Titans offer condolences after death of former Oilers RB Gary Brown

Former Oilers RB Gary Brown passed away at the age of 52 on Sunday.

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Former Houston Oilers running back Gary Brown passed away recently at the age of 52 after dealing with “significant health issues” since 2019, according to the Dallas Cowboys’ official site.

Brown was an eighth-round pick of the Oilers in 1991, spending five seasons with the team. He compiled 2,115 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in 65 games played in Houston. Brown broke the 1,000-yard mark in 1993.

After his stint in Houston, Brown went on to play one season with the San Diego Chargers, and two more with the New York Giants, where he once again totaled 1,000 yards in 1998.

After hearing of Brown’s passing, the Titans took to social media to offer condolences.

Following his playing career, Brown had several stints as a running backs coach, both in college and the pros. He also spent time as the offensive coordinator at Susquehanna in 2006-07.

Brown was the Cowboys’ running backs coach for seven seasons (2013-19), and most recently held the same position with Wisconsin in 2021 before leaving due to his health issues.

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Former Nittany Lion Gary Brown passes away at 52

Penn State mourns the passing of former running back Gary Brown

Gary Brown, the former Nittany Lion, passed away Sunday night after being treated for cancer and transitioning to hospice care. He was just 52 years old.

Brown had a tremendous career at Penn State over four seasons with over 1,500 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns. Brown took that career at Penn State though and turned it into an even more successful coaching career. The Williamsport native would start his career at Pennsylvania colleges Lycoming and Susquehanna before making the jump to the bigger schools on his resume.

He would join the Rutgers staff in 2008 as running backs coach and then make his NFL jump by being on the Cleveland Browns staff till 2012. His most notable stop though would come when Jerry Jones brought him to Dallas where he would coach Darren McFadden, Demarco Murray, and Ezekiel Elliott. Jones released a statement on the passing of Brown, he mentions his “big heart” as well as “big smile and personality”.

The heartfelt sentiments also poured in from players like Demarco Murray who took to Twitter.

 

His final cochin spot would come in the form of returning to the college ranks. Brown would be added to Paul Chryst’s staff at Wisconsin where they have themselves as a running back factory. Their latest product, Braelon Allen, also took to Twitter to share his pain in the loss at Gary Brown.

Brown had started his battle with cancer back in 2009 when he was with Cleveland. He battled cancer in his liver and colon and he fought it and won after surgery and rounds of chemotherapy. Sadly his cancer had returned in his pancreas this time during his time at Wisconsin. He didn’t coach in 2020 before returning in 2021 but he did miss the team’s Las Vegas Bowl appearance in December due to treatment.

Brown is survived by his wife, Kim, daughters Malena and Dorianna, and son Tre.

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Former Rutgers assistant Gary Brown has passed away

Former Rutgers football assistant and NFL player Gary Brown has passed away.

Gary Brown, a former NFL player and an assistant coach at both the NFL and college level, passed away on Sunday.

His passing was announced in a statement from the Wisconsin athletics department. Brown was a running backs coach last year with the Badgers.

The statement from Wisconsin did not release a cause for Brown’s passing but the Associated Press notes that “Brown had battled cancer on multiple occasions.”

Wisconsin represented the third Big Ten program on Brown’s resume.

“I am deeply saddened by Gary’s passing,” Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst said in the statement released by the athletic department.

“Though he was only on our staff for a year he had a profound impact on our players and our program. We are all better people for having known Gary. He was a tremendous person, a terrific coach and a joy to be around. He had great energy and passion for life and that showed every day. My deepest condolences go out to his wife, Kim, his children, Malena and Dorianna and Tre, and his entire family, his friends and everyone who loved him.”

A graduate of Penn State, Brown was an eighth-round pick of the Houston Oilers in the 1991 NFL draft. He spent five seasons with Houston before playing a season with the then-San Diego Chargers and then the final two years of his career with the New York Giants.

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After coaching for several seasons at a lower level, Brown got his big coaching break from Rutgers head coach [autotag]Greg Schiano[/autotag] when the now Big Ten program was then in the Big East.

He spent one season in 2008 at Rutgers where he helped transition the running backs room from the Ray Rice era into a balanced attack that averaged 128.0 yards per game. He then moved to the NFL where he was a running backs coach with the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys.

 

Brown returned to college last year and spent one season with Wisconsin. Under Brown, Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen was one of the elite runnings of not just the Big Ten last year but all of college football.

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Allen ran for 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns last season as a freshman.

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Former Oilers, Giants running back Gary Brown dies at 52

Gary Brown spent five of his eight seasons in the NFL with the Oilers.

Former Houston Oilers and New York Giants running back, and former Dallas Cowboys coach, Gary Brown, has passed away at the age of 52, the Cowboys announced on Sunday.

