Tag: J.B. Brown

J.B. Brown thinks Semaj Morgan ‘could be one of the best in the league’ as returner

He’s absolutely electric at the position. #GoBlue

In just his first year of college football, Michigan football fans got to see the truly excellent in Semaj Morgan as a returner. And in the very next game, the potentially catastrophic.

Against Iowa in the Big Ten Championship Game, Morgan nearly housed a punt, going almost the whole distance from the 10-yard line. But the very next game, on the biggest stage, the Rose Bowl against Alabama, Morgan muffed his first return, giving the ball back to the Crimson Tide.

Michigan still went on to win the game, but his new special teams coordinator, J.B. Brown, wants to see more of the former and less of the latter.

He spoke with Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast on Wednesday, and noted where Morgan has an opportunity to improve and just how good he might be in the future.

“The next step for him is just consistency, right?” Brown said. “We saw the flash that can happen, good and bad. But also the consistency of when he learns how to catch consistently. He’s going to be one of the best in the league, I think he’s gonna have a real shot. So for him, it’s just catching, seeing the ball, getting different situations and us doing a better job as coaches of putting him in those situations before we get to the game.”

Morgan won’t be the only player who will return kicks and punts, of course. So who are the others that Brown is looking at?

One we’ve seen before, quite a bit, but he mentioned two others that should be in play this season. Ultimately, he notes, he’d like seven total return men, but the ones he mentions are tantalizing options.

“Tyler Morris is the guy that’s done it for us, who can also do it for us,” Brown said. “We’re going to try to build up to try to create seven different guys. Fred Mo, he’s gonna be able to do it — Fredrick Moore. Brandyn Hillman — all those type of guys that had the skill set in the past and our high school tape, we’re going to try to work out this summer to make sure that they could do it.”

How Michigan football special teams will differ under J.B. Brown

#Michigan has won a lot of games due to stellar special teams play. #GoBlue

While Michigan football fans are eager to find out more about a Sherrone Moore-led team with Kirk Campbell as the offensive coordinator and Wink Martindale as the defensive coordinator, those are only two aspects of the game. The third has proven to be equally important — special teams.

Games can be won and lost on special teams, and the Wolverines have seen many games swing their way due to big plays in the third unit. Even in the Rose Bowl, when Jake Thaw made what could have been a catastrophic mistake on special teams, his recovery saved the game for the maize and blue, and Michigan held on to beat Alabama and advance to the national championship game.

The man now leading the charge on special teams, with Jay Harbaugh having left for the Seattle Seahawks, is J.B. Brown, who was elevated from analyst. He spoke with Jon Jansen on the ‘In the Trenches’ podcast on Wednesday and shared that fans shouldn’t expect wholesale changes, but he will certainly put his spin on things.

“There will be probably a little bit of tweaks and a little bit of different techniques may be taught,” Brown said. “But other than that, the main core of it will still stay the same. We’ve been explosive the last three years that I’ve been here and we kind of built the whole scheme together in the backroom, basically, in the fishbowl. But now I think with me taking over it’s gonna be pretty similar — but there’ll be a little bit of tweaks and adjustments.”

The good news for the Wolverines, elevating someone who had been in the room the past three years, is that while there may be subtle changes — and certainly personnel changes — there will be enough similarities that will allow the players to continue to play fast.

Brown is excited to also see what the younger players can do, but knows he’ll have a lot of veterans to lean on, as well.

“Terminology is really going to stay the same for us. So that’s the biggest thing,” Brown said. “And, when that stays the same and stays consistent like you just said, and then we just continue to build off of that.

“And then with the new guys coming into play, really excited about all those guys. They got length, they got speed, they have a lot of athletic traits. But they’re really smart, and good kids, too.”

Michigan has been in a unique position compared to some other teams in that it prioritizes special teams.

Established, star players often still find themselves on the field in the third unit, and have even noted over the years that they asked to play special teams, despite their starring roles on offense or defense.

