Thomas Brown’s stock as a coaching candidate has been on the rise since joining Sean McVay’s staff with the Rams in 2020. This was his first NFL job after coaching running backs at six different colleges, and his ascension with the Rams has been impressive to watch.
He started out as the running backs coach in 2020, taking over for the highly successful Skip Peete. He then added the responsibility of assistant head coach last year, working closely with McVay and the rest of the staff.
Though it may not seem like another promotion, Brown is moving from running backs coach to tight ends coach this year. McVay announced the change during his combine press conference Wednesday, explaining how it will help Brown – a coach he says has “tremendous upside.”
“I also think it’s gonna be a great opportunity for Thomas Brown to move over,” McVay said. “He’s gonna coach the tight ends this next year. I think he’s a coach with tremendous upside. You guys know what a great leader I think he is. That’s why he has the role of assistant head coach. But I also think getting him exposure to the different positions will help expand the big-picture perspective. I know when I coached tight ends, it was one of those roles that helped me gain an appreciation and really was probably where a lot of the growth occurred, seeing the game not only through not only an all-11, but an all-22 lens. He’ll do a great job.”
Brown interviewed with the Vikings to be their offensive coordinator on Kevin O’Connell’s staff. The job ultimately went to Wes Phillips, who coached the Rams’ tight ends the last three years – in addition to being the pass game coordinator last season.
The Dolphins also interviewed Brown for their head coaching vacancy. He didn’t get the job, but simply earning an interview for a head coaching position after just two seasons in the NFL is a huge accomplishment.
By moving from RBs coach to TEs coach, Brown will only increase his chances of becoming a future head coach – or at the very least, an offensive coordinator. As McVay pointed out, coaching the tight ends will give him a better perspective of both the offense and defense, given the skill set that tight ends need to have.
Brown will have greater exposure to the passing game than he did as the running backs coach, but he’ll also remain an important part of the rushing attack. Tight ends have to be blockers in the running game as well as receivers for their quarterback, so getting the chance to coach one of the most demanding positions on the field will only benefit Brown.
There’s a history of tight ends coaches going on to becoming offensive coordinators and head coaches, too. McVay coached the tight ends for three years in Washington before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2014.
Phillips also landed the Vikings’ coordinator job after coaching the Rams’ tight ends. Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman was Baltimore’s tight ends coach before becoming its OC in 2019. Nathaniel Hackett’s offensive coordinator with the Broncos, Justin Outten, was the Packers’ tight ends coach for the last three years. The same goes for Todd Downing in Tennessee.
So while it would’ve been awesome to see Brown get promoted to Rams offensive coordinator this offseason, it’s likely that he’ll earn that title either in Los Angeles or elsewhere in the near future – and this move to tight ends coach will only help pave the way.
