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More On Don Brown, Coach/Dude Comment Count

Ace


Brown is reportedly beloved by his players.

After news broke of Michigan's now-official hiring of defensive coordinator Don Brown yesterday, reactions poured in from various corners of the internet, and I've yet to see anything that even approaches a negative take.

Boston College blogger Bill Maloney is in the bargaining stage:

Brian would take this trade. I'm a little less inclined, as podcast listeners could guess. Maloney was kind enough to email Brian some more detailed thoughts on Brown:

BC fans were pretty familiar with Brown prior to him coming to Boston because he had coached all throughout the region and on teams we faced at UMass and Maryland. His 2007 UMass team gave Matt Ryan a tough time by blitzing from everywhere. 

My one criticism the first two years was that he sort of square peg/round holed Spaz's roster into what he wanted to do.  Spaz ran a more traditional 4-3 cover two and his DBs were almost undersized LBs who were asked to tackle a lot. This led to BC giving up some late leads when the other team figured out the different looks and the DBs got exposed. 

What made this year different is that he finally had great DBs, especially at corner. This allowed him to do all sorts of twists, stunts, blitzs and allow the LBs to focus on run stopping. The DBs were asked to play lots and lots of man. And they played it physically. Brown also sort of coaches a "be really physical on every play because it is not going to get called Pass Interference every time." Maybe that will change if he has elite talent at Michigan, but he did that at UMass and UConn too.

Brown also has good eye for the type of players he wants. I don't know of any Midwest recruiting ties, but if he can find elite corners out of low level, small town New England teams, I think he can adjust. 

This is a big loss for BC. I hope he fits in with Harbaugh and Michigan since it it probably his last stop.

Brown should have no issue deploying his more aggressive schemes with a defensive backfield featuring Jourdan Lewis and Jabrill Peppers.

Card Chronicle gentleman Mark Ennis is happy to see Brown go:

As a Lousiville person, Ennis had to put up with Brown during both his UConn and BC days. A former Clemson blogger for PhilSteele.com piggybacked off Ennis' comments to say he's as good any anyone in the country:

There are many more testimonials from various sportswriters in a post on the board.

247's Clint Brewster passed along this note from a coach who's gone against Brown:

"Very unconventional. Aggressive defense. Really good third down packages. Attacks protections well. BC had the best defense we played against the past couple years"

Yes, a dollar says that coach is Tim Brewster, the FSU tight end coach who watched as BC held Dalvin Cook to easily his worst game of this season.

Despite his Bad Cop countenance, Brown has an engaging personality and is apparently beloved by his players:

Since Brown has spent the entirety of his coaching career at recruiting nonentities—save, I guess, a two-year stint at Maryland—that's as good an indicator as any about his potential impact in that area.

There's ample evidence that Brown will be a very easy coach for fans to support, too. He'll hopefully get active on Twitter again, as his account is internet gold:

During camp he acknowledges a daily #DUDEOFTHEDAY and an occasional #GUYOFTHEDAY; it appears that a GUY is someone who has yet to become a DUDE.

"Be a dude" served as BC's mantra for the last couple years due to Brown's influence:

It started with defensive coordinator Don Brown.

"That's his saying all the time, be a dude," Addazio said. "And what being a dude is is being a baller. You know? Just being a real baller. Just being a dude.

"Be great. Be a baller. Be great at what you are. Just don't be average."

That message found a receptive audience in the Eagles' locker room.

"It just resonated with our team, you know what I mean?" Addazio said. "It just started kinda, 'Hey, be a dude, man. Be a dude.' And then we got going with recruiting and it kinda really caught on."

Expect Michigan's defensive coaches to sound unusually similar to Jeff Spicoli going forward.

MLive's Nick Baumgardner found a couple more of Brown's go-to mantras. One year at UMass he simply yelled "SMASH" at every opportunity—I'll keel over and die if he alters this to "BLUDGEON" at Michigan—and his other UMass slogan suggests he'll fit right in on this coaching staff:

"'Leave Earth' was it one year," recalls Jason Hatchell, who played linebacker for Brown from 2004-07 at UMass. "That basically meant 'don't be normal ... don't be the norm, be better than that.'

"It was on the back of our shirts."

