Thomas Brown, the former Georgia running back, has long been regarded as a rising star in NFL coaching circles. Although he’s yet to secure his first head coaching opportunity, the 37-year-old is gearing up for a new role in the professional arena.
Recent reports suggest that Brown is on the verge of joining the Chicago Bears coaching staff as their passing game coordinator. This development follows his one-season stint as the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers. Notably, Chicago, holding the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, seems to be the next destination for Brown.
This move will bring Brown back together with the new Bears offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, with whom he previously worked on the Los Angeles Rams staff in 2020.
Brown faced challenges during his sole season with the Panthers, encountering difficulties as rookie quarterback Bryce Young displayed inconsistency. The team’s performance suffered, starting with a disappointing 1-10 record that led to the dismissal of first-year head coach Frank Reich. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor took over as interim head coach, but the Panthers concluded the season with a bleak 2-15 overall record.
Carolina’s struggles were evident in their statistical rankings, finishing last in the NFL in passing yards with 3,245, ranking 31st in total touchdowns (23), and tying for 21st in yards per carry (4.0).
Despite the team’s hardships, Brown maintained a positive reputation across the league as a prospective head coach. He was a finalist for the Tennessee Titans’ head coaching position in the current year and had interviews for the head coaching positions with the Houston Texans the previous year and the Miami Dolphins the year before that.
In the current year, Brown expanded his coaching prospects by interviewing for offensive coordinator positions with both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. This demonstrates his continued pursuit of significant coaching roles in the NFL.
Brown’s ascent to a prominent position as an NFL assistant has indeed been remarkable.
Thomas Brown’s journey from playing running back at Georgia from 2004-07 to establishing a successful coaching career has been noteworthy. After initially returning to his alma mater as a strength coach in 2011, he later took on the role of running backs coach four years later, following coaching stints at Chattanooga, Marshall, and Wisconsin.
Brown’s coaching trajectory continued as he spent one season coaching the running backs at Georgia before joining Mark Richt at Miami, where he contributed for three seasons. In 2019, he worked with Will Muschamp at South Carolina before making the leap to the NFL, where he spent three seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff.
During the Rams’ successful 2021 season, which concluded with a Super Bowl LVI victory, Brown served as the assistant head coach and running backs coach. He then transitioned to the role of tight ends coach for the 2022 campaign. Despite his significant role in Los Angeles, Brown left for the opportunity to become the offensive coordinator in Carolina, a stint that did not unfold as successfully as anticipated.
In Carolina, Brown faced challenges, with play-calling duties exchanged multiple times between him and head coach Frank Reich as they sought to remedy the team’s struggles. However, the desired improvement never materialized during Reich’s tenure, resulting in an in-season coaching change and making Reich’s head-coaching tenure one of the fourth-shortest in NFL history.
Despite the challenges in Carolina, Brown’s reputation as an emerging coach remained intact. Recently, he was recognized as the NFL’s No. 2 offensive coordinator in a poll conducted by the NFLPA players.