Brown was in hospice care for the last two weeks and was said to have been dealing with “significant health issues” since 2019, the team said.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones released this statement on Sunday night on Brown’s passing:

“Gary Brown had a big heart partnered with a big smile and a big personality. His energy and spirit were infectious. He lit up every room he walked into and touched the lives of those who knew him in such a positive way. Everyone who knew him, loved him. He meant so much to the players he coached and the coaches he coached with. His love for family, football and life was evident each day. He continued to fight, and he never gave up. My family and the Dallas Cowboys family are heartbroken, and our love and support are with his wife, Kim, his daughters, Malena and Dorianna, and his son, Tre.”

Brown spent eight years in the NFL, five of which came in Houston, the team that selected him in the eighth round of the 1991 NFL draft. He tallied one of his two career 1,000-yard seasons with the Oilers.

After his time in Houston, Brown went on to play for the San Diego Chargers for one season, and the New York Giants for the final two years of his career. Brown’s second 1,000-yard campaign came in 1998 with Big Blue.

Brown began his nearly two-decade-long coaching career in 2003, first serving as running backs coach for Lycoming college (2003-05).

He also held the same position with Rutgers (2008), the Cleveland Browns (2009-12), the Cowboys (2013-19), and then most recently with Wisconsin. Brown served as the offensive coordinator at Susquehanna (2006-07) as well.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this difficult time.

Beloved Cowboys RB coach Gary Brown passes away, age 52

The popular assistant produced three rushing champs in seven seasons with the Cowboys; he succumbed to cancer on Sunday. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Gary Brown, who coached the Cowboys running backs for seven seasons, passed away Sunday at the age of 52.

As reported by Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Brown had been battling cancer.

“Gary Brown had a big heart partnered with a big smile and a big personality,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said as part of a statement Sunday night. “His energy and spirit were infectious. He lit up every room he walked into and touched the lives of those who knew him, loved him.”

Brown played running back in the 1990s, spending time with the Oilers, Chargers, and Giants over eight seasons. After returning to both the high school and college ranks to begin a coaching carer, he worked his back to the pros on Eric Mangini’s staff in Cleveland in 2009.

The Cowboys hired Brown in 2013; he was in Dallas through the 2019 season. He most recently served as running backs coach for Wisconsin, hired in Madison in March 2021. He did not travel with the Badgers to their bowl game this past December due to cancer treatments.

Over Brown’s seven seasons as running backs coach in Dallas, Cowboys ball carriers won three NFL rushing crowns.

DeMarco Murray notched back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2013 and 2014, led the league in rushing yards in 2014, and was named the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award in 2014. He earned three Pro Bowl nods for his play.

Ezekiel Elliott won the rushing title in two of his first three seasons and went to three Pro Bowls, all under Brown’s tutelage.

Brown had an especially tight bond with his backs, something TV viewers got to see during the 2018 Amazon series All or Nothing: A Season with the Dallas Cowboys.

Brown had been diagnosed twice with cancer, the first time while he was in Cleveland. He underwent chemotherapy and surgery and was given a clean bill of health.

He received his second diagnosis just after the Cowboys’ coaching change in early 2020. A malignant tumor was found near Brown’s pancreas.

After taking a year off, Brown joined the Wisconsin staff for the ’21 season, even as he went through immunotherapy.

“When you’re sitting by yourself and you’re alone and you’re thinking about what’s next,” he said per the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “you really think about the things that could be taken away. Not only football but your family and your friends.

“It’s going to do one of two things to you. It’s going to eat you up and you’re going to fold up and go into a corner and die, or you’re going to fight. My parents raised me to fight.”

Brown is survived by a wife, two daughters, and a son.

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WATCH: Wisconsin football introduces new coaches

Watch Wisconsin football introduce new coaches Gary Brown, Ross Kolodziej and Hank Poteat to Badgers fans:

On Monday night, Wisconsin football released a video on their Twitter introducing new Badgers’ coaches including running back coach Gary Brown, cornerback coach Hank Poteat and defensive line coach Ross Kolodziej.

Related: WATCH: New Wisconsin DL coach Ross Kolodziej motivates his group in practice

Gary Brown joined the Wisconsin coaching staff after the departure of former Badgers’ RB coach John Settle to the Kentucky Wildcats this offseason, while Ross Kolodziej transitioned to his new role from his position as head strength and conditioning coach for the Badgers. Hank Poteat was hired by Wisconsin this offseason after being the CB coach for the Toledo Rockets since 2017.

Coach Brown and coach Kolodziej have already been featured on Badger football’s ‘Mic’d Up’ series, but it was great to hear all of the coaches speak about their coaching philosophies and their expectations for this upcoming season.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

WATCH: Wisconsin coaches mic’d up for the start of training camp

WATCH: Wisconsin coaches mic’d up for the start of training camp

The Wisconsin football program is now six practices into training camp as they prepare for the 2021 season.

The season is lining up to be a successful one for Paul Chryst’s team, thanks in large part to a combination of talent and experience at nearly every position.

But with most of last year’s starters back on the field for another season, there were some notable changes to the coaching staff.

The program hired Hank Poteat as cornerbacks coach, promoted Ross Kolodziej to defensive line coach and hired former Dallas Cowboy running backs coach Gary Brown to the same position.