Smash. Leave Earth. Play with your hair on fire. Be better than the norm.

If any of this line of speech seems familiar to Michigan fans, it should. Jim Harbaugh's been known to speak in catch phrases and slogans from time to time. And Michigan's head coach is also known for his intensity.

It's hard not to love this hire.

Comments

klctlc

December 21st, 2015 at 6:25 PM ^

My point is he does not handle stress well.  This is a proven fact. he has had the big ten to himself since he got here. Now he has lost at home to MSU, M is on the rise with Harbaugh and the fans in OSU expect perfection.

I tend to be pretty conservative in my enthusiasm, so I recognize we have a big hill to climb, but if he loses to MSU next year in EL and Harbaugh pulls an upset, he is gonna get heat from stupid OSU fans.

You know Harbaugh is hyperfocused on beating OSU and he usually accomplishes what he wants.

Joined: 09/02/2009

MGoPoints: 2704

alum96

December 21st, 2015 at 3:32 PM ^

Yes the more you go deeper into his story and look closer at 2014 as well (Bambi did a nice diary) and UConn days....and realize just how bad BC recruited (I thought they recruited ala Wisconsin in the 40s range, but they are more like a good MAC school in the 70s) the better it looks.

Might be a guy like Shoop who molded a lot of low rated guys at Vandy (BC) into a quite good D, and then took the step to a blueblood (PSU / UM).  Both are east coast Ivy league guys etc....could be the best parallel and would be a good outcome for us.

That said I will be open for business all day accepting downvotes.

/villain

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82301

alum96

December 21st, 2015 at 3:44 PM ^

explained reasons in multiple posts here

http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/interesting-dc-don-brown-statistical-tidbits

tl;dr - focused on past 3 yrs only and 13/14 worried me...aka 1 year wonder syndrome.  Didnt have longer term background on him as I had w/ other candidates as he was not on even Brian's radar as serious candidate so didnt do deep dig.  After more digging last nite, most concerns alleviated. I wanted a Shoop type and Brown seems a Shoop type.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82301

Lanknows

December 21st, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^

For someone so prolific on the diary front, I'm having a hard time tracking down your output on Brown.

Would love to see the FEI/S&P rankings at each stop (including before and after) like you have done for other candidates/profiles. I know he turned BC around to elite in year 3 but wonder how quickly it happened, where their baseline was (from previous coaches) and also what exactly happened at Maryland...

Joined: 03/23/2012

MGoPoints: 5384

alum96

December 21st, 2015 at 4:12 PM ^

FEI - yr 1 took small step back at BC from a bad D (I think it dropped from 80s to low 90s is 1st year).  Year 2 went to 60s, year 3 big boom. 

UConn was in the low 20s both years - UConn generally was a good Big East D under Orlando for 6ish years with a few top 20 finishes so he maintained that performance ...Yr before he came UConn was #40 FEI but again UConn had an establised culture of good defenses ping ponging btw FEI 20s and 40 range for most of half decade b4 Brown.  But no regression which is good.

For S&P+....One guy did the analysis on Brown you seek in Bambi's diary.  Decent progression there last 2 stops.

For my critical thoughts yest just search for any post in past 28 hrs with >75 downvotes. :D

Wasnt anyting toooo in depth - like some analysts have said outside MGoBlog - BC got hit a lot via pass game his 1st 2 years.  Meh QBs like hackenberg / Brewer had their best games of yr vs BC D.... went off for 300+ passing....

Apparently he had bad DBs in 13/14.  In 2015 they found good DBs and things changed.  If you can put good DBs out on an island successfully - every defense works a lot better!

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82301

Lanknows

December 21st, 2015 at 5:22 PM ^

Downvotes for not cheerleading are dumb.  As long as you're consistent in thought process and backup your opinions with some logic/evidence shouldn't be any reason to neg.

Nice work. I like your stuff but I'm probably not patient enough to dig through the sea of reaction comments to find the interesting tidbits.  So - I appreciate the brief recap.

I also appreciate considering that one good year is possibly and outlier.  On the bright-side, it sounds like there aren't any red flags to worry about with Brow (beyond having quality players in the secondary).  Seems like Brown, at worst, shouldn't lead to a GERG/Borges cratering.  High floor and maybe a high ceiling too, if you project UConn/BC bar with more talent.

