Tag: thomas brown

Former Georgia RB promoted to be Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator

Former Georgia football running back receives promotion and is now the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator

The Chicago Bears promoted passing game coordinator Thomas Brown to be their new offensive coordinator. Brown, who is a former Georgia Bulldogs running back, replaces previous offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

The Bears fired Waldron after a rough start to the season despite having a very talented offense surrounding quarterback Caleb Williams, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Chicago has the ninth-worst scoring offense in the NFL at 19.4 points per game.

Brown has previous experience as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 2023. He was the Panthers’ play-caller for part (primarily the second-half of the season) of Carolina’s brutal 2-15 season.

Chicago interviewed Brown for their offensive coordinator role before the season. The Bears ended up hiring Brown as their passing game coordinator. Now, he’ll have an opportunity to prove himself and show he deserves to remain as offensive coordinator.

Brown served as an offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay before coming to Carolina and Chicago. He is highly respected throughout the NFL.

Former Wisconsin Badgers assistant becomes Chicago Bears interim offensive coordinator

Former Wisconsin Badgers assistant becomes Chicago Bears interim offensive coordinator

Former Wisconsin running backs coach Thomas Brown was named interim offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears on Tuesday.

The move arrived shortly after the Bears brass fired former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. The team’s recent three-game losing streak, coupled with lofty expectations surrounding star quarterback Caleb Williams, spurred the release.

With the Chicago Bears at 4-5 on the season, Brown will now manage the offense for the time being.

Brown’s connection to Wisconsin goes back to 2014. Under former Badger head coach Gary Anderson, Brown captained a running back room featuring 2014 Heisman Trophy runner-up Melvin Gordon and future NFL running back Corey Clement.

Backed by over 3,600 rushing yards and 38 rushing touchdowns from Gordon and Clement, Wisconsin rolled to an 11-3 record, Big Ten Championship Game appearance and victory over #19 Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

Following his tenure at UW, Brown spent time as the running backs coach at Georgia (2015), Miami-FL (2016-18) and South Carolina (2019) before making the jump to the NFL level.

There, he served Los Angeles Rams’ running backs coach in 2020 and assistant head coach from 2021-22 before being hired as the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in ’23.

Brown assumed duties as the Bears’ passing game coordinator in 2024. The former Wisconsin assistant will now take a stab at calling the plays for Williams and company for the foreseeable future.

The Bears are next on the field on Sunday against the Packers.

Ex-Panthers coach getting 2nd chance as OC with Bears

Former Panthers OC Thomas Brown is taking over play-calling duties for the struggling Bears.

Former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown is getting his second chance.

As announced on Tuesday, Brown has been promoted to serve as the offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears—who relieved Shane Waldron of the duties after nine games. Brown was hired by Chicago this past offseason as the team’s offensive passing game coordinator.

Bears head coach Matt Eberflus stated the following of Brown in the team’s official release from this morning:

“Thomas is a bright offensive mind who has experience calling plays with a collaborative mindset. I look forward to his leadership over our offensive coaching staff and his plan for our players.”

After spending three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams (2020 to 2022), Brown was hired by the Panthers as their offensive coordinator ahead of the 2023 campaign. He did not start out at the position with play-calling duties, a responsibility then-head coach Frank Reich took command of to begin the season.

Brown would eventually take over as the full-time play-caller following Reich’s firing in Week 12.

The Panthers finished 2023 averaging 265.3 total yards per game, the fewest in the NFL.

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Panthers OC Brad Idzik talks about his dynamic with Dave Canales

Panthers OC Brad Idzik on his relationship with HC Dave Canales: “I think there’s a familiarity and trust with me and Dave that runs pretty deep.”

The dynamic between last year’s head coach and offensive coordinator was a relatively complicated one for the Carolina Panthers. But it really feels as though they won’t have that type of issue this time around.

New offensive coordinator Brad Idzik spoke with reporters on Tuesday afternoon. He was asked about his relationship with head coach Dave Canales, whom he’s shared a sideline with for quite some time.

“I think there’s a familiarity and trust with me and Dave that runs pretty deep,” Idzik said. “We’ve known each other for a long time, and we’ve always pinged ideas off each other. We kinda play devil’s advocate to each other—which I think, for us, keeps each other in check.

“But at the same time, we know what each other wants. When you mention philosophy, we know we wanna run the ball. We wanna start up front and play a physical game, and the rest will kinda build off that.”

The working relationship between the two began in 2019, when Idzik started his career on the NFL sidelines as an assistant wide receivers coach for the Seattle Seahawks. Canales, at the time, was in his second year as the Seahawks’ quarterbacks coach.

After four years together in Seattle, Idzik and Canales moved on to Tampa Bay in 2023—where the former was the wide receivers coach and the latter their offensive coordinator.

Despite his big new title, Idzik is not expected to call play for the offense—at least to start. Those duties will belong to Canales.

Nonetheless, this duo will likely stick to playing healthy games of devil’s advocate, and not hot potato like the previous fellas.

