UMass Football Head Coach Candidates — Don Brown

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RDM runs through his take on the candidates for the open UMass football head coach position.

I’ve mentioned my dream candidate. And, as I said, I will lay out my two true favorites. I started with former Massachusetts head man Mark Whipple and will now move on to another former UMass head coach — Don Brown.

Brown is currently the defensive coordinator for the Uconn Huskies. Last season he was with the University of Maryland.

Coach Brown was the head man in Amherst from 2004 through 2008. In his five seasons he compiled a 43-19 record. His first two seasons, he finished 2nd in the conference. The next two seasons brought two consecutive conference (division) titles to Amherst. He never had a losing record in Amherst.

I look fondly upon Brown’s time with the Minutemen. His time in Amherst precisely aligns with my undergrad time at the University of Massachusetts. Looking back, that 43-19 record was tremendous. The 2006 and 2007 campaigns were particularly memorable. Although, I’d rather forget the manner in which the historic 2006 season ended.

Nearly as painful is the sight of seeing Don Brown with those enemy colors on.

I’m sure Brown felt he needed to move on from the FCS ranks in 2008. Well, UMass finally felt the same way in 2011. Maybe it is time for the two to reunite.

Some Don Brown links for reference:

  • Mike Linebacker

    This is the guy that should be leading us to the FBS ranks. Stop with all this Mike Leach stuff. Don Brown is a winner. Being a Head Coach at the the FBS level is not about Charisma and Flash (that act grows old real quick), it's about production and winning football games. Ask Nick Saban or Les Miles if it's about Charisma and Flash. Don Brown was 43-19 as the Head Coach at UMass in his 5 seasons. He is the all-time winningest coach at UMass in terms of winning percentage. Compare his overall record to that of Mark Whipple. Whip was 49-26 in 6 seasons at Umass but he was 21-7 with Don Brown as his Defensive Coordinator in his frist two years. Once Coach Brown left Whip was 28-19 as the HC at Umass in 4 seasons and never won a playoff game without a Don Brown Defense. Coach Brown did not have the luxury of having Whipple as his Offensive Coordinator during his run and still was extremely successful. Bring this man back, he knows how to do more with less and lets start winning football games at a high level in the FBS. Go Umass!