But for younger, less established players, it’s also a place where they can earn their spot in the other two units, Brown says. There are transferrable skills and if you want to find yourself playing in front of the biggest crowd to watch a football game anywhere in America that Saturday, special teams is a way you can break into the rotation.

“The biggest thing we try to sell is the development piece, right? Because at the end of the day, everything we do, special teams-wise, is a transferable skill,” Brown said. “So whether you’re an offensive lineman, you’re still learning protection, right? There’s a lot of same similar techniques that we use in special teams that produce to every skill set in football. So for us, we try to sell transferable skills and the better you get at special teams, the better you get at your position naturally.”

Michigan football announces new special teams coordinator hire

Another hire made official! #GoBlue

Michigan football already had announced two official hires on Friday with the promotions of Kirk Campbell to offensive coordinator and Grant Newsome to offensive line coach.

While fans await the news of defensive coach retentions as well as that of a new defensive coordinator, new head coach Sherrone Moore has turned his eyes to special teams for his next hire.

Having been an analyst for the Wolverines since 2021, Michigan has elevated J.B. Brown to the role of special teams coordinator, taking over for the departed Jay Harbaugh.

You can read more about Brown in the press release below:

Full release

J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Head Football Coach Sherrone Moore named J.B. Brown as special teams coordinator for the Michigan Football program on Friday (Feb. 2). Brown has been with U-M since 2021 in the role of special teams analyst.

“Coach Brown has an outstanding mind for special teams and knows how we want to attack that phase of the game,” said Moore. “He has been a key factor in our special teams success and he will help us continue to be a leader in this important aspect of the game. I am glad to keep J.B. his wife Jessica and their family here in Ann Arbor and part of the Michigan Football program.”

“I am excited for this opportunity and grateful to Coach Moore,” said Brown. “Having been in meetings and at practice the last three seasons, I know how we want to run our special teams units and I will ensure we are an aggressive group capable of making plays that set up our offense and defense for success. I cannot wait to get working more actively with our players and to get to work for an outstanding set of spring practices.”

Brown has helped advise Michigan’s special teams units for the past three seasons (2021-23). In that time, the group has ranked third, second, and 27th in special teams FEI, an opponent-adjusted efficiency rating system. U-M has ranked second, third, and seventh in special teams SP+ in that same stretch.

Brown has helped develop the plan of attack in the kicking and kick coverage phases. The kickoff defense unit ranked first nationally in 2021 (12.4 yards per return attempt), 26th in 2022 (17.6), and 18th in 2023 (16.53), and U-M also has been top-25 in net punting twice (fifth, 2021; 22nd, 2023). Opponents have returned just 20 percent of all punt attempts against U-M since 2021 (28 returns on 140 punts). The Wolverines also have blocked four punts and two field goals in the last three seasons.

In 2023, punter Tommy Doman delivered 18 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line including at least one at the 12-yard line or deeper in six of Michigan’s final seven games. Kicker James Turner set a single-season record with 65 PATs and scored 119 points, the second-highest single-season total all-time among kickers. Brown also worked with the group while Jake Moody was a two-time Lou Groza Award finalist (2021-22), becoming the program’s first-ever winner while rewriting the U-M kicking record book.

Brown began his career in college football as a graduate assistant, spending two seasons at the University of Kansas (2015-16) and two at the University of Houston (2017-18). He was special teams coordinator for two years (2019-20) at Texas Southern, helping the Tigers rank seventh in the FCS in punt return defense in both seasons and eighth in net punting in 2020.

Brown attended Alvin High School in Alvin, Texas, and went on to be a standout baseball player at the University of Pacific. He was drafted in the 14th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the New York Mets and played four years in the minor leagues. He spent the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons as a graduate assistant at Pacific, completing his communications degree along the way.

He and his wife, Jessica, have two sons, James Thomas Brown III, and Jaxson.