Don Brown

[UC990411]

Guys,
I hate HCPP as much as the rest of you but Don Brown isn't the answer. Our problems are on offense, we need a new OC. If GDL had any clue we wouldn't be calling for Paul's head right now, we'd probably be 4-2 or 5-1.(I know, hard to believe) and trending upward. The fact of the matter is its GDL, coupled with the fact that Paul can't see his ineffective ness that's killing us. Brown isn't fixing our offense.

 

[NutmegState]

Brown would obviously hire his own offensive staff...

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

Dude...im pretty sure he wont coach the offense. As a matter of fact, im fairly sure he wont coach the defense anymore either. However, he will hire someone who shares his philosophies. They will probably be aggressive, and they will take shots when its appropriate.
Im not saying he's the answer, but that just doesn't make sense

 

[businesslawyer]

Guys,
I hate HCPP as much as the rest of you but Don Brown isn't the answer. Our problems are on offense, we need a new OC. If GDL had any clue we wouldn't be calling for Paul's head right now, we'd probably be 4-2 or 5-1.(I know, hard to believe) and trending upward. The fact of the matter is its GDL, coupled with the fact that Paul can't see his ineffective ness that's killing us. Brown isn't fixing our offense.

Any head coach who can't see that GDL is a problem is himself a problem. Period. Why in the world would you assume Don Brown can't see that? (To be fair, it is possible that P sees it but isn't going to say anything until after the season. We'll know that soon enough.)

 

[uconndogs]

I like P. Like the way he handles the players, he values hard nosed, physical football and I think by and large he puts good people around him. BUT, D is on him. If D is the problem then P needs to get done what needs to get done. Nothing more complicated than that. There is little doubt in my mind that if D is back next season, that will be the last season for both of them. This program has progressed very nicely and very quickly, this university will not sit around and wathc a head coach fumble around.

 

[Nostical]

I don't see Don Brown as the answer. Good DC but would not be my choice for HC. Sorry.

 

[BG79]

My suspicion is that someone else will snag Don Brown away from us if he isnt promoted. The only thing watchable on this team is the defense, I don't want rolling of the dice to lose that as well. I can absolutely live with a team that wont be world beaters but will play an exciting brand of football. I also think that would help recruiting as you'd have to believe that young playmakers would be more inclined to want to be a part of a system that showcases their talents better.

 

[huskymedic]

My suspicion is that someone else will snag Don Brown away from us if he isnt promoted. The only thing watchable on this team is the defense, I don't want rolling of the dice to lose that as well. I can absolutely live with a team that wont be world beaters but will play an exciting brand of football. I also think that would help recruiting as you'd have to believe that young playmakers would be more inclined to want to be a part of a system that showcases their talents better.

With what we are losing on the D side of the ball... it wouldn't suprise me @ all if he bails at the end of the season before his stock goes down.

 

[huskypantz]

I want an offensive-minded head coach who's smooth on the recruiting trail. I would not mind keeping Brown as DC, but he doesn't meet the prior criteria.

 

[pj]

Not sure Brown is that good at recruiting either. Love him as a DC.

 

[uconndogs]

Wasn't Brown the HC at UMASS when they won a national championship at the 1AA level?

 

[mattp]

I want an offensive-minded head coach who's smooth on the recruiting trail. I would not mind keeping Brown as DC, but he doesn't meet the prior criteria.

I'm pretty sure Brown's a good recruiter. I remember when we got him hearing that he'd gotten UMD a lot of their better defensive players and they were worried they'd lose some of their top recruits b/c he was gone. I have no idea who's responsible for whom, but I remember at the time hearing that he would be a help in recruiting. I think if that's true and we paired him with a great OC we could have something. If nothing else his press conferences would be must see viewing.

Also I love our defense, it took us two years to build, and it'd be annoying to start over with something else that I probably won't like as much.

 

[NutmegState]

Brown is an excellent recruiter.

As far as head coaching goes :

In 2004, Brown returned to UMass to take over as its head coach. During his tenure as head coach from 2004 to 2008, UMass posted the best five-year record in school history, 43–19.[2] In his first year, he led the Minutemen to a 6–5 record, including victories over fourth-ranked Colgate, seventh-ranked New Hampshire, and ninth-ranked Maine. During 2005, Brown helped UMass to a 7–2 start and a final ranking of #19. That year, the Minutemen defeated fourth-ranked James Madison and handed Delaware their worst home loss in two decades, 35–7.[1]
In 2006, Brown led the Massachusetts to the Atlantic 10 conference championship and a finish as runners-up to the national championship. They ended the season ranked No. 2 with a 13–2 record. At home, he set a school record with a perfect 8–0 record in McGuirk Stadium. That season, Brown was named the AFCA Region I Coach of the Year, Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, and New England Football Coach of the Year.[1]
In 2007, UMass again won its conference, now as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association. The team advanced to the semifinals and finished the season with a No. 6 final ranking.[1]

