UPDATED: Thomas Brown leaves Georgia to coach running backs at UTC
ATHENS — Thomas Brown has left Georgia to accept a coaching position at Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Brown, a strength and conditioning assistant with the Bulldogs, will coach running backs for the Mocs, an FCS (formerly I-AA) program. The official announcement was made Wednesday by UTC head coach Russ Huesman.
“Really, when I started last January, my original plan was just to work as hard as I could to help Georgia win games as a strength,” said Brown, who was busy packing and handling domestic affairs at his home in Buford Wednesday afternoon. “I wasn’t really thinking about anything beyond that other than to see how I fit into college coaching and learn as much as I could about the game.”
As it happened, Mocs offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield contacted Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo this past week to ask about Brown. Brown visited the Chattanooga campus this past weekend and agreed to take the job earlier this week.
“We ended up exchanging emails for a couple of days, then I went up there to meet with them,” Brown said. “Obviously it went well. It’s a good opportunity for both of us and I’m looking forward to getting to work”
Brown, a Tucker native, was a four-year UGA letterman as a running back. He returned to his alma mater in January of 2011 to help the Bulldogs with their off-season conditioning and weight training.
Brown becomes the third member of director Joe Tereshinski’s strength staff to leave in 2012. John Kasay, who was working part-time, returned to retirement as planned in January. Longtime assistant Keith Gray left the first week of February to take a similar position with the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
That leaves Tereshinski with just two full-time assistants: Rex Bradberry and Tony Gilbert. New NCAA legislation that will go into effect in August limits to five the number of full-timers on strength staffs. So Georgia is expected to hire two more assistants. Some strength staffs, such as Alabama’s, have as many as eight assistants.
Brown said Georgia fans need be worried about the state of the Bulldogs’ strength and conditioning program.
“No concerns at all,” he said. “I could see how some people might think that with three of us leaving. But all three of us had different situations. We’re heading in the right direction right now. We turned things around last year and have a lot of talented young guys coming back. The Georgia strength program is fine.”
Brown was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft after rushing for 2,646 yards and 23 touchdown for the Bulldogs from 2004-07. He played for the Falcons and Cleveland Browns before a knee injury sidelined his football career.
Brown holds a UGA degree in speech communication. He and his wife, Jessica, have two children, Orlando and Tyson.
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100 comments Add your comment
Monkey
February 15th, 2012
7:17 pm
Look at the following list and you will understand why any smart coach would leave instead of getting beat by the big boys:
Here’s a look at where Kiper has SEC players going in his latest mock draft:
•No. 5 — Alabama RB Trent Richardson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
•No. 6 — LSU CB Morris Claiborne, Washington Redskins
•No. 8 — LSU DT Michael Brockers, Carolina Panthers
•No. 10 — Alabama OLB Courtney Upshaw, Buffalo Bills
•No. 12 — South Carolina DE Melvin Ingram, Seattle Seahawks
•No. 14 — Alabama S Mark Barron, Dallas Cowboys
•No. 15 — Mississippi State DT Fletcher Cox, Philadelphia Eagles
•No. 16 — Georgia OT Cordy Glenn, New York Jets
•No. 17 — Alabama CB Dre Kirkpatrick, Cincinnati Bengals
•No. 30 — LSU WR Rueben Randle, San Francisco 49ers
The Diesel
February 15th, 2012
7:28 pm
Good luck TB.Hope UGA gets a on the cutting edge type of assistant to infuse some new ideas into the S&C
NC_Dawg
February 15th, 2012
8:14 pm
‘A person SMART enough to know’ – you are not smart enough to know that no one gives a sh@t what you have to say.
There’s nothing negative about this story. Thomas Brown is a class act and deserves more respect that what you’ve shown him hear today.
Apparently, your parents didn’t teach you any manners.
A person SMART enough to know......
February 15th, 2012
8:20 pm
NC_Dawg I am not saying anything bad. He has to get somewhere to Learn to coach. He isn’t going to get that from Richt and Bobo. His name will get some recruits out of Georgia to Chattanooga and they need that.
DougsMugsCoffeeDOTcom
February 15th, 2012
11:37 pm
rats, too bad they didn’t offer Mike Bobo their coaching job.
