Former Michigan Wolverines defensive coordinator fired just before taking on elite SEC team
Former Michigan Wolverines defensive coordinator Don Brown will not return as the head coach at UMass, the program announced Monday. Offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery will take over as the interim head coach for the remainder of the Minutemen's season. This change occurred just before the Minutemen take on the Georgia Bulldogs in their penultimate game […]
Former Michigan Wolverines defensive coordinator Don Brown will not return as the head coach at UMass, the program announced Monday. Offensive coordinator Shane Montgomery will take over as the interim head coach for the remainder of the Minutemen's season.
This change occurred just before the Minutemen take on the Georgia Bulldogs in their penultimate game of the 2024 season. UMass is 2-8 on the season, and Brown has a record of 6-28 with the Minutemen since he took over in 2022. As a head coach, Brown has a record of 101-73.
Brown had coached the Minutemen when they were in the FCS from 2004-08, going 43-19 in his first stint as the head coach of the Minutemen. He led UMass to two playoff appearances in his five years there before he was hired as the defensive coordinator at Maryland.
Brown was a terrific defensive coordinator for many years with the Michigan Wolverines under Jim Harbaugh. He coached in Ann Arbor from 2016-20, and the Wolverines finished with top-ten defenses in four of those five seasons.
Unfortunately, the defense regressed hard in 2020 and ultimately saw Brown fired at the end of the year. His firing led to Michigan hiring Mike MacDonald, whose defense sparked the current terrific run the Wolverines are on.
Under Brown, the Wolverines had 19 defensive players drafted, including first-round picks Jabrill Peppers, Taco Charlton, Devin Bush, and Rashan Gary.
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The Michigan Wolverines lost yet another winnable game this week, falling to the Indiana Hoosiers 20-15. This time, the loss fell solely at the feet of head coach Sherrone Moore for some truly abysmal game management decisions. The Wolverines got the ball out of halftime down 17-3 and had terrific field position after a 37-yard […]
"I am extremely grateful to Coach Brown for returning to UMass three years ago to help us build back a program he once coached to a national title game," athletic director Ryan Bamford said in a statement. "Don should have immense pride in the outstanding contributions he has made to advance Massachusetts football during his three stops in Amherst."
Bamford credited Brown's efforts as a pivotal factor in the program's return to a conference. After serving as an FBS Independent for several years, UMass will officially become a member of the MAC starting in 2025.
