Berk Brown

Last updated

Berk Brown
Current position
Title Head coach
Team Southern Oregon
Conference Frontier
Record17–14
Playing career
?–2004 Modesto JC
2005–2006 Southern Oregon
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2007–2015 Southern Oregon (assistant)
2016 St. Mary's School (assistant)
2017–2019 Crater HS (assistant)
2020–2022Crater HS
2023–presentSouthern Oregon
Head coaching record
Overall17–14 (college)
13–12 (high school)
Tournaments0–1 (OSAA)
Accomplishments and honors
Awards
  • AFCANAIA Region 5 Coach of the Year (2024)

Berk Brown is an American college football coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Southern Oregon Raiders, a position he has held since January of 2023. [1]

Contents

Early life

Brown played football as a defensive lineman for Modesto Junior College and then joined the Southern Oregon Raiders during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. [2] In 2005, the Raiders finished with a 1–9 record, followed by a 2–7 record in 2006. [3]

Coaching career

Following his playing career, Brown stayed with the Raiders as an assistant coach. [4] In 2007, Brown was in charge of the tight ends, then from 2008 to 2009 he was in charge of the defensive line and special teams. [5] In 2010, he was named as the defensive coordinator, but when Craig Howard was hired as the head coach in 2011, he would not retain his position. [5] Instead he was put in charge of the linebackers for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. [5] In 2013, he was once again promoted to defensive coordinator. [5] In 2014, Southern Oregon won their first ever NAIA national championship, defeating Marian University by a score of 55–31. [6] In 2015, the Raiders would once again return to the national championship game, facing Marian University for the second year in a row. [7] However, Marian would get the better of the Southern Oregon this time, winning by a score of 31–14. [7]

Following the season, it was announced that Brown was resigning and accepting a position as an assistant athletic director, assistant football coach, and as a health and physical education teacher at St. Mary's School in Medford, Oregon. [5] He would remain there for one year before accepting a position as defensive coordinator at Crater High School in Central Point, Oregon. [8] In 2020, Brown was announced as the next head coach of the Crater Comets. [8] He spent three seasons with the Comets, accumulating an overall record of 13–12 and making one appearance in the OSAA 5A playoffs in 2021. [9]

In January of 2023, Brown was announced as the next head coach at his alma mater, Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. [10] Following the 2024 season, Brown was named as the AFCANAIA Region 5 co-Coach of the Year alongside Texas College head coach Jarrail Jackson. [11] In his three seasons as head coach of Southern Oregon, Brown has accumulated an overall record of 17–14.

Head coaching record

College

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs NAIA#
Southern Oregon (Frontier Conference)(2023–present)
2023 Southern Oregon6–45–3T–4th
2024 Southern Oregon8–35–3T–4th24
2025 Southern Oregon3–72–45th West
Southern Oregon:17–1412–10
Total:17–14
      National championship        Conference title        Conference division title or championship game berth

High school

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs
Crater High School (OSAA 5A Special District 4)(2020–2021)
2020Crater HS4–21–02nd
2021Crater HS6–46–12ndL OSAA 5A first round [9]
Crater High School (OSAA 5A Special District 2)(2022)
2022Crater HS3–63–56th
Crater HS:13–1210–6
Total:13–12
      National championship        Conference title        Conference division title or championship game berth

References

  1. SOU Sports Information (January 11, 2023). "Berk Brown returns to SOU as head football coach". souraiders.com. Ashland, OR . Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  2. Butler, Dale (July 26, 2023). "Hidalgo to play college football in Oregon". The Ceres Courier. Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  3. "Football History". souraiders.com. Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  4. "Berk Brown". souraiders.com. Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 SOU Sports Information (June 15, 2016). "Berk Brown, longtime Raider and defensive coordinator, announces resignation". souraiders.com. Ashland, OR . Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  6. Grosbach, Alan (December 20, 2014). "Southern Oregon Wins First Football National Championship". NAIA . Daytona Beach, FL . Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  7. 1 2 Grosbach, Alan (December 20, 2014). "Marian (Ind.) Wins Second Football National Championship". NAIA . Daytona Beach, FL . Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  8. 1 2 Ulmer, Jerry (August 1, 2020). "Football: Crater makes 'smooth transition' with Brown". OSAAtoday. Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  9. 1 2 "2021 Oregon High School Football Playoff Brackets: OSAA". MaxPreps . Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  10. SOU Sports Information (January 11, 2023). "Berk Brown Returns to SOU as Head Football Coach". Frontier Conference . Ashland, OR . Retrieved December 22, 2025.
  11. SOU Sports Information (November 19, 2024). "SOU's Brown voted AFCA-NAIA Region 5 co-Coach of the Year". souraiders.com. Ashland, OR . Retrieved December 22, 2025.