Thomas Brown
February 16th, 2012
1:44 am
TDF February 15th, 2012 9:14 am
“For those dumb trolls from bama who think they own the state of GA in recruiting, and for those UGA fans that are dumb enough to believe it”
___________________________________________________
Signed by Kirby Smart and Nick Saban Alabama 2012 season alone:
# 4 MLB in nation Dillon Lee (Buford HS) 6-3.5/238
# 8 CB in nation Geno Smith (St. Pius) 6-0/165
# 17 RB in nation Kenyan Drake (Hillgrove HS) 6-0/195
# 17 DT in nation Dalvin Tomlinson (Henry County) 6-3/270
# 20 OT in nation Brandon Greene (Cedar Grove) 6-6/295
# 20 TE in nation Kurt Freitag (Buford HS) 6-4/237
# 27 DT in nation Dakota Ball (Pepperell HS) 6-2/295
# 1 Kicker in nation Adam Griffith (Calhoun HS) Alabama
___________________________________________________
Yeah, boy, sure looks like Alabama isn’t recruiting anyone from the state of Georgia. Oh wait, they did BETTER in the state of Georgia than we did.
http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=8&toinid=745&yr=2012
This is WHY Alabama is ranked the # 2 recruiting class in the nation, and why UGA is ranked # 14. That the state of Georgia is better for recruiting than the state of Alabama; and, Alabama sure didn’t sign any players from our state, now did they nimrod TDF ?
8 Alabama players signed from Georgia of 4-Stars or more
5 Georgia players signed from Georgia of 4-Stars of more.
Scout.com
Thomas Brown
February 16th, 2012
2:00 am
Kenyan Drake # 13 RB in nation
Kurt Freitag # 13 TE in nation
Adam Griffith # 2 Kicker in nation
Brandon Greene # 33 OL in nation
Dakota Ball # 29 DT in nation
Dillon Lee # 4 LB in nation
Geno Smith # 8 DB in nation
Dalvin Tomlinson # 11 DT in nation
Rivals.com
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/commitments/2012/alabama-73;_ylt=AlJWuTgyTFwCXLipWNPGoNRHPZB4
Alabama sure does not recruit anyone from the state of Georgia TDF.
Paddy
February 16th, 2012
7:05 am
Alabama has gotten around the 5 coach limit on their S & C staff by asking for medical “grey shirt” status for the other 3 coaches. It is a little used rule and should work out well for the Red Elephants. Win if you can, lose if you must but always cheat.- Lane Kiffin
maharajiean shorts
February 16th, 2012
7:32 am
I just cringe every time we talk about UGA’s S/C, or lack thereof. Good luck to Brown, but until Richt becomes more progressive in this arena, we will continue to lose games in the 4th quarter.
How about them Horned Frogs?
ugab
February 16th, 2012
8:11 am
Good luck to you TB!!!! I hope UGA will hire a true RB coach
for RBs one day. A lot of talented RBs have and are coming threw Uga. There is not an excuse not to have the best coach possible for the RBs at Ga.
ugab
February 16th, 2012
8:13 am
Strenth and Conditioning is nothing compared to LSU or Al. MS was in better shape than Uga. I am sick of the same ole crap every season with MR. This program needs to be re worked.
Clayday
February 16th, 2012
8:20 am
As a dawg fan who lives very near to Chattanooga this is great news
TDF
February 16th, 2012
8:53 am
BGH
February 15th, 2012
4:27 pm
and you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about retard
TDF
February 16th, 2012
8:54 am
Vince
February 15th, 2012
5:11 pm
Never hit her. Richt suspended him for being in that situation.
TDF
February 16th, 2012
8:56 am
A person SMART enough to know……
February 15th, 2012
5:27 pm
Wow keep showing how stupid you are. The case is going to be thrown out bc he never hit her. He got 2 games for being in that situation. So…….. once again youre wrong and a retard
norris
February 16th, 2012
8:58 am
Good luck Thomas! Always a classy guy! Met him twice and he was a very nice young man. As for the injury, folks it was not a knee injury. If you remember correctly, Thomas was injured by an illegal horse collar tackle that tore his abductor muscle. The injury was severe because one of his feet stayed planted the entire time and his head was jerked all the way back! I think I read somewhere that Thomas stated his head almost touched the ground; this is how far back he was pulled. I always that that was a shame. The other guy was fined but then cut from the NFL so who knows if he ever had to pay that fine.
norris
February 16th, 2012
8:59 am
thought that is! I haven’t had enough coffee yet!