I do still want to know more about what did/did not work at Maryland and how he is against Meyer-like Spreads.

Joined: 03/23/2012

MGoPoints: 5384

Franz Schubert

December 21st, 2015 at 7:48 PM ^

For "not cheerleading". He was down voted because he cherry-picked stats and games to support his negative bias on the hire. He has now acknowledged he was wrong so all is well. Alum is normally above that sort of thing and I'm sure it was an aberration.

Joined: 07/20/2009

MGoPoints: 4453

Jack Be Nimble

December 21st, 2015 at 4:11 PM ^

But I think the issues you're seeing are mostly transition costs that are unlikely to be seen here.

If you look at Brown's last 3 stops, you'll notice that his teams have always had a rough transition before getting much better in year 2. 

Ace's post makes clear why.  He's installing a very aggressive defense that doesn't always mesh with the skills of the guys he inherits.  But once he teaches his players to play the way he wants, he is incredible.  Fortunately for us, we're already running the kind of hyper-aggressive defense he wants to play so transition costs should be minimal.

I think it's a perfect hire.

Joined: 10/03/2014

MGoPoints: 1814

alum96

December 21st, 2015 at 4:19 PM ^

I agree with the easy transition comments.  If you took out the name and ages and just read about the style it sounds (in style ...if not exact formation) a lot like a Durkin defense....just without the term "BUCK" and with even moar blitzing.

Also love the comments in Ace story about being physical at corners because refs wont call it all the time - yes and yes.  We've been saying that about MSU for half a decade - it works.  Lewis was pretty "handsy" this year.  Didnt stop him from elite season.  Also penalty for PI is far less punitive in college than NFL so just do it.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82301

Clarence Boddicker

December 21st, 2015 at 8:57 PM ^

"[E]xplained reasons in multiple posts here http://mgoblog.com/mgoboard/interesting-dc-don-brown-statistical-tidbits tl;dr - focused on past 3 yrs only and 13/14 worried me...aka 1 year wonder syndrome.  Didnt have longer term background on him as I had w/ other candidates as he was not on even Brian's radar as serious candidate so didnt do deep dig.  After more digging last nite, most concerns alleviated. I wanted a Shoop type and Brown seems a Shoop type."

As I said last night:

You do realize that he was the DC at Boston College right? BC pulls in a 75th ranked recruiting class every year, has the worst offense of any Power 5 team--which means that defense is constantly on the field--yet his defense was better than a Michigan team coached by our formerly beloved Durkin, a defense with far better talent. Fine he didn't shut down USC. I'll raise you a "He shut down FSU." This was a home run that you're skeptical about [the hire] because it took you by surprise is all.

Blue know it! Just glad you've come into the light.

Joined: 05/27/2011

MGoPoints: 69780

snarling wolverine

December 21st, 2015 at 4:18 PM ^

You really think Ace decided to write this post just to satisfy one poster who was a little negative yesterday?  

I don't think this is different than normal.  MGoBlog will go in depth about pretty much any key hire.  If there were a lot of negatives on Brown, they'd mention them.  When you hire a guy that pretty much everyone in the football world loves, the articles on him are going to be positive. 

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 97963

bluebyyou

December 21st, 2015 at 5:51 PM ^

Alum96....a question for you or others to answer. Until yesterday, I never heard of Don Brown, although I knew BC had a good defense this year as I saw BC at the top of the list when I did weekly defensive stat checks. Why, if Don Brown is as good as his press clippings would suggest, hasn't he coached at more top programs? Was it based on a preference to stay in or near New England?

Joined: 09/07/2009

MGoPoints: 18547

JFW

December 21st, 2015 at 3:35 PM ^

"It's hard not to like this hire".

Hopefully, he can do a better job adjusting to OSU than Durkin. No, rather, hopefully he'll make OSU do the adjusting.

For me, offense is nice. But I love defense. I love a defense that people fear like a young Mike Tyson. One where you just know you're going to get hammered play after play after play....

It sounds like he's that aggressive. I'd love to see Michigan be like that again. Its been a little while. Match that up with Harbaugh's offense and we got something going on.

