Pete Thamel: Don Brown the top candidate at UMass

Submitted by jimmyshi03 on November 18th, 2021 at 6:14 PM

https://twitter.com/petethamel/status/1461467887277858823?s=21

Would be happy for everyone involved if this is indeed the case. His defense at U of A this year has actually been the far better unit and might have been pretty good next season. (They’re currently 55th in total defense, ahead of Ohio State and Oregon). And he obviously has the in state connections to recruit.

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chunkums

November 18th, 2021 at 6:40 PM ^

Some Don Brown things:

1. Sumlin absolutely obliterated Arizona's roster in the three years he was there and his teams were beyond terrible. Brown is facing an uphill battle.

2. Brown was the head coach at UMass from 2004-2008. It was their best five-year stretch in program history.

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 29029

jimmyshi03

November 19th, 2021 at 7:59 PM ^

So I’ve noticed this has been negged a little. Just asking for an example of a black coach who gets to be Bret Bielema or Rich Rod and get a second chance? I’ve got one (Ty Willingham). Because in most examples I’ve seen, you have to be Willie Taggart and go down a level or two. and both Taggart and Willingham were given very short leashes compared to others at their schools who struggled similarly.

Joined: 08/22/2013

MGoPoints: 6248

Newton Gimmick

November 18th, 2021 at 8:58 PM ^

The 2006 team made it all the way to the FCS championship game.  Lost 28-17 to App State, whose next game ... never mind

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_UMass_Minutemen_football_team

The win that really stands out is the semifinal game at Grizzly Stadium vs #2 Montana on December 8 by a score of 19-17.  Didn't see it but that sounds like a gutty win on a tough road trip.

I'd love to see Brown succeed there again.  

Joined: 05/06/2015

MGoPoints: 33792

Jordan2323

November 18th, 2021 at 6:40 PM ^

Hell, there are three players in the top 150 next year in Mass, one being a 5 star safety. If he could hit the ground running he might have a good core to start out with. 

Joined: 11/09/2013

MGoPoints: 48927

WindyCityBlue

November 18th, 2021 at 6:41 PM ^

I’m actually quite surprised that his defense is that good. I always thought his schemes worked with superior talent, of which he doesn’t really have at Arizona. But then again, I read Mgoblog too much and could be swayed by the echo chamber here. 

Joined: 07/23/2008

MGoPoints: 41007

Phaedrus

November 19th, 2021 at 11:21 AM ^

Here’s my theory: his scheme worked great when he was an underdog that teams only prepared for the week of. At Michigan you have the OSU coaches and analysts working on figuring you out year round. Meyer and Day did that and other teams copied their approach.

As a defense, you can’t just do one thing when people work their ass off to prepare for it. If OSU’s main rival was Iowa, they would carve up that cover-2. Similarly, if MSU BB ran Syracuse’s all-zone scheme they wouldn’t stand a chance against us.

Doing one thing well on defense works if you’re the scrappy underdog no one respects. It doesn’t work when the offense dedicates itself to defeating it. Brown gave OSU a run for their money once. They weren’t going to let that happen again unless he likewise adapted to their adaptations. They proved to be more versatile than he was (it doesn’t help to trot out a little zone if you’re not good at implementing it, which is why his half-ass attempt to zone OSU got annihilated the last time we played them).

Hopefully MacDonald brings the versatility we need even if it means we stop crushing lesser teams into blitz dust.  

Joined: 09/02/2019

MGoPoints: 6537

ShadowStorm33

November 19th, 2021 at 1:32 PM ^

Brown gave OSU a run for their money once.

I think you're underselling the job he did against JT Barrett (plus it wasn't just once, it was one and a half games). The difference is offensive styles. Brown's defense is tailor made to stop the JT Barretts of the world. It doesn't matter how good of a runner you are (his scheme is great at bottling up QB runs), if you can't consistently hit receivers that aren't wide open you're going to struggle against his D. And in the 1.5 games Barrett played against Brown, he struggled. But once Barrett got hurt, Haskins came in, and while he wasn't anywhere near the runner Barrett was, he could hit tighter windows, like the crossing routes, and those happened to be concepts that naturally stress Brown's press man coverage.

It's not to say Brown's system can't have success against accurate QBs, but to do so he really needs elite pass rushing, and likely elite corners. The lack of pass rushing is what really undid him in 2018/19--the DTs were nonfactors, the DEs were hurt, and Day came in already very familiar with Brown's schemes and blitzes and prepared his players accordingly. Plus the elite corners graduated and weren't replaced.

Joined: 07/22/2008

MGoPoints: 23194

HenneGivenSunday

November 19th, 2021 at 2:16 PM ^

I think his defenses require guys to stick around and get developed before bolting for the portal.  That works at his previous stops (and maybe at AZ too), but at Michigan most guys won’t stick around that 3rd and 4th year if you’ve stapled them to the bench the first 2 years.  It worked great here when we had a veteran D, but when we didn’t it fell apart fast.  

Joined: 10/24/2011

MGoPoints: 10983

jimmyshi03

November 18th, 2021 at 6:50 PM ^

One note: He’s 66. I’d imagine at least one pitch he could make to potential coordinators is an ability to take over if they get things moving in a positive direction. Maybe Campanile?

Joined: 08/22/2013

MGoPoints: 6248

JonnyHintz

November 18th, 2021 at 8:27 PM ^

Brown made $500k this year at Arizona, jumps to $800k in January. Previous UMass coach made $625k. At this stage in his career, I doubt money matters all that much to him. He’s an East coast guy and this presents an opportunity to return home and ride off into the sunset. $175k probably isn’t going to matter a whole lot to him.

Joined: 01/11/2015

MGoPoints: 48655