In recent years the Missouri S&T football team has made its reputation with a high-flying offensive machine.
Stepping into that cockpit as new Miner head coach is a man who has made his reputation on defense.
David Brown, an assistant coach at the NCAA Division I level, has been named new football head coach for Missouri S&T, the university announced Monday afternoon.
Brown will take over for Kirby Cannon, who resigned after 11 years as S&T head coach to accept an assistant coaching position at Central Michigan University.
When Brown assumes the coaching duties on March 15 he will become the 14th head coach in the 100-year history of Miner football, and only the sixth since 1937.
“I think when you look at the quality and the relevancy of experience he’s had in coaching, he’s an excellent match to what we were looking for,” said Missouri S&T Athletic Director Mark Mullin of Brown. “His references were exceptional, not only as a coach but as an individual as well.”
“S&T is a great place to get a first-class education, play competitive football and live in one of the best regions in the country,” said Brown, age 37. “I look forward to coaching and recruiting the type of student-athletes who strive to attain All-America status on the field and in the classroom.”
The last four seasons Brown has served as defensive backs coach and has also worked with aspects of the special teams for Ohio University, an NCAA Division I program. During his stint at Ohio the Bobcat defense has been one of the best in the nation, ranking among the top 20 at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Series level in pass efficiency defense and leading the nation with 38 turnovers gained in 2009. The Bobcats won the Mid-American Conference’s Eastern Division title and earned a berth to the Little Caesar’s Pizza Bowl to face Marshall University this past season.
It was the second division title and bowl appearance for the Bobcats since 2006, when Ohio played Southern Mississippi in the GMAC Bowl.
Prior to joining the staff at Ohio Brown spent five seasons on the staff at Cal Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., serving as the team’s defensive coordinator in 2004-05. Cal Poly won the Great West title in each of those two seasons and earned its first berth -- and victory -- in NCAA Division I-AA (now Division I Football Championship Series) championship play in 2005.
In the two years as Cal Poly defensive coordinator Brown headed one of the top units in Division I-AA. Both teams led the nation in quarterback sacks, with the 2005 squad recording a school-record 67. The 2004 squad led the nation in rushing defense by allowing an average of just 84.3 yards per game and also ranked among the top 10 nationally in scoring defense, turnovers gained and interceptions, while the punt return team averaged better than 12 yards per return.
The Cal Poly Mustangs also had the recipient of the Buck Buchanan Award for the top defensive player in Division I-AA in 2004 in linebacker Jordan Beck and again the following season when defensive end Chris Gocong, who led the nation with 23.5 sacks, won the award.
Throughout his years at Ohio and Cal Poly, Brown’s return units have also ranked high nationwide with seven of the nine teams posting team averages of better than 10 yards per runback.
In all Brown has coached six All-America performers at four different positions, including five at Cal Poly and one at Idaho State, where he spent the 2000 season as the running backs coach and mentored a 1,000-yard rusher in Nick Wentworth.
A native of Los Angeles, Calif., Brown earned an associate’s degree from Santa Monica College in 1992 and went on to receive a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Cal Poly in 1996. He was a two-year member of the Mustang football team, leading the squad with 69 tackles and recording three interceptions in 1994. As a senior at Cal Poly Brown served as team captain and registered 54 tackles and three interceptions.
He received a master’s of education degree in cross-cultural teaching from the National University in San Diego in 2000.
In the summer of 2004 Brown participated in the National Football League’s minority internship program with the Detroit Lions. In the spring of 2005 he traveled to Tokyo, Japan to help teach the Fujitsu Frontiers’ coaching staff on defensive and overall coaching strategies.
Brown has also served as the defensive coordinator at Venice High School in Los Angeles; was the defensive coordinator for the Cologne Crocodiles in Cologne, Germany; the defensive backs coach at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif., and the defensive backs coach at Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, Calif.
Mullin said he received around 90 applicants for the head coaching position and ended up interviewing four candidates. In addition to Mullin, Brown met with a search committee as well as members of the S&T football team. He said Brown received high marks from all corners during the interviewing process.
“The players are excited and I’m excited,” Mullin said. “It was a difficult process but we had a very good pool of candidates.”
One of the players Brown met with is former St. James all-state receiver Chad Shockley.
Mullin said it is not settled how many, if any, of the current assistant coaches on the Miner football staff will be retained. The current S&T football assistants are under contract through June 30.
Current Miner assistant coaches are assistant head coach/defensive back coach Travis Boulware, offensive coordinator Josh Richards, offensive line coach Andy Ball and defensive line coach Kyran Weaver. Richards is formerly St. James High School football head coach.
Brown and his wife, Beth, were married in 2007 and have two children.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be named the head football coach at Missouri S&T,” Brown said.
“I want to thank Chancellor John Carney, Mark Mullin and the search committee for giving my family and me the opportunity to become a part of the Miner family. I also want to thank my wife, Beth, for her patience, support and willingness to take our family on this journey.”
