Watson Brown earns contract extension through 2019 season
Watson Brown, currently in his eighth season as the head football coach at Tennessee Tech University, has been given a contract extension that will keep the Cookeville native at the program's helm through the 2019 season.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Watson Brown, currently in his eighth
season as the head football coach at Tennessee Tech University, has
been given a contract extension that will keep the Cookeville
native at the program's helm through the 2019 season.
“Watson Brown is a man of tremendous integrity and high
character, and he has done an outstanding job of coaching and
leading the student-athletes in our football program,” said
Mark Wilson, TTU Director of
Athletics.
Brown, 64, was named in December, 2006,
as Tech’s 10th head football coach. The 2014 season is his
42nd year of coaching collegiate football overall and his 30th year
as a collegiate head coach.
Under his direction, the Golden Eagles have won back-to-back Ohio
Valley Conference Academic Achievement Awards among the league's
football programs, and last year compiled the highest overall team
GPA in program history. Last year, Tech was recognized by the
Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association
(FCS ADA) for posting the highest Academic Progress Rate (APR)
among the Ohio Valley Conference football teams.
Those academic laurels came on the heels of the team capturing the
2011 OVC championships, the team's first league title in 36 years,
and advancing to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision
playoffs for the first time in school history.
“I’m excited that the University is pleased with what
we’re doing,” Brown said. “I'm excited about what
we've been able to accomplish here, and I'm even more excited about
what we will accomplish over the next six years. We plan on getting
another championship during my time here, and I'm looking forward
to working through all six years of this contract.
"I really like the feeling of
excitement that surrounds this program, and we plan to keep that
going," Brown said.
Wilson pointed to Brown’s leadership both on the field and
off when announcing the contract extension.
“Watson has been such a great leader for Golden Eagle
football since he’s been here,” Wilson said.
“He’s a great coach, a great leader and a great man,
and we’re fortunate that he’s leading our football
team.
“As good a coach as Watson Brown is, he’s a better
man. He’s really teaching our young men life lessons, the way
he handles them off the field, and academically. He’s
teaching the young men that play football at Tennessee Tech to be
great citizens in their communities when they graduate from
here.”
Brown's staff has done a remarkable job in recruiting during the past several years, and has raised the talent level walking the sidelines in Tucker Stadium. The veteran coach has used an even-tempered approach to teach his young staff and players. It resulted in Tech returning to the pinacle of the OVC with a conference championship in 2011, the school's 10th league title but first since 1975.
“I’m enjoying it
tremendously. This is home for me. When I was growing up, Tennessee
Tech was absolutely the best football program in the league. The
experiences were fantastic for me. I really wanted to come back
here and give back, and get the championships going again,”
Brown said.
He made his head coaching debut in 1979 in the Ohio Valley
Conference directing the Austin Peay Governors, and at age 29, he
was one of the youngest head coaches in the nation.
