RB coach Thomas Brown brings leadership, experience to Rams
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Sean McVay and Thomas Brown first met on the football field as high school rivals back in Georgia -- McVay an option quarterback at Marist High School outside of Atlanta and Brown an electric running back for Tucker High School.
“I obviously had a great respect from a player’s perspective watching him from afar,” Brown said. “We kind of made contact a couple years ago when I was at Georgia, and he called me about a couple of guys they were interested in drafting, and we stayed in contact.
“The last couple summers I tried to get out here to attend an OTA practice, try to observe and learn some. It never matched up, in terms of my schedule and the Rams schedule. But he’s a great guy to be around and learn from, and I’m excited to work with him.”
Brown said he finished 2-2 against McVay in high school. The two stayed in touch over the years, and McVay finally reached out to Brown during the offseason, convincing him to accept the running backs job for the Rams.
“I’ve known Thomas for a long time,” McVay said. “Even when we brought him in here -- really just to kind of begged him to be able to take the job -- he’s special. He’s just got a presence. There are certain people that kind of have that ‘it’ factor and he’s certainly one of those guys.”
And what makes him special, Sean?
“t’s a combination of the communication ability, the character, the command and just the capacity that he has, when you talk to him,” McVay said. “This is a guy that has coordinated high-level football, when he was at the ‘U’ (University of Miami). He’s got a great feel for what’s going on, all 11 on offense, all 11 on defense. He’s got great command of the running back position, especially having played it at this level and what he did through the course of his career at Georgia.
“So, he embodies all of the things that you’re looking for in a coach, and then you just watch his energy and his ability to be able to see things in live action. I couldn’t be any more impressed with him.”
Brown said he spends the majority of his time with his players outside the white lines, helping them to develop into great husbands and fathers, and how to make an impact on society.
“I’ve always had the mission to talk about helping them develop as a grown man and how to survive in this world without football,” Brown said. “Football is obviously a great sport; it brings us all together and keeps me employed. But at some point for all of us, me included, the game is going to end.”
Brown, 34, brings a unique background as a player and a coach. As a 5-8, 200-pound tailback, Brown finished his college career at Georgia totaling 2,646 rushing yards and 25 total touchdowns from scrimmage.
Selected in the sixth round of the 2008 draft by Atlanta, Brown spent one season with the Falcons and another with the Cleveland Browns before moving on to coaching.
Brown coached nine years in college before joining the Rams, developing running backs Melvin Gordon and Corey Clement at Wisconsin, Nick Chubb and Sony Michel at Georgia and Travis Homer at Miami.
“He’s a guy who’s brought some intensity to that room already and he knows his stuff,” veteran running back Malcolm Brown said. “He knows it. I know we don’t give him enough credit sometimes, because he’s new, too. He’s learning on the fly just like Cam (Akers) and Xavier Jones and everybody is learning as well.
“He’s spitting it out. He’s teaching us and teaching us well. A lot of new drills that we’re doing, a lot of new focuses that we’re focusing on with our game and everything. He’s been amazing. He’s the real deal.”
Along with his intimate knowledge of the running back position, what makes Brown relatable to his position group is his willingness to speak his mind on issues outside of football.
Brown, who is Black, experienced racism growing up in an all-white neighborhood in Stone Mountain, Georgia starting at eight years old, and that experience still informs his perspective.
“Being able to educate our guys, but also empower them, is going to bring about change,” Brown said. “I’ve told my guys before, I think athletes are entertainers and shouldn’t necessarily be role models and leaders, but in the Black community in a lot of ways we do look to those people for influence -- so being able to use your voice in the right way, but also put action behind it.”
