Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Cookeville, Tennessee, U.S. | April 19, 1950
Playing career | |
1969–1972 | Vanderbilt |
Position(s) | Quarterback |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1973 | Vanderbilt (GA) |
1974–1975 | East Carolina (QB/WR) |
1976 | Jacksonville State (RB) |
1977 | Jacksonville State (OC) |
1978 | Texas Tech (QB/WR) |
1979–1980 | Austin Peay |
1981–1982 | Vanderbilt (OC) |
1983 | Cincinnati |
1984–1985 | Rice |
1986–1990 | Vanderbilt |
1991–1992 | Mississippi State (OC) |
1993–1994 | Oklahoma (OC) |
1995–2006 | UAB |
2007–2015 | Tennessee Tech |
Administrative career (AD unless noted) | |
1984–1985 | Rice |
2002–2005 | UAB |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 136–211–1 |
Bowls | 0–1 |
Tournaments | 0–1 (NCAA D-I playoffs) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Championships | |
OVC (2011) | |
Awards | |
OVC Coach of the Year (2011) | |
Lester Watson Brown (born April 19, 1950) is a retired American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at Tennessee Technological University, a position he held from 2007 to 2015. Previously, Brown served as the head coach at Austin Peay State University (1979–1980), the University of Cincinnati (1983), Rice University (1984–1985), Vanderbilt University (1986–1990), and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (1995–2006). He was also the athletic director at Rice from 1984 to 1985 and at UAB from 2002 to 2005. Brown played college football as a quarterback at Vanderbilt. He is the older brother of Mack Brown, the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
A native of Cookeville, Tennessee, Brown was one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the nation coming out of high school. He was also recruited to play basketball and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team as a shortstop. He chose to stay in state and played as a quarterback at Vanderbilt University from 1969 to 1972. He started all four years at Vandy and led the Commodores to their best seasons in terms of wins since 1960. One of his victories was a 14–10 upset over the #13 Alabama Crimson Tide in 1969. It was Vanderbilt's first victory over Alabama in 13 seasons.
After graduating from Vanderbilt, Brown spent the 1973 season as a graduate assistant at his alma mater. From there, he went to East Carolina University, where he spent two seasons as an assistant to Pat Dye, coaching quarterbacks and wide receivers. In 1976 and 1977, he served as the offensive coordinator at Jacksonville State University. The Gamecocks played for the NCAA Division II Football Championship in 1977.
Brown spent the 1978 season as an assistant at Texas Tech University under Rex Dockery before landing his first head coaching position a year later. At age 29, he began a two-year stint as the head coach at Austin Peay State University. The Governors had a record of 14–8 under Brown.
In 1981, Brown returned to Vanderbilt to become the school's offensive coordinator. In the 1982 season, Vanderbilt finished 8-4 and appeared in the Hall of Fame Bowl in Birmingham that year. Following the 1982 season, he took his first major college head coaching job, taking over the program at the University of Cincinnati. In one season with the Bearcats, he had a record of 4–6–1.
In 1984, Brown was named head football coach and athletic director at Rice University. In two seasons with the Owls, he compiled a record of 4–18. From there he returned to his alma mater to take over as head coach of the Vanderbilt University football program. Brown's five-year stint with the Commodores from 1986 to 1990 produced a record of 10–45.
After leaving Vanderbilt, Brown spent the 1991 and 1992 seasons as the offensive coordinator at Mississippi State University under Jackie Sherrill, then the 1993 and 1994 seasons with the same responsibilities at the University of Oklahoma under Gary Gibbs.
In 1995, Brown was hired by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to lead the fledgling program as it prepared to move from NCAA Division I-AA to Division I-A. In 12 seasons as the head coach of the Blazers he compiled a record of 62–74 and led the team to its first bowl game appearance, in the 2004 Hawaii Bowl. Brown resigned from UAB to take over the head coaching responsibilities at Tennessee Technological University on December 9, 2006.
Brown is the first coach in NCAA football history to lose 200 games. With Tennessee Tech's 50–7 loss to Northern Iowa on September 27, 2014, Brown eclipsed Amos Alonzo Stagg's mark of 199 losses.
On December 2, 2015, Brown announced his retirement as coach at Tennessee Tech. [1]
As of September, 2019, Brown was the co-host of The George Plaster Show on Nashville radio station WNSR weekdays from 2-4 pm; however, in 2022 this program was moved to online streaming only.
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | TSN# | Coaches° | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Austin Peay Governors (Ohio Valley Conference)(1979–1980) | |||||||||
1979 | Austin Peay | 7–4 | 2-4 | 5th | |||||
1980 | Austin Peay | 7–4 | 5–2 | T–3rd | |||||
Austin Peay: | 14–8 | 7–6 | |||||||
Cincinnati Bearcats (NCAA Division I-A independent)(1983) | |||||||||
1983 | Cincinnati | 4–6–1 | |||||||
Cincinnati: | 4–6–1 | ||||||||
Rice Owls (Southwest Conference)(1984–1985) | |||||||||
1984 | Rice | 1–10 | 0–8 | 9th | |||||
1985 | Rice | 3–8 | 2–6 | 7th | |||||
Rice: | 4–18 | 2–14 | |||||||
Vanderbilt Commodores (Southeastern Conference)(1986–1990) | |||||||||
1986 | Vanderbilt | 1–10 | 0–6 | 10th | |||||
1987 | Vanderbilt | 4–7 | 1–5 | T–7th | |||||
1988 | Vanderbilt | 3–8 | 2–5 | T–8th | |||||
1989 | Vanderbilt | 1–10 | 0–7 | 10th | |||||
1990 | Vanderbilt | 1–10 | 1–6 | T–9th | |||||
Vanderbilt: | 10–45 | 4–29 | |||||||
UAB Blazers (NCAA Division I-AA independent)(1995) | |||||||||
1995 | UAB | 5–6 | |||||||
UAB Blazers (NCAA Division I-A independent)(1996–1998) | |||||||||
1996 | UAB | 5–6 | |||||||
1997 | UAB | 5–6 | |||||||
1998 | UAB | 4–7 | |||||||
UAB Blazers (Conference USA)(1999–2006) | |||||||||
1999 | UAB | 5–6 | 4–2 | T–2nd | |||||
2000 | UAB | 7–4 | 3–3 | 5th | |||||
2001 | UAB | 6–5 | 5–2 | T–2nd | |||||
2002 | UAB | 5–7 | 4–4 | T–5th | |||||
2003 | UAB | 5–7 | 4–4 | T–6th | |||||
2004 | UAB | 7–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd | L Hawaii | ||||
2005 | UAB | 5–6 | 3–5 | T–5th (East) | |||||
2006 | UAB | 3–9 | 2–6 | 5th (East) | |||||
UAB: | 62–74 | 30–29 | |||||||
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference)(2007–2015) | |||||||||
2007 | Tennessee Tech | 4–7 | 2–6 | T–7th | |||||
2008 | Tennessee Tech | 3–9 | 1–7 | 9th | |||||
2009 | Tennessee Tech | 6–5 | 5–3 | T–2nd | |||||
2010 | Tennessee Tech | 5–6 | 4–4 | 6th | |||||
2011 | Tennessee Tech | 7–4 | 6–2 | T–1st | L NCAA Division I First Round | 21 | 20 | ||
2012 | Tennessee Tech | 3–8 | 1–7 | T–8th | |||||
2013 | Tennessee Tech | 5–7 | 2–6 | T–7th | |||||
2014 | Tennessee Tech | 5–7 | 4–4 | 5th | |||||
2015 | Tennessee Tech | 4–7 | 3–5 | 6th | |||||
Tennessee Tech: | 42–60 | 28–44 | |||||||
Total: | 136–211–1 | ||||||||
National championship Conference title Conference division title or championship game berth |
Patrick Joseph Sullivan was an American professional football player and college coach. An All-America quarterback for the Auburn Tigers, he won the Heisman Trophy in 1971 and then played six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins. Sullivan was a head football coach at Samford University, a position he held from 2007 to 2014. He was previously the head football coach at Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1992 to 1997 and the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) from 1999 to 2006. Sullivan was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1991.
Mike Shula is an American football coach who is the senior offensive assistant for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). A graduate of the University of Alabama, he was the school's head football coach from 2003 to 2006. He was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996 to 1999, the Carolina Panthers from 2013 to 2017, and the New York Giants from 2018 to 2019.
Tamaurice Nigel "Tee" Martin is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the quarterbacks coach for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Tennessee, University of Southern California, University of Kentucky, University of New Mexico, North Atlanta HS, North Cobb HS and Morehouse College.
