Corwin Brown: Not A Good Coach

Submitted by those.who.stay. on

I thought this was really interesting. It helps explain why he wasn't given as thorough a look for the Michigan DB job as he or some others wanted. I know WTKA had a huge talk about race the other day. Apparently it wasn't a racial issue, rather an issue of ability.

 

http://www.nesn.com/2011/02/corwin-brown-just-wasnt-a-good-coach.html

 

SIAP, searched didn't see anything.

Monocle Smile

February 9th, 2011 at 4:22 PM ^

I was looking for a button to jump to the next page...and it didn't exist. A high-schooler could have written that. It doesn't finish properly, doesn't specify anything, and the only bit of relevant information is in direct opposition of this so-called "source."

aaamichfan

February 9th, 2011 at 4:24 PM ^

Michael Taylor should probably shut up now. I think we dodged a serious bullet by not hiring Brown, especially after reading this article.

mmay

February 9th, 2011 at 5:15 PM ^

We already have Mattison with a great recruiting resume and Hoke is a defensive coach so I doubt we will need help getting defensive players. I'm still wondering why we never offered Loeffler a job, was there really no room for a QB coach or has Borges always been OC/QBC?

03 Blue 07

February 9th, 2011 at 5:08 PM ^

I wish there was more to the story. I can't say that this article offers enough to change an opinion one way or another; more of a "confirmation bias" thing if you were against the idea of Corwin Brown as DB's coach or whatever. Personally, I value recruiting more than x's and o's in a DB coach, but that's just preference. And we may have badass recruiting accounted for (as well as badass x's and o's) with Mattison already running the D.

Swazi

February 9th, 2011 at 5:41 PM ^

Sorry, but I want a good/great coach over a good/great recruiter.  From what I heard Gibson was a good recruiter, and we all know how grand of a coach he was for us.  Besides, we have the best recruiter in college football in Mattison, and he also happens to be a very good coach.  Hoke is also a good recruiter, as is Borges.  For a DB coach, from what we've seen the past three years, you def. take an Xs and Os guy over a recruiter.

kgh10

February 10th, 2011 at 2:20 AM ^

I admit a limited knowledge on the inner workings of a football coaching staff, but I don't believe the position coaches work a lot in teaching x's and o's to players. They are in there mostly to teach technique to players i.e. explaining how to take a proper angle, tackling, coverage technique, etc. I think Corwin has shown he doesn't yet have the chops to be a successful DC at this level (x's and o's), but as others have stated, it's kind of difficult to evaluate for better or for worse how good a position coach is at his job.

This is why position coaches need to not only be able to properly teach technique but perhaps even more importantly at the college level, must recruit extremely well. This job is seen as arguably more important than being a great position coach. I think there's a middle ground here. Hopefully for Michigan, coach Hoke found the guy he thinks will be successful at both duties and that's all there is to it.

AMazinBlue

February 9th, 2011 at 5:27 PM ^

because if the coach is excellent and can develop talent and get the most out of the player, then younger players will want to play for that coach to improve their skills and prep for the next level.  Being able to recruit is important, but if you're a great coach that will help you recruit more than just being able to talk the talk.

As the old saying goes, if you are really the best at something, you shouldn't have to tell anyone.  If you do then you must not be the best, because if you were they would already know.

Michael Taylor has a great fondeness for Corwin Brown and wanted to see him get the job.  The coaching staff hired who they thought would do the best job. End of story.  I seriously doubt race was ever a factor, except in Michael's eyes.

colin

February 9th, 2011 at 5:32 PM ^

that this is according to "a source".  which is probably the least informative description of a source possible.  it doesn't even say if the source was with the team or not.

Tater

February 9th, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^

...but there is no way I would ever accuse Brady Hoke of racism.  The Michigan "tree" is a good ol' boy network, and it is mostly white, but I think it's more a case of Hoke hiring those with whom he is comfortable.  Also, Sam Webb was adamant that race played no role, and went so far as to say that when race is cited when it plays no part, it trivializes actual cases of racism.  Since Webb's sources are probably a lot better than ours, I tend to believe him.  

I think the system is at fault.  It's like the recommendations in courses on preventing medical errors.  When incidents happen, you are always supposed to find the systemic flaw instead of scapegoating individuals, even if they were "at fault."  The way the system is right now, white players are generally percieved as "heady" while black players are generally percieved as "athletic."  

I don't mean this as an absolute by any means, but the perception is still there in far too many cases.  Until this and other errors in perception are corrected, the ratio will continue to be one of the biggest injustices in the NCAA.  I advocate a 50-50 ratio, but it isn't going to happen under the current system.  I just hope to actually see it someday.

As for Brown, a lot of people seem to think the real reason he was passed over for consideration was because he used negative recruiting practices against Michigan while recruiting for ND.  At least he still has a pretty good job. 

kgh10

February 10th, 2011 at 2:10 AM ^

I've read a lot of horrible articles relating to sports on the internet. This probably ranks in the top 5. Quote: "Patriots players were frustrated and annoyed by...Corwin Brown." Wow.  And the source? At least say "a source on the Patriots team" or "coaching staff" or "staff" ....anything like that would've sufficed.

Also for those saying how it's obvious why Corwin Brown was so upset about not getting the job at Michigan, I don't think it was Brown that ever complained about not getting the job but Michael Taylor making a big scene of it. Logic seems to suggest that Brown was likely disappointed but doesn't necessarily have hard feelings toward Hoke.

BlueVoix

February 10th, 2011 at 4:16 PM ^

I think you have to assume Corwin might have passed along info to Taylor.  At least, that is what people appear to be assuming.  Otherwise, Taylor saw that Corwin wasn't hired and immediately flipped out and made it a race issue.  Actually, I suppose both are plausible.