His guys play with the same energy that he has on the sideline.”

Will Healy can talk to Mack Brown about anything

Theirs is definitely a mentor-mentee relationship that is pretty much one-sided, at least as far as advice-giving goes.

“I don’t know how much I bring to the table, other than saying funny stuff to make him laugh at some of the dumb things I say,” Healy said. “When he speaks, you’re like, ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ And he’s kind of like, ‘Well, I’ve been doing this a little bit longer than you have.’ ”

Healy said he feels comfortable talking to Brown about just about anything.

Last season, he sought Brown’s advice on what he should tell his team before playing top-ranked Clemson. The 49ers-Tigers game was the week before North Carolina’s matchup with Clemson.

“He said I’ll tell you the same thing I’m going to tell my team next week,” Healy said. “They’re still the No. 1 team in the country. They’re still really good. Let’s go. Put your head down and go after them. The expectation stays the same. Go compete.”

Clemson beat Charlotte 52-10, then edged the Tar Heels 21-20.

How, Healy has asked Brown, does he treat the other big games?

“He said, ‘for me, it was Oklahoma when I was at Texas,’ ” Healy said. “But the players didn’t know that, you never put in trick plays in a week of a big game, because the players will think you don’t think they’re good enough to beat them straight up.”

Will Healy’s relationships with other football coaches

Healy left Austin Peay for Charlotte after the 2018 season. He had transformed the Governors, who would go 8-4 after that 0-11 season in 2016, from perhaps the worst program in the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision to respectability.

So when he pursued the Charlotte job, Healy asked Brown to be a reference.

“Can you help me?” Healy asked.

“Will, I would absolutely love to help you,” Healy recalled Brown responding. “But I’ve already called (Charlotte) for somebody else. I don’t want to call for two people. I’d be glad to call, but it wouldn’t be right to do that for two people.”

Brown is actually just one of several coaches who Healy regularly talks with for advice and information. The others include Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Nebraska’s Scott Frost, Appalachian State’s Shawn Clark, Louisiana Tech’s Skip Holtz and North Texas’ Seth Littrell.

Like Healy did at Austin Peay and is trying to do at Charlotte, Brown is in the process of reviving the football program at UNC, which he did during his first stop in Chapel Hill 30 years ago. And like Healy, Brown goes about his business with a positive, happy disposition.

“Sometimes this pressure-packed profession can get in the way of enjoying the moment,” Healy said. “Whether it’s Mack at 69 years old or Dabo at 50, they’ve got the same philosophy. They’re fun to watch. They make this a better profession the way they handle their business. So I always want to see how they do things.

“I’m not calling to fish for information. I just enjoy talking to the guy. It’s no problem.”

Charlotte at UNC

When: 3:30 p.m., Saturday

Where: Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill

Watch: RSN

This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 5:15 AM with the headline "‘If I call, he answers.’ How 49ers coach Will Healy forged a bond with UNC’s Mack Brown.."