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Former Georgia RB Thomas Brown accepts job with Chicago Bears

Former Georgia football running back Thomas Brown accepts coaching role with the Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are hiring former Georgia Bulldogs running back Thomas Brown to be their passing game coordinator. Brown will serve as the Bears’ passing game coordinator under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

Brown was the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2023. He was the Panthers’ play-caller for a portion (primarily the second-half of the season) of Carolina’s brutal 2-15 season. Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich was fired midway through the season. Thomas Brown helped keep the Panthers’ offense intact after Reich’s departure.

Now, Thomas Brown will likely have the opportunity to coach the projected No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft in USC quarterback Caleb Williams. The Bears have a lot of assets and should have an improved offense in 2024. Chicago also interviewed Brown for their offensive coordinator role.

Brown served as an offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay before becoming Carolina’s offensive coordinator. He is highly respected throughout the NFL.

Thomas Brown is not the former Dawg to be part of the NFL’s coaching carousel. Former Georgia Bulldogs assistant Mike Macdonald is now the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. Macdonald helped the Baltimore Ravens make an AFC championship appearance as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator.

Tracking all of the Panthers’ coaching departures in 2024

Here’s who the Panthers are moving on from as they rebuild their coaching staff for 2024

The Carolina Panthers are, once again, going out with the old and in with the new.

So now that we’re tallying up the new, let’s also keep track of the old.

Here are the team’s coaching departures heading into the 2024 campaign:

Bears reportedly hiring former Panthers OC Thomas Brown

Former Panthers OC Thomas Brown is reportedly joining DJ Moore over in Chicago.

Thomas Brown may get a chance to coach up the No. 1 overall pick in two straight seasons.

According to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero on Tuesday night, the Chicago Bears are hiring Brown as their new passing game coordinator. The 37-year-old served as the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2023.

Brown was hired by Carolina last February, but did not begin the season as the play-caller. That duty initially belonged to former head coach Frank Reich, who handed the responsibility over to Brown after six weeks and then reclaimed them just three games later.

Following Reich’s firing to begin Week 13, Brown was given control of the offense for the remaining six games of the season. The Panthers and rookie quarterback Bryce Young finished with an average of 265.3 yards per game, the fewest in the NFL.

The Bears, thanks to the Panthers, are currently in possession of the 2024 draft’s first overall selection. So Brown may be preparing for University of Southern California’s Caleb Williams, the presumptive favorite for the pick.

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Bears to hire Thomas Brown as passing game coordinator

The Bears are set to hire former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to their coaching staff.

The Chicago Bears offensive coaching staff continues to take shape as another vacancy has reportedly been filled. The Bears are set to hire former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown to be their passing game coordinator, according to multiple reports. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune was first with the news.

Brown was a candidate for the Bears’ offensive coordinator vacancy before they settled on Shane Waldron. The two have worked together in the past, when they were both with the Los Angeles Rams in 2020. Brown spent three seasons with the Rams, coaching running backs in 2020. He added assistant head coach to his responsibilities in 2021, before coaching tight ends in 2022. Last season, he joined Frank Reich’s staff in Carolina as their offensive coordinator, where he worked with Bryce Young during his rookie season. When Carolina fired Reich, Brown took over playcalling duties for the remainder of the season.

Now Brown comes to the Bears, where he once again could be coaching a rookie quarterback, only this time as a passing game coordinator. Brown is highly regarded around the league and popular among players, too. He was voted the No. 2 ranked offensive coordinator by NFL players in a survey conducted by the NFLPA near the end of the regular season.

The addition of Brown comes just hours after the Bears hired Chris Beatty as their wide receivers coach.

Steelers OC candidate Thomas Brown let go by Panthers

Thomas Brown was interviewd for the Steelers OC vacancy.

One of the potential candidates for the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator is former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown. We say former because the Panthers let Brown go after one year as the team’s offensive coordinator.

Thomas interviewed with the Steelers last Wednesday and has drawn praise for his philosophy and mindset. Johnson is one of two candidates the team has officially interviewed including Houston Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson.

The choice of Brown as a candidate is a curious one. Brown is a former NFL running back so one would assume his philosophy is centered on running the football as opposed to an innovative passing attack that maximizes the potential of a young quarterback.

The Panthers offense was easily the worst in the NFL last season. Carolina chose quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. If Young’s development as a rookie carries any weight, Brown doesn’t feel like a serious candidate given the Steelers needs.

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Panthers fans react to Thomas Brown’s departure

Thomas Brown’s first year as Panthers OC would prove to be his only year as Panthers OC.

Yesterday it was special teams coordinator Chris Tabor and James Campen, and today it was offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.

The new, Dave Canales-led Carolina Panthers are continuing to turn the page. As first reported by Joe Person of The Athletic on Saturday, the team will not retain Brown heading into the 2024 season.

Here’s how some Panthers fans are reacting to the latest departure from the coaching staff: