Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM JANUARY 2024 17 who is now Notre Dame's quarterbacks coach. Brown was named associate head coach of the Badgers in his one year with them. Brown, 34, started his coaching ca- reer as a graduate assistant at Michi- gan in 2016. He was also a graduate assistant at Delaware in 2017. He spent one year as the running backs coach at Liberty in 2019 before landing with the Bearcats. Freeman had already been at Cincin- nati for two seasons before Brown ar- rived. The two overlapped on Fickell's staff for two seasons before Freeman took the defensive coordinator job at Notre Dame. A native of Charlottesville, Va., Brown played wide receiver and quar- terback at Liberty from 2008-11. He was a two-time Big South Offensive Player of the Year and a three-time Big South All-Conference team member. As a senior, Brown passed for 2,664 yards and 18 touchdowns, and rushed for 437 yards and 9 scores. That all came after he spent the first two years of his college career as a wide receiver. He worked out as a wideout but sat in on quarterback meetings and did in- dividual drills with the signal-callers. If anyone knows the ins and outs of every skill position on offense, it's Brown. That knowledge will serve Notre Dame well. "That transition is probably one of the best things that ever happened to me because I was always learning things from a quarterback perspec- tive," Brown said after being hired at Wisconsin. "But then having to go out there and execute from the wide re- ceiver standpoint helped me be that much faster, that much better, for sure." Brown finished his playing career with 6,072 yards and 45 scores through the air, plus 1,875 yards, and 29 touch- downs on the ground. He ranked sec- ond in school history with 7,947 to- tal offensive yards at the time of his graduation. He signed with the Jacksonville Jag- uars as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Brown spent most of his time with the Jags as a wide receiver on the practice squad, but he did catch 2 touchdown passes in the 2013 season. He fin- ished his short stay in the NFL with 39 catches for 534 yards. Brown inherits a messy situation in the Notre Dame wide receiver room. The same week Stuckey and the Irish parted ways, senior Chris Tyree, soph- omore Tobias Merriweather, and fresh- men Braylon James and Rico Flores Jr. all entered the transfer portal. Tyree and Flores' departures were particularly tough. That duo ranked second and third, respectively, on the Notre Dame roster in receptions this season. They combined for 53 catches, 876 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. After the Irish converted him to a slot receiver, Tyree led Notre Dame with 484 receiving yards and looked ready for a big Year 2 at the position. Freeman expressed his desire for Tyree to return late in the season. "I think he's still getting better," Freeman said Oct. 30. "He is just start- ing to scratch the surface of how good he can be as a wide receiver for our pro- gram." Flores is a promising player who was productive in his first year in college. He led Notre Dame in snaps by a wide receiver, in part due to necessity but also because the Irish trusted him as a pass catcher and a run blocker this early in his career. Freeman was asked about his reac- tion to Tyree and Flores leaving. The difference in how he feels, as he has said regarding transfers out in the past, is that Tyree earned his Notre Dame degree and Flores did not. "When guys earn a degree and are seeking more playing time or a dif- ferent opportunity, I'm supportive of that," Freeman said. "I'm always disap- pointed when a guy leaves without his degree, and so, that's really the situa- tion with those two." The good news is that there is a tal- ented wide receiving corps expected to sign with Notre Dame in the upcoming recruiting class, but it'll be on Brown to develop those freshmen in quick fashion considering the construct of the roster might force them into action right away. ✦ Brown will reunite with Freeman — with whom he worked with when both were at Cincinnati — and be tasked with rebuilding a wide receiver room that was hit with four transfer portal departures. PHOTO COURTESY WISCONSIN ATHLETICS THE MIKE BROWN FILE Hometown: Charlottesville, Va. Age: 34 Wife: Dymond Children: Mike III, Drue Education: Liberty, 2011 Playing Career: Liberty, 2008-11 (quarter- back and wide receiver); Jacksonville Jaguars, 2012-14 (wide receiver) Coaching Career: Michigan, 2016 (graduate assistant); Delaware, 2017 (running backs); Liberty, 2018 (running backs); Cincinnati, 2019-21 (wide receivers); Cincinnati, 2022 (wide receivers/passing game coordinator); Wisconsin, 2023 (associate head coach/wide receivers)