Another offensive-minded name for the franchise to consider
The Arizona Cardinals are now knee deep in trying to find the right guy to lead the franchise going forward. No more promises of three-year plans.
RELATED: CARDINALS COACHING SEARCH
ROTB Managing Editor Seth Cox has assembled a current list of candidates:
- Seattle Seahawks: OC Klint Kubiak
- San Francisco 49ers: DC Robert Saleh
- Miami Dolphins: DC Anthony Weaver
- Denver Broncos: DC Vance Joseph
- New England Patriots: passing game coordinator Thomas Brown
- Kansas City Chiefs: OC Matt Nagy
- Atlanta Falcons former HC Raheem Morris
- Green Bay Packers: DC Jeff Hafley
One of the interviews that the Cardinals have requested is Thomas Brown, the passing game coordinator with the New England Patriots.
Who is he? What are his qualifications?
Beginnings
The Georgia native grew up in Tucker, just a smidge northeast of Atlanta, and he attended Tucker High School. He played running back for the football team. He was clocked at 4.4 in the 40. As a senior, he had 148 carries for 779 yards with 10 touchdowns, plus 10 receptions for 84 yards and an additional score.
Brown had plenty of interested schools, including Penn State, Maryland, Georgia, Arizona, Florida State, Notre Dame, and North Carolina. He chose to remain close to home (51 miles) and committed to Georgia.
Georgia played Brown right away as a freshman with the most carries and yards in his four years at the school. He ended up with 2,646 yards on 529 attempts with 23 touchdowns and a 5.0 yards per carry average. In 2005, Georgia won the SEC title. He was elected by his teammates as the permanent offensive team captain in 2007.
Brown was also a standout weightlifter and set numerous team records. According to his entry in Georgia’s football media guide, Brown was “the strongest pound-for-pound football player in the history of Georgia football during his playing career.”
The NFL and coaching
In the 2008 NFL draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected Brown in the sixth round. A horse collar tackle in the preseason destroyed his rookie season, as he ended up on IR instead. In the following training camp, he was a last-day cut.
Brown was signed by the Cleveland Browns to their practice squad in 2009. The next season, he was on the practice squad, then pulled up to play on special teams before being waived. He then sat out all of 2010 without any offers. He waited for a call in 2011 that never came. In all, Brown had three years in the league with zero stats.
In 2012, Brown hung up his cleats and was hired as the RB coach for the University of Tennessee-Chatanooga. He left there the following season and accepted the same position with Marshall. After one season, he accepted the job of RB coach with the University of Wisconsin, where he tutored Melvin Gordon, who set the school’s single-season rushing record.
For the next four years, Brown became the RB coach for Georgia, Miami, and South Carolina.
In 2020, Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams hired him as their RB coach. He now had his foot inside the NFL doorway. In LA, he won a Super Bowl ring. In 2022, the Rams gave him the title of assistant head coach as he transitioned from running backs coach to the team’s tight ends coach.
For the 2023 season, Brown finally got his opportunity as the Carolina Panthers interviewed him for their vacant OC position, then hired him. Head coach Frank Reich was the play caller, but eventually gave this up and handed the reins to Brown.
At this point, in a poll of league players, Brown was named one of the top offensive coordinators in the NFL.
He accepted a position with the Chicago Bears as their pass game coordinator under head coach Matt Eberflus. Halfway through the season, the Bears fired their OC and named Brown as the new OC. When Chicago went 4-8-0, the team fired Eberflus and named Brown their interim head coach. Under Brown, the Bears went 1-4-0.
The New England Patriots then tabbed him as their passing game coordinator and tight ends coach after the team hired new head coach Mike Vrabel.
The Patriots are ranked the #3 overall offense in the league and the #4 passing attack.
A guy like Brown might end up as Arizona’s new head coach. Several financial issues affect the team currently. The club is still paying on Kliff Kingsbury and Jonathan Gannon’s contracts. The reality may well be that the Cardinals can only afford assistant coordinators as their next head coach.
Brown, age 39, has been a student of both Eberflus, Shane Waldron, and Brian Schottenheimer. Every time someone in the media mentions the offense, Vrabel, of course, mentions OC Josh McDaniels, but he points to Brown for the development of QB Drake Maye.
In-person interviews can’t begin until January 19, so all meetings with NFL clubs must be done virtually. The Cardinals have a short window to interview Brown.
Patriots pass game coordinator Thomas Brown is getting head coaching looks. His career has rebounded after navigating two tough interim stints in once-downtrodden Carolina and Chicago.
Brown and his wife, Jessica, have two children, Orlando and Tyson.
Category: General Sports
