Watson Brown
Watson Brown went 136–211–1 as a head coach, 1979–2015, at Austin Peay, Cincinnati, Rice, Vanderbilt, UAB and Tennessee Tech. Share
12 seasons our game records don’t credit to him come from the coach’s Wikipedia article: 1979–80 at Austin Peay; 1995 at UAB (on file under another coach); 2007–15 at Tennessee Tech. They’re marked in the table.
- Record
- 136–211–1 career
- Seasons
- 31
- Schools
- 6
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Best season
- 2000 7–4
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Austin Peay * | 7–4 | 5th | |||
| 1980 | Austin Peay * | 7–4 | T–3rd | |||
| 1981–82: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1983 | Cincinnati | 4–6–1 | ||||
| 1984 | Rice | 1–10 | 9th | |||
| 1985 | Rice | 3–8 | 7th | |||
| 1986 | Vanderbilt | 1–10 | 10th | |||
| 1987 | Vanderbilt | 4–7 | T–7th | |||
| 1988 | Vanderbilt | 3–8 | T–8th | |||
| 1989 | Vanderbilt | 1–10 | 10th | |||
| 1990 | Vanderbilt | 1–10 | T–9th | |||
| 1991–94: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 1995 | UAB * | 5–6 | ||||
| 1996 | UAB | 5–6 | ||||
| 1997 | UAB | 5–6 | ||||
| 1998 | UAB | 4–7 | ||||
| 1999 | UAB | 5–6 | T–2nd | |||
| 2000 | UAB | 7–4 | 5th | |||
| 2001 | UAB | 6–5 | T–2nd | |||
| 2002 | UAB | 5–7 | T–5th | |||
| 2003 | UAB | 5–7 | T–6th | |||
| 2004 | UAB | 7–5 | T–2nd | Hawai’i Bowl L | ||
| 2005 | UAB | 5–6 | T–5th (East) | |||
| 2006 | UAB | 3–9 | 5th (East) | |||
| 2007 | Tennessee Tech * | 4–7 | T–7th | |||
| 2008 | Tennessee Tech * | 3–9 | 9th | |||
| 2009 | Tennessee Tech * | 6–5 | T–2nd | |||
| 2010 | Tennessee Tech * | 5–6 | 6th | |||
| 2011 | Tennessee Tech * | 7–4 | T–1st | NCAA Division I First Round L | 21 | |
| 2012 | Tennessee Tech * | 3–8 | T–8th | |||
| 2013 | Tennessee Tech * | 5–7 | T–7th | |||
| 2014 | Tennessee Tech * | 5–7 | 5th | |||
| 2015 | Tennessee Tech * | 4–7 | 6th | |||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table. * A season our game records don’t credit to him; its record is the article’s.
Players he coached
Every player from his seasons with a Heisman top-five finish, a national award, consensus All-America honors or a first-round pick. Photos: Wikimedia Commons, free licenses; credits on each player’s page.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 40 | 4–36 | 10% |
| Against top-10 teams | 16 | 0–16 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 54 | 11–43 | 20% |
| Conference games | 108 | 36–72 | 33% |
| Bowls and playoffs | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 81 | 30–50–1 | 38% |
| At home | 105 | 53–52 | 50% |
| On the road | 107 | 22–84–1 | 21% |
| At neutral sites | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 71 | 45–26 | 63% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 142 | 30–111–1 | 21% |
His own 213 games on file, 1983–2006, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Minter 1996–2003 | 2–5 | Cincinnati | 7 | |
| Jeff Bower 2000–2006 | 0–7 | Southern Miss | 7 | |
| Tommy West 2001–2006 | 6–0 | Memphis | 6 | |
| Chris Scelfo 1999–2004 | 2–3 | Tulane | 5 | |
| Jerry Claiborne 1983–1989 | 1–3–1 | Kentucky | 5 | |
| Billy Brewer 1986–1990 | 0–5 | Ole Miss | 5 | |
| Johnny Majors 1986–1990 | 0–5 | Tennessee | 5 | |
| Steve Logan 1998–2002 | 3–1 | East Carolina | 4 | |
| Larry Blakeney 2002–2006 | 3–1 | Troy | 4 | |
| Bill Curry 1987–1990 | 0–4 | Alabama, Kentucky | 4 |
Watson Brown’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Memphisseries | 14 | 8–6 |
| Cincinnatiseries | 8 | 3–5 |
| Tulaneseries | 8 | 2–6 |
| Armyseries | 7 | 5–2 |
| Houstonseries | 7 | 4–3 |
| Georgiaseries | 7 | 0–7 |
| Southern Missseries | 7 | 0–7 |
| Tennesseeseries | 7 | 0–7 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Vanderbilt | Graduate assistant | |
| 1974–75 | East Carolina | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 1976 | Jacksonville State | Running backs coach | |
| 1977 | Jacksonville State | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1978 | Texas Tech | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| 1979–80 | Austin Peay | Head coach | |
| 1981–82 | Vanderbilt | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1983 | Cincinnati | Head coach | |
| 1984–85 | Rice | Head coach | |
| 1986–90 | Vanderbilt | Head coach | |
