Thomas Brown has been on the NFL coaching fast track, earning the title of Rams assistant head coach after one year in the league and receiving an interview for the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching job after two.
But how far that track will take him, Brown isn’t sure.
He was asked Wednesday if he’s optimistic Black assistant coaches like him will get more opportunities to move up in years to come.
“Am I optimistic?” Brown, 35, said. “I’m probably in the minority, but I’m going to say no, I’m not.”
Brown said he bases that on knowing the history of minority hiring for NFL coaching positions as well as top corporate executive positions.
The number of Black head coaches remains three in a 32-team league where about 70% of players are Black. Michael McDaniel and Lovie Smith were hired by the Dolphins and Houston Texans this winter, and Mike Tomlin remains the Pittsburgh Steelers’ coach. Brian Flores and David Tulley were fired by Miami and Houston.
Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three teams in February, alleging discrimination, and former coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton joined the suit this month.
Brown said he thinks the lawsuit could spur change, and the situation might improve “in time” if more Black coaches gain the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach roles that often serve as springboards.
“I don’t believe that it’s impossible at all,” Brown said.
Brown, a running back at Georgia and briefly in the NFL who coached for nine years at the college level, was hired as running backs coach on Sean McVay’s Rams staff in 2020, became assistant head coach as well as running backs coach in 2021, and keeps the first title while switching to coaching tight ends in 2022.
McVay said Brown will benefit from working with a new position group, one that McVay himself coached in Washington on his way up.
“I think he’s a coach with tremendous upside,” McVay told reporters at the NFL draft combine last month. “You guys know what a great leader I think he is. That’s why he has the role of assistant head coach. But I also think getting him exposure to the different positions will help expand the big-picture perspective.”
Brown was thought to be a candidate for the Rams’ offensive coordinator opening after Kevin O’Connell left to be the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach, but McVay hired Liam Coen.
It’s certainly not a bad sign for Brown’s future that the Dolphins asked to interview him in January, while the Rams were on their way to a Super Bowl victory.
“Being in my second year (on an NFL staff), if you’d told me I’d have an opportunity to interview for a head job, I would have told you that you’re probably on drugs and probably should go to rehab. But it was a great opportunity, a great experience for me,” Brown said.
“The more you do things, the better you become at them. I think the interview process went well,” he said. “Probably first of many, but who knows?”
Meanwhile, Brown said, he’s doing the best he can for the Rams.
“I’m in a great position, a great place, and loving it being here,” he said. “If opportunities present themselves in the future, awesome. If they don’t, I’m going to continue to try to kick ass in my role and be the best I can for the guys around me.”
Brown was one of several new or newly assigned Rams assistant coaches who spoke with reporters by Zoom on Wednesday.
Coen, the former Rams assistant wide receivers and quarterbacks coach, returns to McVay’s staff after a successful season as offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky.
A lot changed in the Rams’ offense in Coen’s year away, with Matthew Stafford replacing Jared Goff at quarterback, but he said he watched Rams game tape almost every week and often showed it to Kentucky players because it helped him teach similar offensive concepts.
“I was able to sort of keep up on the trend of where they were headed all throughout the season,” said Coen, 36. “I think being able to keep up with it throughout the season helps me be able to walk into this building and understand more so what they were doing.”
Said Brown of Coen: “It’s like he never left, in some ways.”
Here’s a look at changes in the Rams’ assistant coaching roster. Asterisks mark 2022 hires. Double asterisks mark new assignments:
Offense: Liam Coen, offensive coordinator; Thomas Brown, tight ends** and assistant head coach; Greg Olson*, senior offensive assistant; Zac Robinson, quarterbacks, passing game coordinator**; Ra’Shaad Samples*, running backs; Eric Yarber, wide receivers; Kevin Carberry, offensive line; Jake Peetz*, Zak Kromer, Nick Jones, offensive assistants
Defense: Raheem Morris, defensive coordinator; Eric Henderson, defensive line, defensive run game coordinator; Chris Shula, defensive backs**, defensive pass game coordinator; Jonathan Cooley, defensive backs**; Thad Bogardus, outside linebackers**; Chris Beake*, inside linebackers; Lance Schulters, Skyler Jones*, defensive assistants
Special teams: Joe DeCamillis, special teams coordinator; Jeremy Springer*, special teams assistant
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