Why Texas coach Mack Brown is the best in the land (cont.)

And so on. You can keep listing off achievements (last year Texas had two academic All-Americans), but the bottom line is this: Mack Brown is really good at his job. And yet, nobody seems to appreciate the guy. Just last week -- LAST WEEK -- there was a column in the local paper, the Austin American-Statesman, with the headline: "Mack takes place with coaching elite." The column was positive and good, but you have to wonder why a guy who has won more games than anyone else the last 11 years would only now be getting that column in the local paper. It would be like going into St. Louis, picking up the paper, and reading a headline: "Pujols takes place among hitting elite."

There are reasons, of course, that people overlook Mack Brown. Some of his early Texas teams did underachieve. For a while, Oklahoma pounded Texas every year. It took Brown a long time to break through and win a Big 12 title. Also Brown doesn't necessarily fit the coaching image. You want a football coach whose voice registers an 8.2 on the Richter Scale. Brown's voice still squeaks sometimes, and it still drips with a twang that comes straight out of Cookeville, Tenn.

More than that, though, Brown seems to be a prisoner of an overblown history. Many people seem to believe that Brown is just a caretaker, that anyone ANYONE should win at Texas, you know, with all that in-state high school talent, with all that money, with the great facilities and 100,000 fans. Truth is, though, Texas wasn't particularly good when Brown took over. Here was a shocker to me: When the Longhorns beat Oklahoma and moved up to the No. 1 ranking, it was the first time since 1984 that they had been ranked No. 1 during the season.

But it wasn't just about No. 1 rankings. In the 12 years before Brown took over, Texas had six break-even or losing records. That doesn't fit the image, does it? The Longhorns had not finished in the top 10 in 15 years. The year before Brown took over, Texas dropped five of its last six and also lost to UCLA 66-3, leading to clever headlines blaring "Rout 66."

Texas had a great history, but it was just that: History. Ancient history. And this is probably Mack Brown's greatest achievement. He has made Texas so good that people forget the Longhorns were, more or less, a non-factor for a very long time.

This Longhorns team might be so good that people will have no choice but to acknowledge the Mack. The Longhorns have a quarterback, Colt McCoy, who is completing more than 80 percent of his passes. The offense averages 48 points a game. The defense gives up fewer than two yards per rush and relentlessly hounds quarterbacks.

And the Longhorns are in the middle of a four-game test. They came from behind to beat No. 1 Oklahoma. Last week, when some expected a letdown, they led Missouri 35-0 at halftime -- Brown called it greatest first half of football he'd ever been around. On Saturday, they play sixth-ranked Oklahoma State. Next week, they play eighth-ranked Texas Tech in Lubbock.

If they can get through all that without losing, then maybe everyone will appreciate that Mack Brown is the best in the land.

Joe Posnanski is a columnist at the Kansas City Star and the author of JoePosnanski.com.