Steve Brown, defensive backs coach for the University of Kentucky football team, has been promoted to defensive coordinator, Coach Rich Brooks announced Monday.
?Steve is very well qualified to be a defensive coordinator and is probably overdue, much like Joker Phillips was (when named offensive coordinator at UK),? Brooks said. ?Steve has great experience in the NFL with the St. Louis Rams, including his time on our staff, and with (former Rams head coach) Dick Vermeil.
?Steve has done a great job in his four years here and will be responsible for the continued improvement of our defensive performance.?
Brown moves into the spot vacated by Mike Archer, who resigned last week to take a coaching position with another team. Brown will guide a defensive unit that in recent seasons has been challenged with low scholarship numbers, injuries, and inexperience. The defense began showing signs of progress during the 2006 season, however.
After allowing 34.1 points per game in 2005, UK improved to 28.4 points per game during the 2006 season. The Wildcats also generated 32 takeaways on defense and the turnover margin of +15 ranked second in the nation in that category. The defense played some of its best football in the final two games of the season in a 17-12 loss to Tennessee in Knoxville, followed by the 28-20 win over Clemson in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. In the bowl victory, the Wildcats surrendered only six points until the fourth quarter and held the powerful Clemson running game well below its season average.
?I?m very excited about the opportunity,? Brown said. ?I?m looking forward to working with the returning players and building upon the success we had in the last couple of games.?
An evaluation of the depth charts of Southeastern Conference teams in November showed that UK had the youngest defense in the league, based on the number of freshmen and sophomores on the teams? two-deep defensive listing. UK had 16 freshmen and sophomores among the 22 players on the defensive depth chart, with the next closest being Vanderbilt and South Carolina with 13.
Kentucky could return as many as eight starters on defense in 2007, including the top five tacklers (LB Wesley Woodyard, LB Braxton Kelley, FS Marcus McClinton, SS Roger Williams, and CB Trevard Lindley), along with the leaders in tackles for loss (Woodyard), quarterback sacks (DT Myron Pryor), interceptions (McClinton), and pass breakups (Lindley). Three starters must be replaced, DE Durrell White, DT Lamar Mills, and CB Karl Booker. Kentucky will continue to play the 4-3 defensive scheme that has been used in recent seasons.
Brown played for Brooks at Oregon in 1979-82 as a defensive back and kick returner, earning a spot on the All-Pacific 10 Team each season. Brown played eight seasons with the NFL?s Houston Oilers. He coached six years with St. Louis, including the 1999 season when the Rams captured the 2000 Super Bowl.
Brown has been with the UK staff since 2003. Under Brown?s guidance, safety Muhammad Abdullah was named second-team All-SEC for three straight years, cornerback Antoine Huffman broke the UK career record for pass breakups, and in the 2006 season, cornerback Trevard Lindley earned first-team Freshman All-America honors and was named to the Rivals.com All-Bowl Team for his performance in the win over Clemson.
In addition to Brooks and Vermeil, other coaches that Brown has been associated with over the years include Nick Saban, current Alabama head coach who was Brown?s position coach for two years when he played with the Oilers; Gregg Williams, current defensive coordinator with the Washington Redskins, who also was on the Oilers? staff when Brown played; and Bud Carson, architect of the Pittsburgh Steelers? famed ?Steel Curtain? defense, who was on the Rams? coaching staff with Brown.
Kentucky Defense had the Most Freshmen and Sophomores: While the Kentucky defense had its ups-and-downs during the 2006 season, one thing that is certain was the youth of the unit.
Of the 22 players on UK?s two-deep defensive depth chart, 16 were freshmen or sophomores. An examination of the Southeastern Conference?s depth charts showed that was the highest number in the league, with Vanderbilt and South Carolina coming in next with 13 players in that category. Here is a list of each team and the number of freshmen and sophomores on the two-deep depth chart:
Kentucky – 16
Vanderbilt – 13
South Carolina – 13
Ole Miss – 12
Mississippi State – 11
Auburn – 11
Georgia – 10
LSU – 10
Tennessee – 10
Arkansas – 9
Alabama – 7
Florida – 7
It?s interesting to note that the three SEC teams that were not bowl-eligible (Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Mississippi State) ranked in the top five in the league for most young defenders while Arkansas and Florida, the participants in the SEC Championship Game, were in the bottom three in this statistic.
PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES – JAN. 15
Kentucky Head Coach Rich Brooks
?It?s that time of year where changes are taking place all across the country. I got word from Mike [Archer] on Tuesday night that he was going to leave, and then I talked to Steve [Brown] and waited until today to make this official. Steve Brown will be promoted to defensive coordinator and I think it?s a great opportunity for him to continue the improvement our defense showed in the latter part of the season. He?s well prepared. I have known him a long time since I had the pleasure of recruiting him out of school in Sacramento to play at the University of Oregon. He has had great playing experience in the NFL and coached the secondary on a Super Bowl champion team ? the St. Louis Rams. He has had a good four years of getting to know the SEC, so there is no question that he?s prepared and now he will continue to have the opportunity to move our defense forward. I?m just excited about that.?