 

[Husky68]

Few head coaches were both offensive and defensive coordinators. So most guys have more experience in one or the other. Key is guy at top knows football, style offense and defense he wants and gets coordinators who can implement those styles. Dick Rod picked a bad DC at Mich and look what happened, all the offense in the world wasn't going to win many games.
Offense isn't as hard as Uconn has made it seem. This year the only 2 coaches that have been at Uconn for Div 1a football are coaching their teams offenses to 103 and 110 in country (and unfortunately our current coach is the 110).
Our ex OC is coaching a Towson team to more offense against LSU than Uconn has put up against BCS schools. Towson got 296 against LSU while in Uconn's 3 BCS games has 239, 223, 244 (and those 3 were no LSU at LSU in a Saturday night game).

 

[ZooCougar]

I don't see Don Brown as HC material. He is pretty good at what he does however.

 

[mattp]

I don't see Don Brown as HC material. He is pretty good at what he does however.

I think the body of evidence says otherwise. He's a good recruiter and had success as a 1AA HC.

 

[Dann]

Not sure Brown is that good at recruiting either. Love him as a DC.

i love him as dc and for right now i rather have him as HC 2moro at this point in P and D's stay here. but the more i look at it from a recruiting stand point i struggle to give him the long term job. we only have 5 d commits so far and only 2 of them have other good offers we beats bcs teams out for. that does worry me right now.

 

[NutmegState]

I don't see Don Brown as HC material. He is pretty good at what he does however.

Interesting, considering he's 94-45 all time as a head coach, 43-19 at the 1AA level, had a solid stint as DC at Maryland, and is in the midst of doing another fine job at Connecticut at DC. Looks like the perfect candidate to me.

 

[Excalibur]

I think the body of evidence says otherwise. He's a good recruiter and had success as a 1AA HC.

I agree. His history says he can be a head coach, and that his players seem willing to run through a wall for him makes me think that he'd be fine at this level.

 

[pj]

i love him as dc and for right now i rather have him as HC 2moro at this point in P and D's stay here. but the more i look at it from a recruiting stand point i struggle to give him the long term job. we only have 5 d commits so far and only 2 of them have other good offers we beats bcs teams out for. that does worry me right now.

This is my concern too. Recruiting at UMass is totally different than BCS recruiting, there is a ton of similar talent to choose from at the FCS level and evaluation is critical. You can be a lot of players' only offer and still put together a top 1AA team. But to go up and against other BCS programs for guys everybody knows is good is different. Maryland did recruit some good players while he was there, but I'm not sure it was Don Brown who reeled them in.

At UConn Javon Hadley this year is the only defensive recruit we really had to compete for, and his best offers were Miss St and UCF. The other recruits this year are guys we saw at camp and liked.

The year before, we brought in a lot of 2* players with short offer lists and the top linebacker recruits were brought in with the promise that they could play (or try to play) on offense. I think there are some good players there but again, we're relying on superior evaluation more than superior salesmanship.

I like how he's developed the young DBs. Great defensive coordinator. I think he'd be a good head coach, but he wouldn't be my first choice unless he performed great in the hiring process.

My criteria: I'd like to get a quality recruiter / salesman / motivator / strategic planner / manager / teacher as head coach, great offensive mind as OC, and great DC, with aggressive styles on both sides of the ball. Don Brown is a great DC. Don't know if he's the complete package as head coach.

 

[businesslawyer]

i love him as dc and for right now i rather have him as HC 2moro at this point in P and D's stay here. but the more i look at it from a recruiting stand point i struggle to give him the long term job. we only have 5 d commits so far and only 2 of them have other good offers we beats bcs teams out for. that does worry me right now.

I don't understand how you think you can tell how good a recruiter he is by virtue of how good a job at recruiting defensive players UConn does with him as defensive coordinator.

 

[pj]

I don't understand how you think you can tell how good a recruiter he is by virtue of how good a job at recruiting defensive players UConn does with him as defensive coordinator.

Has Fishy been coaching your sense of humor again? From the booth? With no guidance on the field of play?

 

[joey3$trike$]

I like the head coach of Temple, fiery attitude like DB.

 

[ZooCougar]

Interesting, considering he's 94-45 all time as a head coach, 43-19 at the 1AA level, had a solid stint as DC at Maryland, and is in the midst of doing another fine job at Connecticut at DC. Looks like the perfect candidate to me.

What's his record as a HC at the I-A level?

 

[NutmegState]

What's his record as a HC at the I-A level?

Same as mine, unfortunately. But to that point, I think UConn's best chance to hit it big with its next coach is to hire (or in Brown's case, promote) a top assistant.

I'm not saying it has to be Brown, but getting a guy in here with a good record as a 1A coach won't be easy. Hathaway might have been thinking exactly how you are, and look where that got him. We aren't going to pull a HC from an AQ, other than perhaps Addazio.

MAC, CUSA (maybe), Sun Belt..