Kippy Brown, a longtime NFL assistant coach whose career stretched from college football into more than two decades in the league, has died at 71.
Brown’s coaching path began at Memphis State in 1978. From there, he worked at Louisville and Tennessee before making the jump to the NFL as the New York Jets’ running backs coach in 1990. That move launched a long run of pro stops that included the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions and Seattle Seahawks.
He briefly returned to Tennessee in 1993 before continuing his NFL journey. Brown’s final coaching job was with Seattle, where he served as the wide receivers coach from 2010-2014.
Former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Brown’s presence made an impact far beyond the meeting room.
“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 (his wife) Deon, being supportive and loving.
He was a wonderful person, and my heart goes out to Deon and the family. It’s a beautiful family.”
Doug Baldwin, who wideout for the Seahawks, also reflected on Brown’s influence with the team.
“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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