TDF
February 16th, 2012
8:59 am
A person SMART enough to know……
February 15th, 2012
5:57 pm
Never hit her stop trying to spread you BS. You know nothing and everyone knows it.
Keep trying to troll though, and you will keep getting owned by everyone.
TDF
February 16th, 2012
9:01 am
Thomas Brown
February 16th, 2012
1:44 am
ahahahahahhaha they have gotten 4 top players in 7 years you moron. Shut your mouth unless you know what your talking about you clown.
You arent a UGA fan, we all know it.
TDF
February 16th, 2012
9:02 am
Thomas Brown
February 16th, 2012
2:00 am
They sure dont get near the top players we do. 31-4 in the past 7 years with UGA having 31 and bama 4. Yea they really are out recruiting us hahahahahahahaha man you are dumb
G-Dawg
February 16th, 2012
9:24 am
Some of you trolls need to be slapped around too with your nonsense!! Too bad I wont hit a girl though.
Bulldawgman46
February 16th, 2012
9:56 am
A class guy getting to move on with his career . Good luck with everything TB .
abe lincoln
February 16th, 2012
10:08 am
I hope we hire some guys who are great in the areas of strenght gains and speed and conditionimg. Good luck to Thomas Brown..DGD
Nick
February 16th, 2012
10:56 am
Sad to see you leave, but welcome to Chattanooga. They made a good decision on hiring you.
A person SMART enough to know......
February 16th, 2012
10:57 am
TBSF….Knows Commings NEVER hit her. TBSF was there so he KNOWS everything that happened. Hopefully the Student Disciplinary Comity will kick him out of school because this is the 2nd instance of physical altercation with this young lady. This is not a Football issue this is a public safety issue. Like you dwag love to say It is not safe at Tech but at Uga you don’t have to fear the criminals in the city you have to fear the criminal students.
TDF
February 16th, 2012
11:16 am
A person SMART enough to know……
February 16th, 2012
10:57 am
ahahahhahahaha I just know how to read and saw that everyone so far has said he never hit her, and the fact that there was no marks on her face where he “hit” her also points to never having touched her.
Second time??? You will bite on any UGA conspiracy theory wont you??? man you are stupid, go put on your tin foil hat loser
A person SMART enough to know......
February 16th, 2012
12:44 pm
TBSF…..SO FAR…key words.. SO FAR because all the witness statements are not in. So you have decide the case before the FACTS are in.
WDE
February 16th, 2012
12:45 pm
@A person SMART enough to know…..second time? Where is the police report on the first time, I haven’t seen any mention of it? If this is a pattern he needs to go…if your just spouting more BS you do.. I honestly haven’t heard of a another arrest or even police report.
WDE
February 16th, 2012
12:47 pm
@A person SMART enough to know…… and you really point fingers at TDF for already deciding the FACTS you’ve already found the young man guilty for TWO attacks…
A person SMART enough to know......
February 16th, 2012
1:10 pm
WDE….. Guilty with proof enough for the Student Disciplinary Comity not the Court of law.
UGa’s biggest problem is Richt and Bobo don’t have enough sack to fill Yonculan’s jock strap.
Suzanne Yoculan interview:
I don’t mind being the Darth Vader team of the SEC. In fact, 10 years ago we made the decision to just embrace that Darth Vader image, and we wear black everywhere we go on the road. We’re an aggressive, confident team. That’s our style. That’s my style. I like enthusiasm. I like excitement. We’ve won a lot of championships because of that.
We’re like Steve Spurrier vs. Georgia. No one in Georgia likes Spurrier because he beats us a lot. (PWD: Inferring that no one in Bama likes them b/c they never beat Georgia anymore).
I have never had a girl transfer away from Georgia in my entire career. What other coach in any sport at any school can say that?
TDF
February 16th, 2012
1:14 pm
A person SMART enough to know……
February 16th, 2012
12:44 pm
Not hard to put it together retard.
No mark
Multiple witnesses saying he never hit her.
Draw up whatever conclusion you want but if you actually think he hit her, welll then your stupid.