Related: Four takeaways from The Athletic’s interview with former Wisconsin DPP Saeed Khalif

Brown and Wisconsin’s two men at the top of the staff were mic’d up during a recent training camp practice:

An unexpected text from RB Coach Gary Brown is the reason Curtis Neal is a Wisconsin Badger

Thanks are owed to RB coach Gary Brown for re-igniting the program’s relationship with current commit Curtis Neal

Wisconsin landed a commitment from 2022 three-star defensive tackle Curtis Neal last week, in the end edging out Ohio State and other big-name schools.

Neal’s recruiting path and profile is extremely unique.

The Badgers were his first official offer back in 2018, Neal quickly earned four-star status, big programs including Ohio State, Alabama and LSU offered the defensive lineman, 247Sports then sent him back to a three-star and, finally, we get to where we are today: Curtis Neal committed to play at Wisconsin.

Related: Wisconsin football class of 2022 commitment tracker

Neal came on the most recent episode of Locked On Badgers and talked about his path and recruiting process, what stuck out about Wisconsin, the existence of a class of 2022 commit group chat and more.

The most interesting nugget from the interview was a story about new running backs coach Gary Brown, and an unexpected text which ended up being the spark plug that led him to Wisconsin.

“The crazy thing is, [Wisconsin] thought since I was getting pretty big offers that I kind of five-starred them and just wasn’t talking to them,” Neal said. “But a couple months ago, coach [Gary] Brown texted me and said ‘so are you going to give us a chance,’ and I was like ‘I thought you guys didn’t want me anymore and weren’t interested…’ We got on the phone and got back connected…If I didn’t get that text I probably wouldn’t be here right now.”

Sometimes it’s small moments like this that define the recruiting process. For a Wisconsin program that welcomed in Brown and promoted defensive line coach Ross Kolodziej, though, the outcome of Neal’s recruiting process is impressive to say the least.

Neal now has a chance to prove doubters wrong and become a force up front on Jim Leonhard’s defense.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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A former Badger center was behind Wisconsin hiring Gary Brown as running backs coach

The Wisconsin football hired former Dallas Cowboy running backs coach Gary Brown on Thursday, the hire made to replace the Badgers’ longtime

The Wisconsin football hired former Dallas Cowboy running backs coach Gary Brown on Thursday, the hire made to replace the Badgers’ longtime running backs coach John Settle who took a job at Kentucky a few weeks ago.

Brown comes to Wisconsin with an impressive resume, coaching running backs in Dallas for a seven-year period that saw three NFL rushing titles — one from DeMarco Murray and two from Ezekiel Elliot — and previous experience with the Cleveland Browns and Rutgers before that.

Head Coach Paul Chryst met with the media today ahead of the program beginning spring practice tomorrow. During the media availability, he touched on the program’s hire of Brown.

“We’re really excited to have the opportunity to work with [Gary] Brown,” Chryst said. “Obviously the fact that he was available, we feel fortunate.”

Chryst also revealed how the hire came to be, giving credit to a former Wisconsin and Dallas Cowboy center who actually ignited the process.

“We’re grateful that Gary [Brown] was available and the process was pretty cool,” Chryst said. “First, Travis Frederick reached out to me. Then pretty quickly I realized he’d be a great fit.”

While topping Settle’s 11-year resume that included developing running backs P.J. Hill, John Clay, Montee Ball, James White, Corey Clement, Dare Ogunbowale and Jonathan Taylor won’t be an easy feat, Brown comes to Madison with years of high-level experience with some of the NFL’s best.

Without former Wisconsin and Dallas Cowboy center Travis Frederick, we may be having a completely different conversation.

Contact/Follow us @TheBadgersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin news, notes, opinion and analysis.

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Gary Brown, former Cowboys RB coach, to interview with Bengals

Gary Brown was the Cowboys running backncoach from 2013-2019. Now, he’s ser to interview with the Cleveland Browns for the same position.

The Dallas Cowboys have been busy putting together their coaching staff for the 2021 season. They fired Mike Nolan after a historically bad defense and also parted ways with defensive line coach Jim Tomsula. However, they filled those positions with the hiring of Dan Quinn and Aden Durde, while also adding Joe Whitt, Jr as their new secondary coach.

With current OC Kellen Moore recently interviewing for at least one head coach job, a former team member of the offensive coaching staff  is also making some waves. Gary Brown, who was the running backs coach from 2013 to 2019, is set to interview with the Cincinnati Bengals next week for the same position.

Brown isn’t a stranger to the AFC North. He was the Cleveland Browns running coach from 2009 to 2012. Once he landed in Dallas, he became a trusted figure of Ezekiel Elliott and guided him to two rushing titles in his first three seasons. Before Elliott, he got back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons out of DeMarco Murray which included him setting the single-season record for rushing yards with 1,845 in 2014.

He took the 2020 season off to treat a malignant tumor near the bile duct and head of his pancreas. Now healthy, he’s looking to resume his coaching career.

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