In June of 2013, speculation surfaced that the Group of Five conferences -- the AAC, Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West and Sun Belt -- was considering adding a bowl game in, among other cities, Dubai. While that has yet to come to fruition, there’s a Power Five football program that could make its way to the United Arabs Emirate city before anyone else.
Monday, former Texas head coach and current ESPN college football analyst Mack Brown led a UT contingent that includes former UT players David Thomas and Ricky Brown on a trip to Dubai. Citing a source with knowledge of the situation, the Austin American-Statesman reports that the Brown-led group is in the city “on a football-related trip meant to explore future possibilities for Texas athletic.”
Another person in the group is Yasmin Michael, the wife of UT athletic director Steve Patterson and the only one in the group who speaks Arabic, the Statesman noted. In addition to Dubai, Patterson is also exploring the possibility of moving a Longhorns football game to a city in Mexico.
While Brown works for ESPN, he also holds the title of special assistant to the UT president. Brown stepped into the advisory role, and annual salary of $500,000, one day after stepping down as the Longhorns’ head coach in December of 2013.
Dubai is beautiful! pic.twitter.com/V1oZV6IRbS
— Mack Brown (@CoachMackBrown) April 21, 2015
Sally & I In front of The Burj Al Arab in Dubai. Wonderful Architecture! pic.twitter.com/WdYsTQqHKu
— Mack Brown (@CoachMackBrown) April 21, 2015
Amazing City! Dubai is Spectacular pic.twitter.com/59fmmFb1Xw
— Mack Brown (@CoachMackBrown) April 21, 2015
(Photo credit: Mack Brown’s Twitter account)