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North Carolina coach Mack Brown and his Tar Heels kick off their 2023 campaign by securing a win against the South Carolina Gamecocks. The 2022 ACC Coastal Divison champions, who are once again looking to make it to the ACC championship game this year, cruised forward with a comfortable 31-17 victory at the Bank of America Stadium.
Highly touted North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye worked his magic once again for his team on the field. Maye, who recorded 4,321 passing yards and 31 TDs last season, opened his scorebook for 2023 with 269 passing yards and two TDs.
Not only this, but this is also the 100th win for Mack Brown, who has been the coach of the Tar Heels since 2019, after previously serving the team in the same position back in 1988 to 1997. But there is one post-game moment that has caught the attention of college football fans more than the high-octane action on the gridiron.
After North Carolina secured their first win of the season, a video of Mack Brown meeting up with South Carolina coach Shane Beamer in a post-game meetup is going viral on social media. In the video, we see Brown and Beamer sharing words of appreciation with each other after their week 1 opener against each other. But just when Shane Beamer looked like he was about to leave, Brown grabbed him by his throat to pull him back to whisper something in his ear.
This led to a lot of fans calling the actions of the North Carolina coach disrespectful. One fan even commented.
"By GOD the DISRESPECT"
And other fans followed suit to call out the actions of Brown.
But some fans believe that the cut-out clip does not reflect the whole story, since Mack Brown and Shane Beamer's families are very close to each other and they have known each other for years.
To some extent, it may be true that the clip has been blown out of proportion so that it goes viral on social media. Mack Brown also played against Shane Beamer's father, Frank Beamer back during his stint with the Tulane Green Wave from 1985 to 1987. They are also close friends with each other, so Brown has known the South Carolina coach ever since he was a child. In the video, it may be him sharing his experience and expertise with Shane Beamer as he gears up for the rest of the 2023 season.
Shane Beamer has the utmost respect for Mack Brown
The North Carolina coach has shared a special bond with the Beamers from the time when Frank Beamer was the coach of Virginia Tech. Frank's son, Shane has had the opportunity to know Brown right from the early days of his childhood.
According to the South Carolina coach, Brown was one of the first people to congratulate his parents when he landed the job with the Gamecocks back in December 2020.
"I remember when I got the job last year, one of the first people to call my parents was coach Brown to congratulate my dad on be being named the head coach at South Carolina", Beamer said back in 2021.
Before their week 1 clash, Beamer praised Brown during the SEC coaches' teleconference. He spoke highly of the strong bond they had developed over the years as family friends. Beamer also shared his experience of witnessing Mack Brown being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
"I've got a ton of respect for Coach Brown," Shane Beamer said. "The relationship with him really started with my parents and my dad's relationship with Coach Brown going all the way back to 1987, my dad's first season at Virginia Tech and Coach Brown was the head coach at Tulane and Virginia Tech and Tulane played each other."
"Then what Coach Brown did at North Carolina and then Texas, and now what he's doing at North Carolina, someone that my dad had a lot of respect for, has a lot of respect for. Someone that's been very good to me in my career", Shane Beamer added.
Despite this meeting on Week 1 ending with Mack Brown emerging victorious, Shane Beamer will be looking to shrug it off, as his team goes against Furman in their next game of the 2023 season.
