Who is this Kippy Brown person anyway?

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, January 02, 2008  |  Comments( 7 )

Detroit Lions
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Over the booms of New Year's Eve fireworks could louder thunder be heard: The sound of rolling heads from NFL offices. It was a bit of a surprise that little din came from Detroit, and the long-awaited termination of Lions mastermind Matt Millen was not included in the overall fray.

Instead, rumor has it (and ESPN said it, so it's gotta be more than just a rumor, right?) that leaving will be Mike Martz, he who once created the explosive St. Louis Rams of the late 1990s -- the Greatest Show on Turf -- one of the most prolific offenses in football history. At first, Martz's game plan seemed to be working for the Lions, with medium-skilled QB Jon Kitna making fantasy owners happy and the offense running up point totals like 36, 37 and 44 against strawmen like the Raiders, Bears and Broncos.

But when the season's second half unfolded, so did the offensive game plan. Despite a wealth of running talent, this aspect of the game completely disappeared when competing against superior defenses. How bad was it? You mean besides the minus-18-yard showing at Arizona in Week 10? How about six games in which a Detroit player couldn't muster 30 yards rushing?

After another Lions collapse, the piper had to paid and soon to be broke, it seems, is Martz. (Despite a little utterly uncharacteristic dithering on the parts of head coach Rod Marinelli and the organization, to be sure.) Named to the offensive coordinator position in Detroit was Kippy Brown, hardly a known name despite almost 30 seasons in university and pro football coaching, and nothing near Martz's household-name level. Unless said household is located in Tennessee.

So quicker than those north of the land of Elvis can say, "Who is this Kippy Brown person anyway?" yours truly was hard at work culling for sources. Presenting everything you've always wanted to know about Kippy Brown (but had no idea it was relevant to ask) ...

Until recently, Brown was considered one of the favorites for the spot vacated by David Cutcliffe: The University of Tennessee Volunteers' offensive coordinator position.

Brown has a distinguished resume in Tennessee football. Born in Sweetwater, he would lead his high school team to the state title as quarterback in 1973. From 1975-77, he played for the Memphis State Tigers. Brown twice served University of Tennessee as receivers coach: from 1983-89 and in a dual role as assistant head coach for 1993-94.

In his term as wide receivers coach with the Vols in the 1980s, '83-89, Brown helped Tennessee acquire the nickname "Wide Receiver U.," a status still occasionally used for the team today.

However, even if he had been offered the Tennessee job without the Lions promotion, Brown might not have taken it. One year ago, he passed on a head coaching gig at Grambling State University because he reportedly "felt good about the Lions' direction." Less pragmatically, he added that "We've moved an awful lot. Being here one year and moving again, it just didn't seem like the thing for us to do right now. I think this is going to be a heck of a situation. I've got a good job."

Brown got his name from his sleepy look, with "kippy" derived from "kip," old British slang meaning "to sleep." (OK, I'm stretching it here, but damned if I could find how he got this name. Or nickname.)

The longest stint in Brown's NFL career was as wide receivers coach for the Houston Texans from 2002-2006.

The list of head coaches Brown has worked with in the NFL as running backs coach, wide receivers coach or offensive coordinator also includes Jimmy Johnson and Mike Sherman.

In fact, Brown even has head coaching experience, with the immortal Memphis Maniax of the XFL; employed as his own wide receivers coach was former New England Patriot great Stanley Morgan.

Said Brown of that job, "This is a dream. I've coached in college for a long time, I've had my stint there. I've had my stint in the NFL. You never know what's going to happen down the road. When this opportunity came about, I thought it was right for me, at this point in my career. This was the right thing for Kippy Brown to do. I'm excited about it, my family is excited about it. I just can't wait to get back down here to get started."

Hmmm, poor Kippy. He seems like such a nice guy, but you have to figure that a sizable fraction of this team's coaching staff is on the hot seat. Without Mike Martz to kick around anymore, the 2009 Detroit Lions are going to have to produce; Brown is going to have to act quickly or he might just find his current "heck of a situation" evaporated and himself moving that family back to Tennessee.

Keeping the hot seat cool all year-round at RealFootball365.com
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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