Charles “Kippy” Brown, the former Tennessee assistant coach and Sweetwater standout who broke barriers as a player, has died at 71.
Brown’s football story started with firsts. He became the first Black quarterback at Sweetwater High School in 1969, then led the Wildcats to consecutive state titles in 1971 and 1972. Tennessee recruited him out of high school, but he chose Memphis instead, where he again made history as the first Black quarterback for the program, then known as Memphis State, from 1974 through 1977.
His coaching path eventually brought him back to Knoxville, where he worked under three different Tennessee head coaches. Brown was the Vols’ wide receivers coach under Johnny Majors from 1983 to 1989, a stretch that helped fuel Tennessee’s “Wide Receiver U” reputation. During that run, he coached Anthony Miller, Tim McGee, Alvin Harper and Carl Pickens.
Phillip Fulmer later described Brown’s impact in a 2015 documentary produced by The Bingham Group, calling his time on the staff a "fantastic time in our life," and adding, "Kippy is smart, he’s energetic, his personality is infectious. He’s a great recruiter, and he’s a detailed football coach," Fulmer said.
"It really came together at a great time for us in our careers. We kind of changed the culture at Tennessee back to a winning program.
We just had a lot of fun doing it."
Brown returned to Tennessee in 2009, when Lane Kiffin brought him in as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator before the Chick-fil-A Bowl in December of that year. Less than a month later, after Kiffin left for Southern Cal, Brown was elevated to interim head coach. Tennessee then hired Derek Dooley, and Brown moved back to the NFL.
Brown’s pro career stretched across 22 seasons as an NFL assistant. His first stop came with the New York Jets, where he coached running backs from 1990 to 1992 before returning to Tennessee. He later coached for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers and Houston Texas, and in 2008 served as associate head coach and passing game coordinator for the Detroit Lions.
He joined Pete Carroll’s staff with the Seattle Seahawks from 2010 to 2014 as wide receivers coach, after Brown had already spent time with the Seahawks organization in 2014 when they won Super Bowl 48, beating Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos 43-8. Brown retired in 2015 after the Seahawks reached two straight Super Bowls.
Brown spoke candidly in a 2015 interview with Knox News about how his path away from Tennessee unfolded. "Had Lane not left, I would have probably left to come (to Seattle)," Brown told Knox News in 2015.
"But I wouldn’t leave if I was going to become the head coach. I took my shot, it didn’t happen, so that’s how I got out here, and I’m really happy about it."
He also said he did not think he had a true shot at the Tennessee head coaching job. Brown said he was supposed to get the first interview, but ended up being the last, and by then, then-athletic director Mike Hamilton had already decided.
"Anytime you lose, it’s disappointing," Brown said. "But I couldn’t be happier the way things have turned out.
I feel like I’m blessed, because obviously that wasn’t meant for me. This was, and it’s been great."
Brown’s only season as a head coach came in 2001, when he led the Memphis Maniax in the XFL before the league folded. He said it was "probably the most fun" he had in coaching, with his brother and close friends on the staff.
As a player at Memphis, Brown helped the Tigers upset No. 7 Auburn 31-20 in his first season as a starter. Memphis never finished with a losing record during his time there.
His coaching career began at Memphis from 1978 to 1980, and he also spent the 1982 season as wide receivers coach at Louisville before joining Majors at Tennessee.
"There was a lot of things that stand out about him," former Memphis coach Richard Williamson said in the documentary. "He was a little things guy. He was very involved in little things, and we all know in the football business that little things lead to big things."
Brown was the oldest of 13 children. His nickname came from his grandfather, who liked to call him "Skippy" after an old television Western he enjoyed. After his grandfather died, Brown’s mother thought the name sounded too much like a dog’s name, and he became known as Kippy.
He was inducted into Memphis' M Club Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
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