The Wisconsin athletic department announced Monday that Thomas Brown will take over the role of running backs coach after Thomas Hammock took a position with the Baltimore Ravens earlier this month.
Wisconsin rushed for 3,689 yards last season with the help of redshirt sophomore running back Melvin Gordon and senior James White, who both had over 1,000 yards on the season.
Brown has some large shoes to fill in replacing Hammock. Frequently at practice, Hammock could be heard, and was known as an expressive coach, which can be seen on his Mic’d Up session available at uwbadgers.com.
However, Brown is not entering as a novice running backs coach. He may be a young at 27 years old, but he comes from the University of Marshall where he spent last season as the running backs coach. Prior to that, Brown served as the running backs coach at Chattanooga.
At Marshall, Brown aided the Thundering Herd in becoming Conference USA’s No. 2 rushing offense, averaging 205.9 yards a game. Marshall was just one of seven FBS teams to finish the 2013 season with three running backs recording over 500 yards, along with Wisconsin.
Prior to coaching, Brown played at the University of Georgia, becoming the No. 5 rusher in Bulldog history, with 2,646 career yards. In his career, Brown averaged five yards per carry and scored 25 touchdowns.
During the 2004-’05 season he was the leading rusher for Georgia. After his success with the Bulldogs, Brown was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2008 and spent the 2009 season with the Cleveland Browns. After his second season in the NFL, Brown chose to retire from playing and pursue a career in coaching.
As part of his duties as the running backs coach Brown will be seeking out recruits for the historic Wisconsin running back squad. His influence in Georgia and the southern part of the country will make him a cherished asset to the Badgers’ recruiting team as well.