On his long relationship with Steve Brown?
?You never really know when you recruit a young man how long that relationship will last, but I became very close to Steve?s father and we maintained a very good relationship over the years after he left school and went into the NFL. I basically got him started in the coaching profession when I took the St. Louis Rams? job and I hired him to coach at that time.?
On what Steve Brown will bring to the defensive coordinator position?
?He?s very bright, articulate and communicates well with young men. He?s a teacher, and I think it?s critically important that you are a good teacher to be a coach, period. The other thing is that he has been exposed as a player with the Houston Oilers, and at the end of his NFL career with the 49ers, with different defensive schemes that a lot of guys haven?t been exposed to. He knows the difficulty of some coverages and some fronts, and how difficult it is to do those things. I think he can see it from a player?s perspective. At the level he?s played, that becomes very significant. He?s worked under coaches with the Oilers as a player and gotten different defensive packages, and also with the St. Louis Rams when I was the head coach and then under [Dick] Vermeil and [Mike] Martz. He?s had an opportunity here, with Coach [Mike] Archer being the coordinator, to have a lot of input into our game plan and also learn about the college game that he hadn?t been around since he was a player.?
On hiring an internal candidate for the defensive coordinator position?
?I think if you have a really good staff, you always ought to have somebody on your staff that can take over. That was my goal when I came here. That wasn?t necessarily always the case at Oregon, but we?ve been afforded by the administration here the opportunity to pay well enough to hire pretty good assistant coaches. I think we?ve had an outstanding staff and it just makes sense from a continuity standpoint, as well as giving people who are well qualified an opportunity to show what they can do and lead as Joker Phillips has proven on the offensive side.?
On hiring coaches to fill the two vacant positions?
?We have to go through a speedy process, but we still have to go through a process. It?s my hope that in the next several weeks that we will have a new announcement on the two positions that are vacant.?
Defensive Coordinator Steve Brown
On the differences that will be seen in the defense under Brown?
?I think probably the smartest thing that we do will be something of the look you saw vs. Tennessee and the look you saw vs. Clemson. I think the major key is having young men know what they are supposed to do and do it aggressively. I think we?ll be better in the sense that our players will have more experience under their belts. I just look for them to play extremely hard and practice extremely hard so that they are prepared for every game that we play.?
On a change in the team?s defensive scheme?
?This is something that we?ll talk about, but for the most part it will be the same scheme. I think ? and this is what I am going to ask of the players ? that they become more selfish in that they really are working hard to become the best possible players that they can be. Schematically, we will do pretty much the same, but we?ll tie it in and get them to play with a lot of passion like they did those last couple of games.
?I learned this from Bud Carson, who I thought was one of the greatest defensive minds that I?ve ever been around, and he had the thought process that he would always go to the players first. He would have a feel for the defensive line or the linebackers? ability just to play what we asked and see how they feel as far as their pass-rush ability. We?ll always have the capability of bringing an extra guy in or two extra guys, because if we have to change the momentum of the game in any way we will bring more people. I think by just playing and thinking aggressively, you?ll see a faster, up-tempo defense like against Tennessee or Clemson.?
On what will be seen from the defensive players next season?
?I think what you?ll see is a bunch of players that have a year of experience under their belts and, with that, comes knowledge. With knowledge comes less of an ability to be hesitant and more ability just to be aggressive and know their assignment.?
On taking over for Mike Archer as defensive coordinator?
?You always hate to have a guy like Mike Archer leave because he?s not only a good coach, but he?s a good friend. You always sit in the back seat wondering how you would do if you had a different seat. I think we?ve got great coaches. I think I?ll lean heavily towards what they?re thinking, and one of the greatest football minds, too, is my head coach [Rich Brooks]. He coached a Super Bowl team to the highest level, and if you can do that as a coordinator, don?t think that I won?t be picking his brain and having him want to lean over my shoulder. I think one thing that is stopping this team from winning the SEC title is a dominant defense, and we are going to do everything possible to make that happen.?
On whether he expects any change in his personality as a coordinator?
?I?m always trying to be the best that I can be even if it means being less demonstrative and doing more talking. I have so much passion. I care so much about how well we do here, that sometimes I get a little nuts, but it?s in a positive way. I try to always make sure that when I am correcting someone or praising someone that it is in the same tone. I want to always be thought of as a teacher, someone who will lead them and show them the way. I?d rather spend 90 percent of my time teaching and 10 percent motivating. I?m going to try to do my best to have those guys take up the slack and make sure that they want to be taught, and that they keep the bar high for themselves, as opposed to me setting it high for myself.?
