Watson Brown (American football)

Last updated

Watson Brown
Biographical details
Born (1950-04-19) April 19, 1950 (age 74)
Cookeville, Tennessee, U.S.
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)
1977Jacksonville 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
Overall136–211–1
Bowls0–1
Tournaments0–1 (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 an American retired college 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.

Contents

Early years and playing career

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.

Coaching career

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.

Head coaching record

YearTeamOverallConferenceStandingBowl/playoffs TSN#Coaches°
Austin Peay Governors (Ohio Valley Conference)(1979–1980)
1979 Austin Peay7–42-45th
1980 Austin Peay7–45–2T–3rd
Austin Peay:14–87–6
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 1–100–89th
1985 Rice 3–82–67th
Rice:4–182–14
Vanderbilt Commodores (Southeastern Conference)(1986–1990)
1986 Vanderbilt 1–100–610th
1987 Vanderbilt 4–71–5T–7th
1988 Vanderbilt 3–82–5T–8th
1989 Vanderbilt 1–100–710th
1990 Vanderbilt 1–101–6T–9th
Vanderbilt:10–454–29
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 5–64–2T–2nd
2000 UAB 7–43–35th
2001 UAB 6–55–2T–2nd
2002 UAB 5–74–4T–5th
2003 UAB 5–74–4T–6th
2004 UAB 7–55–3T–2ndL Hawaii
2005 UAB 5–63–5T–5th (East)
2006 UAB 3–92–65th (East)
UAB:62–7430–29
Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (Ohio Valley Conference)(2007–2015)
2007 Tennessee Tech4–72–6T–7th
2008 Tennessee Tech3–91–79th
2009 Tennessee Tech6–55–3T–2nd
2010 Tennessee Tech5–64–46th
2011 Tennessee Tech 7–46–2T–1stL NCAA Division I First Round 2120
2012 Tennessee Tech 3–81–7T–8th
2013 Tennessee Tech 5–72–6T–7th
2014 Tennessee Tech 5–74–45th
2015 Tennessee Tech 4–73–56th
Tennessee Tech:42–6028–44
Total:136–211–1
      National championship        Conference title        Conference division title or championship game berth

See also

Related Research Articles

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. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1991.

Mike Shula is an American football coach who is the Offensive Analyst for the South Carolina Gamecocks of the South Eastern Conference (SEC). He played college football as a quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide and was the school's head 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tee Martin</span> American football player and coach (born 1978)

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 was an American professional football player who became a college football coach and athletics administrator. He played in college as a quarterback at the University of Alabama from 1962 to 1965 and then spent two seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Atlanta Falcons (1966–1967). Sloan served as the head 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. He died on April 14, 2024, at the age of 79.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UAB Blazers football</span> Football team in Alabama

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 30, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jess Neely</span>

Jesse Claiborne Neely was an American football player, a baseball and football coach. He was head football coach at Southwestern University from 1924 to 1927, at Clemson University from 1931 to 1939 and at Rice University from 1940 to 1966, compiling a career college football record of 207–176–19. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lee (American football coach)</span> American football player and coach (born 1953)

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, most recently 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Christophel</span> American football player and coach (born 1952)

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 (NFL). 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 college football coach and former player. He is a senior analyst at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama, a position he has held since 2023. Pippin has served as head football coach at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, from 1993 to 1995, Middle Georgia College, from 1998 to 2000, the University of West Alabama, from 2001 to 2003, and Northwest Mississippi Community College, from 2005 to 2007. He led his 1994 Trinity Valley valley team to an NJCAA National Football Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Polk</span> American basketball player and coach

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Kentucky Wildcats football team</span> 2016 University of Kentucky football season

The 2016 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The season was the program's 123rd overall and 83rd as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by fourth-year head coach Mark Stoops and the played home games at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in SEC play to finish in a three-way tie for second place in the Eastern Division. They were invited to the TaxSlayer Bowl where they lost to Georgia Tech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Tennessee Volunteers football</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Pry</span> American football player and coach (born 1970)

Brenton James Pry is an American football coach and former player who is currently the head coach at Virginia Tech. He previously served as the defensive coordinator at Penn State from 2016 to 2021. He played college football for the Buffalo Bulls.

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 the 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 college football coach. He is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Charlotte. He was previously the co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for Maryland.

References

  1. Sportsnight, 102.5 FM The Game Nashville (WPRT-FM), December 2, 2015