Get to know your offensive coordinator

New offensive coordinator meets with offense, wants faster tempo
By Alex Ybarra/Managing Editor

Neal Brown understands there’s no better place for his line of work than Texas Tech.

“The history — when you talk about throwing the football — this is where you want to be,” said Brown, Tech’s new offensive coordinator, who at 29 years old is the youngest play caller in the nation.

He is the key component in keeping Tech’s Air-Raid offense in place, a trademark newly hired head coach Tommy Tuberville vowed to continue after he took over for coach Mike Leach who was fired three weeks ago amid allegations he mistreated injured receiver Adam James.

Brown, with his strong southern drawl and confident swagger, built his resume at Troy University. His most successful season was in 2009 when his offense ranked third nationally with 485.6 yards per game.

Now he’s at the helm of an offensive tradition that has been built and controlled by Leach for the past 10 seasons.

“I’m not walking into a situation where the cupboard is bare by any means,” he said.
In a twist of irony, Brown played receiver for Leach when he was offensive coordinator at Kentucky in 1999, the same year Hal Mumme was head coach. Mumme, an innovator of the spread offense, was a major influence on Leach’s coaching philosophy.

“I played receiver and I was extremely average,” Brown said of his time at Kentucky. “I played (inside and outside). I was one of those guys that knew all the spots, so I was able to play a little bit. I hope they got better players than me here.”

No offense to Brown, but Tech does, and one of them is receiver Detron Lewis, who welcomes the change.

“He played the position so I can relate to him more,” Lewis said. “I’ll listen to him telling me the things I did wrong because he knows what’s wrong.”

That type of familiarity has offensive players, who met with Brown on Thursday, at ease.

“He just told us to not worry about anything, and if we’re concerned about our success next year and how things are gonna go to just trust him,” said Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield. “He’s gonna trust us and it’s gonna be a real professional thing.”

One of Brown’s biggest challenges will be finding a starting quarterback, which he said is up to Taylor Potts and Sheffield.

Both had solid seasons despite playing chunks at a time.

Making defenders miss to keep plays alive, the frail Sheffield is the more mobile, decisive quarterback. Potts is the pocket passer with the strong arm, size and grit, although he slumped in the middle of the season.

“I want one that moves, gets first downs,” Brown said of his ideal quarterback. “It depends. It’s what you got, who the best guy is, if he’s mobile then we’ll be mobile. If he can’t move, then we’re not worried about it either.”

I wasn't too sure what to make of Tech's hiring of Neal Brown but after reading this I'm a bit more excited about the direction of Tech's offense. It should be comforting for Tech fans to know that Brown has played for Leach in the past and seems to be a disciple of the Hal Mumme offensive style. A dedicated but slightly untalented player who worked hard and climbed up the coaching ranks quickly. Sounds a lot like Lincoln Riley doesn't it? And Troy had the #3 offense in the nation a couple of years back? I had no idea. But it is good news in the LBK.