TDF
February 16th, 2012
1:16 pm
A person SMART enough to know……
February 16th, 2012
1:10 pm
hahahahahaha man you are stupid. I have already told you why he got suspended. 2 games for being in a bad situation.
0 games for “hitting” her, bc well he didnt hit her and the case is most likely to be thrown out
Curious and Confused
February 16th, 2012
1:25 pm
Hopefully he can gain some experience and come back and coach our RBs in a few years. I know McClendon is a good recruiter, but I think Thomas Brown can recruit and hopefully get our RBs playing better.
washwithtide
February 16th, 2012
1:25 pm
Roll tree Killers
robodawg
February 16th, 2012
2:38 pm
Congrats and best wishes to Brown. Hope we fill those positions fast with some quality guys, we need great offseason conditioning to reach our potential.
hind tit
February 16th, 2012
3:48 pm
UGA HIRE HINES WARD.
G-Dawg
February 16th, 2012
3:57 pm
Goldberg and Hershel in the weight room!! LOL
BigDawg
February 16th, 2012
9:06 pm
No loss there….Our back field has sucked for three yrs…Not even one 1k yd rusher. Whatever!
Old Boy
February 17th, 2012
6:35 am
Congrats, TB! This is a great opportunity to continue developing young players. Best of luck.
pat
February 17th, 2012
9:58 am
It’s UGA job to get then to the NFL. Not keep them there.
UGA Insider
February 17th, 2012
11:33 am
I was hoping UGA was to groom Brown to lead the S&C staff one day in the near future. I heard they were willing to make a big investment in education and training but Brown wants to try coaching first. He will do well whatever he does.
UGA Insider
February 17th, 2012
11:35 am
Steelers are trying to rework the contract of Ward. However I think Ward will be at UGA atleast in 2 years.
John Galt
February 17th, 2012
1:08 pm
Good luck, Thomas, DGD.
DogSTYLE
February 17th, 2012
2:19 pm
Georgia is loosing STRENGTH COACHES as fast as they are loosing DB’s. Coaches know when the wheels are about to fall off. Word on the streets is the SEC and NCAA are looking at the dogs for a host of violations. It’s enough to make even the strongest fans, take dawginLEX for example, jump ship
ugab
February 17th, 2012
3:10 pm
Good luck Thomas Brown. Brown sure was a great Dawg! I miss the whole entire 2005 class. Shockley! Murray is not the Athelete Shockeys was, Bobo needs to let Murray run more to fool defenses;so what is Murray gets hurt; it would be another weapon like Shockley was in 2005. Jean
Giles was an awesome OL. 2005 had a great OL. Those guys could block. There is no excuse having the biggest OL in the Nation and could not push people around. Out of shape. S &C? Ware, Lumpkin Brown were some great backs. Blue was a hard Hittn safety.It has been a long time since the Dawgs had a great safety I believe our recievers could be as good as Massaqua and co…Southerland was a blocking FB and could catch. Bobo nevers throws the the FB.???????B. Cotou was a great kicker. I’m still wandering what drug the dawgs kicker was on last season. TEs used to catch alot more balls. I would like to see more passes to the tight ends. More screens. More qb running the ball. More fake punts and more blocked kicks. etc
BillDog
February 17th, 2012
3:47 pm
With the resources (money) the UGA athletic program has, why would we have less than the maximum number of coaches, assistants, trainers, tutors, etc? Is this some of the “penny wise and pound foolsih” crap of Damon Evans that hasn’t been addressed yet?
It is unbelieveable that UGA would let any NCAA school out-spend us on any of the legal expenditures like strength coaches, ec.
Monroe's First Redcoat
February 18th, 2012
1:24 pm
@ RoyalAir Yes it is, genius. A little clunky, but it is a sentence. And your Journalism/English degree is from…?
And yes, I hold BOTH….
“Holy copy editing, Batman! In no language is this a sentence: “The Tucker native, who was a four-year UGA lettermanas a running backs, returned to his alma mater in Januart of 2011.””
dawginthewest
February 19th, 2012
5:02 pm
Dude, Chip, you wrote: “Brown said Georgia fans need be worried about the state of the Bulldogs’ strength and conditioning program.” Then the next sentence states about Brown saying the Bulldog’s need NOT be worried.
Clueless
February 20th, 2012
2:04 pm
First!?
Clueless
February 20th, 2012
2:05 pm
D’oh!