Badgers hire Thomas Brown
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Badgers have officially hired Thomas Brown as their new running backs coach, according to a press release from the UW athletic department. First reported by FootballScoop.com, Brown will take over for Thomas Hammock, who left Wisconsin for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens on Feb. 5.
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Brown spent the 2013 season with the Marshall Thundering Herd, where he coached running backs and guided Essray Taliaferro to a 1,000-yard season. The Thundering Herd had three running backs rush for at least 500 yards in 2013, and their 34 rushing touchdowns ranked 19th in the nation.
Brown spent the previous two seasons at Chattanooga and at his alma mater, the University of Georgia. While playing for the Bulldogs Brown rushed for 2,646 yards and scored 25 touchdowns, finishing as the fifth-leading rusher in Georgia history.
With just three seasons of coaching on his resume Brown has big shoes to fill at Wisconsin, which boasts one of the nation's most talented backfields. Melvin Gordon and Corey Clement will likely receive the bulk of the carries now that James White has moved on to the NFL, and Brown has two new running backs to tutor in incoming freshmen Taiwan Deal and Caleb Kinlaw.
Brown is also expected to recruit his home state of Georgia for the Badgers after Hammock made inroads there in Wisconsin's 2014 signing class. The Badgers signed Jeremy Patterson and Krenwick Sanders out of Jesup, Ga., thanks to Hammock, and hiring Brown shows the Badgers think they can expand their recruiting footprint in the Peach State. A native of the Atlanta area, Brown is expected to be Wisconsin's primary recruiter in the state- in addition to handling national running back prospects.
An introductory video, shot and produced by UWBadgers.com, is included below:
John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.