Stephen Charles Sloan is a former American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played college football as a quarterback at the University of Alabama from 1962 to 1965 and then played for two seasons in the National Football League with the Atlanta Falcons (1966–1967). Sloan served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University (1973–1974), Texas Tech University (1975–1977), the University of Mississippi (1978–1982), and Duke University (1983–1986), compiling a career record of 68–86–3. He also served as the athletic director at the University of Alabama, the University of North Texas, University of Central Florida, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga before his retirement in 2006. In 2000, Sloan was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame.
The UAB Blazers football team represents the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the sport of American football. The Blazers compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and American Athletic Conference. The team is led by head coach Trent Dilfer, who was named the program’s 7th head coach on November 30th, 2022. Home games were previously held at Legion Field in Birmingham from the 1991 season to the 2020 season. A new stadium, Protective Stadium, has been the home of the Blazers starting from the 2021 season. The new stadium's capacity is over 47,000.
The Troy Trojans football program represents Troy University at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level, where it has competed since 2001. The football program joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2004. The current head football coach is Jon Sumrall. Troy has won 22 conference championships, with seven in the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans play home games at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Alabama.
The Kentucky Wildcats football program represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of American football. The Wildcats compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Wildcats play their home games at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky and are led by head coach Mark Stoops.
David Lee is an American football coach and former player. Lee has spent many years as a quarterbacks coach, and has served as the head coach of the UTEP Miners.
Tony Franklin is an American football coach, serving as the offensive coordinator for the Army Black Knights Sprint Football team. Previously, he held the same position with the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders of Conference USA after making a move from the same position with the California Golden Bears. He announced his retirement from MTSU soon after the new year in 2021, following the completion of a challenging 2020 season.
The 2008 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University during the 2008–09 college football season. The team's head coach was Bobby Johnson, who served his seventh season in the position. The Commodores played their six home games at Vanderbilt Stadium at Dudley Field in Nashville, Tennessee.
Rick Scott Christophel is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the senior offensive assistant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. In college, he was a quarterback for Austin Peay State University from 1971 to 1974. He also previously served as head football coach at Austin Peay from 2007 to 2012, compiling a record of 20–46.
Randy Pippin is an American football coach. He grew up in Texas and attended Cisco College before transferring to Tennessee Technological University where he played running back from 1983 to 1984. He began his coaching career in 1985 as a graduate assistant at Tennessee Tech, and then held assistant positions at Middle Tennessee (1988–1989), Trinity Valley Community College (1990–1992) and again at Tennessee Tech (1996–1997). Pippin has also served as head coach at Trinity Valley Community College (1993–1995), Middle Georgia College (1998–2000), West Alabama (2001–2003), Cottage Hill Christian Academy in Mobile Alabama (2004), Northwest Mississippi Community College (2005–2007), The Classical Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado(2009–2010) while directing the Glazier Mega Clinics. He then returned to Texas as the Defensive Coordinator at East Texas Baptist and later East Central Oklahoma while directing the Texas and Oklahoma Nike Coach of the Year Clinics. In recent years Pippin worked both on and off the field from 2015-2022 as an assistant at UAB until 2023 when he became a Senior Analyst for Rich Rodriguez at Jacksonville State University (Alabama).
James Robert Polk was an American basketball coach. Polk coached the Vanderbilt Commodores, the Trinity Tigers, the Saint Louis Billikens and Rice University. He began his college coaching career as an assistant coach a Georgia Tech during World War II. His first coaching job was at his high school alma mater Tell City High, in Tell City, Indiana.
The Tennessee Volunteers football team represents the University of Tennessee in American football.
The Vanderbilt Commodores football team represents Vanderbilt University in the sport of American football.
The 2017 Conference USA football season was the 22nd season of Conference USA football and part of the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season began on August 26 with Rice facing Stanford in Sydney, Australia. This season was the third season for C-USA under realignment that took place in 2014, which added the 14th member Charlotte from the Atlantic 10 Conference. C-USA is a "Group of Five" conference under the College Football Playoff format along with the American Athletic Conference, the Mid-American Conference, the Mountain West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference.
The 2019 Vanderbilt Commodores football team represented Vanderbilt University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Commodores played their home games at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, and competed in the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by sixth-year head coach Derek Mason.
Darin Clifford Hinshaw is an American football coach and former quarterback who is currently the offensive coordinator at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Prior to UCF, he was an offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). He played college football at UCF, where he finished his career as the program's leader in career passing yards and touchdowns.
Mike "Mikie" Miller is an American football coach who is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Charlotte 49ers football team. He was previously the co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for Maryland Terrapins football team.