Notre Dame named Wisconsin's Mike Brown as its new wide receivers coach last Sunday. On Saturday, Brown met with reporters for close to 11 minutes in his first press conference since joining Notre Dame's coaching staff.
Brown, who will coach for the Irish in the Dec. 29 Sun Bowl, discussed his track record of development going back to his time at Cincinnati, the talent at wide receiver on Notre Dame's roster, the transition to working with head coach Marcus Freeman and offensive coordinator Gerad Parker, the decision to leave head coach Luke Fickell at Wisconsin and more.
Below is a lightly edited transcript of Brown's press conference. Questions are paraphrased.
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If you played a role in the development of your NFL Draft picks at Cincinnati, what role was it specifically?
Brown: “All three of them are really unique cases, unique individuals. They are extremely hard workers and they had a lot of natural talent. The biggest place that I attempted to help them was just in the fundamentals. We talk about it all the time. We praise fundamentals and we praise effort, because those are two things, I believe, that travel to any level. Whether that’s Pop Warner, high school, college, professional.
"All three of those guys were very unique in that none of them really played true wide receiver in high school. So there were a lot of things that they had to learn. But there were also a lot of things that they did naturally. Just meshing those things together was probably the biggest impact that I was able to have on them.”
What do you hope earmarks your time as wide receivers coach at Notre Dame?
Brown: “It’s just about consistently and constantly getting better. As you watch a group of young men and you watch where they start — whether that’s from the beginning to the end of the year or from the beginning of their careers to the end of their careers — is there improvement? Is there constant improvement? That goes into recruiting, that goes into the development of each of those guys. Just helping them become the best players and young men that they can become.”
What are your impressions of the talent level you’re inheriting in the wide receivers room? Are you trying to move players around from slot, boundary and field or leave them where they were?
Brown: “Kind of leaving them where they were. They’ve been doing certain positions all year long and they’ve learned things. As Coach said, we want to put these guys in positions to be successful come game day.
"For me, I’ve only seen them a couple practices. I’ve watched a little bit of film and things like that. I try to come in with a clean slate and open mind as I work with them. Because the things that I’m teaching may be different from what they learned. That doesn’t make them right. It doesn’t make them wrong. But when they’re hearing things that are different, it’s going to take some time for them to adjust to it.
We’ll start there. We’re going to watch them continue to grow. There is some talent in the room. There’s a lot of youth in there. I’m excited to watch them grow. I’m excited to watch them learn. They’re all great young men. They’re all really, really hungry and eager to learn.”
Are you trying to have your hand in who’s playing, who’s not and how much in the bowl game? Do you give ideas in offensive meetings about things?
Brown: “We began some game planning and things like that. A lot of the plays that are run here are plays that I’m familiar with. I may not know the terminology. I’ve been fortunate to work with [ND quarterbacks] coach Gino Guidugli for some time at Cincinnati. Sometimes he’ll have to translate some things for me. I’ll do a little bit of my input that way.
"Just teaching things the way that I know them. Obviously, after running it through with Coach Parker and the rest of the staff. It’s going to be a team effort. You talk about rotation, you talk about who’s going to be where, they have a much better feel for the group right now than I do. So, I’m going to lean on that. I’m going to rely on that. I’m going to trust that. Then we’ll just grow from there.”
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What has it been like building relationships with these guys? What have you seen in the personalities? Who have you connected with on and off the field?
Brown: “I’ve been on the road a bunch, so I haven’t had nearly enough time to really connect with them as much as I would like to. Obviously, that’s going to be a point of emphasis of mine just over these next couple weeks. Getting to know them, getting to know what gets them going and what makes them click and things like that.
"The thing that I’ve been mostly impressed about is their work ethic, No. 1, and their eagerness to learn. We’re in meetings, I’m talking and everybody’s just locked in. They’re hunger, and they’re eager to learn. Obviously, they’re really, really smart young men. It makes it exciting to work with guys like that. They’re all happy. They’re all eager. They all root for each other.
"I haven’t felt the selfishness if there is any. We’ll continue to preach that. I know Coach Free does a great job of preaching being selfless. I’m excited to get to work with them and honored to be here.”
Where are you comfortable playing in terms of getting guys ready? If they’re all ready to play in a game, what’s a comfortable rotation for you on game day?
Brown: “It would be a good problem to have if you did have 10 that you felt like were ready. A lot of it depends on the offense. If there are predominantly three receivers on the field at a time, for instance, then you’d love to have at least six guys you feel really good about. At least be two deep at each of those positions. Obviously, if there’s a big difference between the first guy and the second guy, then the amount of plays should reflect that.”
You should have 10 scholarship wide receivers heading into 2024 assuming nothing else happens? Is that a good target number?
Brown: “Obviously, that’s up to the head coach, first and foremost. I’ve been a part of anywhere from 10 to 12. Most places it’s been more 11 has kind of been the goal. I would love to have 12 guys. Ten, I don’t think you feel too short, especially with the amount of great tight ends that we’ve had here. That kind of takes some stress off of you as well. Different offenses call for different things. Ten, 11, somewhere in there is probably a fitting number for here.”
What was the conversation like with Luke Fickell to tell him you were leaving for Notre Dame? How helpful was the familiarity on the staff here at Notre Dame?
Brown: “It was a really tough conversation. It was a tough decision. Especially having just gotten there and building relationships and getting to know the kids in the room. Obviously, I had worked for coach Fickell for five years. Very grateful for that. Very appreciative of him taking a chance on me. I was in a great place. I had a great job and all those things.
"There was probably one person in the entire country that could have picked up the phone and called me and I would have at the very least been interested in, and that was Coach Freeman. My experience with him in Cincinnati — obviously, he was the defensive coordinator there — and just watching him on a daily basis of how he carried himself, how he addressed the team when the opportunities to address the team, how he addressed his defense, the professionalism, the energy, the relationships that he built with those guys is something that I have always admired about him and I always wanted to kind of model my coaching after.
"To have the opportunity to work for a person like that, it doesn’t come by very, very often. Obviously, to do it at a place like this, it was a no-brainer for me. Very thankful, very grateful and honored to be here.”
Is there a way to bring wide receivers from sunny weather environments and teach them to be reliable receivers in ugly weather?
Brown: “It’s a fair question. It all boils down to the culture that you build. Kids will adapt to that culture. It’s our job as coaches to help them to adapt to that culture. It could be a kid actually from the Midwest.
"It may not have as much to do with weather at all, but now it’s just more of, ‘Hey, this program is run differently than the programs that I’m used to.’ Us helping them recognize that and giving them the tools to be able to succeed in those cultures is what’s important.
"If you have a room that has some good leadership, and you get some good leaders in there and they can bring the young guys along, because the best pressure is peer pressure. Showing them the ropes and showing them the way they’re supposed to do things, taking care of their bodies and all the little things that go into their success, it helps you. It helps build a culture. It builds continuity throughout programs.
"The landscape of college football is obviously a lot different now, so it’s becoming a much bigger part of it. You do the best that you can to educate guys and push the culture in the direction that you want it to be built.”
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