Football has lost one of its most respected position coaches. Charles “Kippy” Brown died this week at age 71, leaving behind a coaching trail that stretched from Memphis State to the NFL and ended with a Super Bowl ring in Seattle.
Brown’s path to the league was a long one. He started coaching at his alma mater in 1978, then waited 12 years before getting his first NFL job. When that chance finally arrived in 1990, he joined the New York Jets as running backs coach and launched a professional run that took him through seven franchises: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, and Seattle Seahawks.
Along the way, Brown held some notable roles. He spent two seasons as Jimmy Johnson’s offensive coordinator in Miami and later served as the Lions’ associate head coach during Detroit’s 0-16 season in 2008. He also interviewed for Houston’s head coaching opening in 2006, but the Texans hired Gary Kubiak instead.
Brown’s greatest NFL success came in Seattle. He joined Pete Carroll’s staff in 2010 as wide receivers coach and helped shape a receiver group that included undrafted free agents Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse into important pieces of the Seahawks’ Super Bowl XLVIII team. Baldwin and Kearse both caught touchdowns in the 43-8 win over Denver, and Brown retired after Seattle’s second straight Super Bowl appearance.
His story carried weight well before the NFL. Brown became the first Black quarterback in Memphis State football history, starting from 1974 to 1977 after first breaking that barrier at Sweetwater High School in Tennessee. He later returned to Tennessee for three separate coaching stints and helped build the program’s “Wide Receiver U” reputation while developing NFL players such as Anthony Miller and Carl Pickens.
Pete Carroll remembered Brown fondly through the Seahawks’ official website. “He was a great friend to everybody, because he had such a positive, good, fun-loving spirit,” Carroll said.
“Everybody loved being around Kip. And he had a light about him, he wanted to have a good time and have fun and make things pleasant for everyone around him.
That’s why so many people have rallied around him in this last month or so and reached out to Deon, being supportive and loving. He was a wonderful person, and my heart goes out to Deon and the family.”
Baldwin also spoke about what Brown meant to that Seattle receiver room. “Kippy was the perfect person for us, for our group of guys who came in at that time, myself, Ricardo (Lockette), Jermaine, Golden, Sid,” Baldwin said. “Kippy and Sidney Rice paired really well together as being the elder statesmen in the room, helping us young guys get onboarded into the NFL life.”
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