| 1991–92 | Mississippi State | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1993–94 | Oklahoma | Offensive coordinator | |
| 1995–2006 | UAB | Head coach | |
| 2007–15 | Tennessee Tech | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Steve SloanVanderbilt
- Pat DyeEast Carolina
- Jim FullerJacksonville State
- Rex DockeryTexas Tech
- George MacIntyreVanderbilt
- Jackie SherrillMississippi State
- Gary GibbsOklahoma
Assistants who became head coaches
- Rick ChristophelAustin Peay
- Bill SchmitzCoast Guard, Austin Peay
- Bob WolfeAllegheny, Tiffin, Hiram
- Steve SloanVanderbilt, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Duke
- Tom GoodeEast Mississippi
- Pat SullivanTCU, Samford
- Billy TaylorTusculum
- Tre LambTulsa, Gardner-Webb, East Tennessee State
Worked under (7)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Sloan | Vanderbilt | 1973 | Graduate assistant | |
| Pat Dye | East Carolina | 1974–75 | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| Jim Fuller | Jacksonville State | 1977 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Rex Dockery | Texas Tech | 1978 | Quarterbacks and wide receivers coach | |
| George MacIntyre | Vanderbilt | 1981–82 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Jackie Sherrill | Mississippi State | 1991–92 | Offensive coordinator | |
| Gary Gibbs | Oklahoma | 1993–94 | Offensive coordinator |
Coached under him, later head coaches (8)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rick Christophel | Austin Peay, 1979–80: running backs coach; Cincinnati, 1983: quarterbacks and tight ends coach; Rice, 1984–85: quarterbacks and running backs coach; Vanderbilt, 1986–88: offensive line coach; 1989: defensive coordinator and middle linebackers; 1990: offensive line coach and assistant head coach; UAB, 1995–96: offensive coordinator and running backs coach; 1997–98, 2000: wide receivers coach; 1999: offensive line and tight ends coach; 2001, 2006: defensive coordinator; 2004: offensive line and defensive line coach; 2005: defensive line coach and assistant head coach | Austin Peay | |
| Bill Schmitz | Cincinnati, 1983: assistant coach; Rice, 1984–85: assistant coach; Vanderbilt, 1986–88: assistant coach; 1989: offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach; UAB, 2005: tight ends and halfbacks coach; 2006: wide receivers coach | Coast Guard, Austin Peay | |
| Bob Wolfe | Cincinnati, 1983: assistant coach | Allegheny, Tiffin, Hiram | |
| Steve Sloan | Vanderbilt, 1990: offensive coordinator | Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Duke | |
| Tom Goode | Vanderbilt, 1990: offensive line coach | East Mississippi | |
| Pat Sullivan | UAB, 1999–2006: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach | TCU, Samford | |
| Billy Taylor | Tennessee Tech, 2008: defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach; 2009–12: assistant head coach, defensive coordinator, recruiting coordinator and inside linebackers coach | Tusculum | |
| Tre Lamb | Tennessee Tech, 2013: quarterbacks coach | Tulsa, Gardner-Webb, East Tennessee State |
Other assistants under him (7)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Dick Hopkins | Cincinnati, 1983: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; Rice, 1984–85: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach; Vanderbilt, 1986–88: defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| Doug Mathews | Vanderbilt, 1990: defensive coordinator | |
| Cale Gundy | UAB, 1995: quarterbacks coach; 1996–98: running backs coach | |
| Robert Henry | UAB, 1996: defensive coordinator | |
| Bill Clay | UAB, 1997–2000: defensive coordinator | |
| John Neal | UAB, 2002: defensive coordinator | |
| Wayne Bolt | UAB, 2003–05: defensive coordinator |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
How he coached
Brown’s teams went for it on 18% of fourth downs and on 31% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 49% of plays and took 26.7 seconds a play, 2004–2006.
| Season | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 4 g | 4 of 29 14% | 21% | 43% | 21.4 | +0.03 | |
| 2005 9 g | 11 of 63 17% | 25% | 56% | 25.3 | +0.06 | |
| 2006 12 g | 18 of 90 20% | 41% | 45% | 29.6 | −0.10 | |
| All 25 g | 33 of 182 18% | 31% | 49% | 26.7 | −0.02 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.
Books
Books: Open Library (CC0); most-reissued first, each linked to its page there.