Orangebloods: Mack Brown will step down as Texas head coach

It only took an hour for the news on Texas Longhorns head coach Mack Brown to go from an expected decision in the next two days to the first definitive report that Brown will step down as head coach after 16 years, as broken by Orangebloods.com.

The report, though obviously not yet confirmed by an official announcement by the university, would end the speculation about the dynamics between president Bill Powers, the Board of Regents that has been putting pressure on Powers for some time, and Brown, who remains a close friend of Powers, in advance of the Thursday meeting that coincided with the 48-hour window from the earlier Horns247 report.

The news also comes following Brown's Sunday meeting with new athletics director Steve Patterson on the way out to New York for National Football Foundation functions.

As for the specifics of the announcement, Chip Brown is reporting that it will come by the end of the week and include Mack Brown's buyout and reassignment within the athletic department, resulting in Brown receiving a salary through the end of his contract, which expires in 2020.

And with the news, speculation about the possibility of Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban will ratchet up once again, a process surely fueled by tweets like this one:

There is real belief within the profession that Saban will happen. Absolutely fascinating times.

— FootballScoop Staff (@footballscoop) December 10, 2013

Other names possibly in play, according to Football Rumor Mill, include San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh and Florida State Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher.

If the report from Orangebloods is true, then this is about to be some type of wild ride as the Longhorns go through their first head coaching search in the Twitter era.