Joined: 10/20/2010

MGoPoints: 15285

alum96

December 21st, 2015 at 4:27 PM ^

Indiana had 37 plays in 1st quarter alone.  Destroyed the D as you saw in 4th Q when howard was getting 8 a carry.  Legs were gone.  We usually face 70-75 plays a game.  I dont think te D ever got its sea legs back after being mauled in Q1.

OSU was just better at OL than our DL and we were owned in the front 7 (or 6!!!) by 2nd Q.  

You can only go with your personnel - you can want to be aggressive but when your DL cant get off the field as Indiana & OSU runs a play every 22 seconds you cant.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82301

alum96

December 21st, 2015 at 4:43 PM ^

Agree.

Fire Durkin??

oh wait...

-----

I'll be curious what % of time we ran 3-3-5 v OSU when Brian post UFr.  I think it was a moot point as we were so far behind and offense was not doing much in 2nd half but we gave up 2 TDs more than Ill & Minn did to OSU which just is bad.

Indiana - well 19 runs in a row or whatever; at that point I prob put 9 in the box around run #12 and say go ahead and throw it over the top just to stop this wizardry.

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82301

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

December 21st, 2015 at 4:50 PM ^

One high was problematic unless the FS ran the alleys in dominating fashion and the LBs were great sideline-to-sideline. Neither happened and Durkin didn't adjust (he never relied on tight 2-high all season that I recall). It didn't help that the DL played below standard, but the scheme compounded the DL mistakes. Wrong scheme without great talent.

Joined: 11/01/2012

MGoPoints: 18048

dragonchild

December 21st, 2015 at 5:08 PM ^

Our safeties had been playing deep all year.  They never played quarters.  Asking them to do something they'd never done isn't going to work any better than what happened.  So it's not as simple as just putting more guys in the box.  They need to be gap sound or the extra guy may as well not be there.

I fiercely defended Durkin's first half gameplan based both on results and personnel.  We had a depleted D-line and deep safeties so it was a good idea to give OSU a look they hadn't seen on tape that recycled what the D practiced all season.  Some here wanted us to go back to our base defense and while we'll never know if that worked, I'm of the opinion OSU wouldn't have slowed down (though it does put more in the hands of the players themselves).  I think the best take on the 2nd half was Space Coyote's suggestion that we just go "fark it" and blitz.  Stop reading and just attack.  But now we know that Durkin called that game with one foot out the door, so who knows.

Anyway, Brown kind of picks up where Durkin leaves off, OSU loss included.  Our LBs were never prolific blitzers by scheme or nature, but we're losing all of them.  We lose our Kovacsian safety, Wilson.  (Thanks guys, BTW -- my head has fond memories of your contributions, for what it's worth.)  That leaves us with an angry D-line, grabby CBs, Peppers, and a bunch of guys Brown gets to mold in his image.

Joined: 10/13/2011

MGoPoints: 60632

Franz Schubert

December 21st, 2015 at 7:56 PM ^

Michigan took 2 defenders out of the play on most downs and 1 defender on every play based on lining up 15 yards deep and back pedaling on the snap. When you cannot stop a run to save your life and are being gouged for big gains every down on the ground you have to sell out and pull everyone into the box. You have to stop the run 1st and foremost. Make them beat you deep.

Joined: 07/20/2009

MGoPoints: 4453

JFW

December 22nd, 2015 at 10:53 AM ^

if its possilbe to condition a defense to that. And maybe a hyper aggressive defensive line might be less prone to that because they aren't reacting as much and attacking more. 

 

Even if our offense isn't read option or quick tempo, it would seem you could train the DL with a crap load of high tempo drills. 

But this is just me, with zero coaching experience, postulating to the air. I'm sure they try that sort o thing. 

Joined: 10/20/2010

MGoPoints: 15285

JFW

December 22nd, 2015 at 10:46 AM ^

but the wheels came off at the end, for a variety of reasons. And while we were aggressive it didn't seem (I have to check the stats) that we didn't peel many QB's off of our cleats. I know we need some personnel for that. But still. 

 

I loved John Teerlinks philosophy; and some of the 90's defenses with guys like Reggie White, Bryce Paup, and Swilling before they changed the rules in the NFL to allow the tackles to line up a yard off the LOS. 

Joined: 10/20/2010

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