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| COACH VICENT BROWN CO-DC/LINEBACKERS COACH UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT Photo Courtesy MVSU Athletics |
The game had been his whole life ever since high school, but now, it was time to chart a new course, start a new career.
So he went back to school, got his Series 7 Securities license and went to work for MassMutual as a financial broker in his hometown of Atlanta.
"Every day I'd go into the office with a coat and tie on and sit there and be miserable," Brown said. "There were some aspects of it that were OK, but it was nothing like being on the (football) grass."
During that time, Brown's son, Vincent Jr., was getting into football, playing Pop Warner, and Brown -- who during his playing days earned the nickname "The Undertaker" for his tackles that drove opponents into the ground -- felt the tug of the game pulling at him again.
"When I got cut by the Patriots, coach Parcells said to me, `You have the ability to influence others ... you've got to find a way to use it,'" Brown said. "It took me a couple of years to realize what he was saying. But it's been rewarding ever since."
From starting as a high school volunteer in 2001, Brown has used coaching to get back into football and will head into 2014 as the co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach for the UConn Huskies under new head coach Bob Diaco.
"There's going to be challenges," Brown said recently at a sit-down with all the assistant coaches at the Burton Family Football Complex. "There's going to be growing pains, but at the end of the day, I'm very excited to work with these young men, get their confidence up and get them playing at an extremely high level.
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