Thomas Brown is finally getting an opportunity to be an offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers after spending the past three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue recently released an intriguing podcast series called “The Playcallers” and in the third episode, Brown recounts his first impressions of Aaron Donald.
“I remember I was a coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes. They would ask us to give advice to our future pro guys on what to prepare and how to prepare, what to expect at the next level,” Brown said. “So they go on and on about Aaron Donald and his process, him being relentless, and how great he is. And in my mind, I’m like, ‘I’ve been around first-round defensive linemen before and he’s good, but he can’t be that good.’ I played with Geno Atkins, you mentioned Charles (Johnson) before, I’ve played with some big-time dudes, I’ve played with David Pollack, and I’ve seen elite players before.”
Before beginning his coaching career in 2011, Brown played college football at Georgia and was drafted in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Brown played with plenty of talented players during his time at Georgia, and he was in the NFL for three years on the Falcons and the Cleveland Browns.
After starting as a strength and conditioning coach at Georgia in 2011, he bounced around to multiple programs. He would become the offensive coordinator of the Miami Hurricanes from 2016 to 2018 before joining Sean McVay’s staff in 2020.
“So I get there in 2020, first offseason, so I’m sitting in our staff meeting and we’re working on the offense. And Sean (McVay) keeps going on about AD and I’m like, ‘Man, this is crazy, everyone keeps talking about this dude like he’s unstoppable.’ I’m a doubter, not going to lie, I was a doubter. As you mention, some of these battles because obviously, Brandon (Staley) and I came in together during 2020 in training camp. I heard about how good the offensive line was and the success we had, and every day in practice, this dude is unblockable. He’s making every play and so I go back to Sean and say, ‘Listen, y’all undersold this cat. He’s better than everyone said he was.'”
Since Donald entered the NFL in 2014, he’s become a dominant force that opposing teams hate to game plan against. The All-Pro interior defender is entering his 10th season in the NFL, and he’s considered by many to be a lock to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he retires.
Even though Brown was skeptical of Donald’s talents at first, he was blown away by the three-time Defensive Player of the Year early in his tenure with the Rams.
