MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin football program's storied tradition at running back will have a new steward for the 2021 season and, given his track record as both a player and coach, the Badgers' backs are in good hands.
Accomplished NFL running backs coach Gary Brown has been named to the same position at Wisconsin, head coach Paul Chryst announced Thursday.
"Gary is really an impressive person. Everyone I know that has worked with Gary speaks very highly of him and has loved working with him," Chryst said. "I look forward to our staff being able to work with him, and I'm really excited that our players will get to learn from him. He brings great experience at both the collegiate and professional level and is a heck of a good football coach."
Brown joins the Badgers after most recently serving as running backs coach for the Dallas Cowboys in a highly-successful run from 2013 to 2019.
"I'm excited about being part of the Badger family because of the tradition that's been established over the years," Brown said. "They're one of the best programs in the Big Ten, and obviously they like to run the ball and run it very well. As a running backs coach, that certainly appealed to me. They've had a long line of great, great tailbacks and it's an honor for me to contribute to carrying on that tradition.
"If you're a running back guy, you're very aware of what they're doing at Wisconsin and you study their tape and their backs. In my work in the NFL, we've scouted them all. I've always been very impressed with how those guys go about their business and how they leave Wisconsin as truly complete tailbacks."
Brown mentored some of the game's best backs during his run in Dallas, with DeMarco Murray (2014) and Ezekiel Elliott (as a rookie in 2016 and again in 2018) each claiming NFL rushing titles under his direction and Darren McFadden also posting a 1,000-yard season. The Cowboys averaged at least 4.5 yards per carry in each of Brown's seven seasons in Dallas.
He produced two more 1,000-yard rushers in his previous coaching stop, a four-year run with the Cleveland Browns that saw Peyton Hillis pile up 1,177 yards in 2010 and rookie Trent Richardson rush for 1,317 as a rookie in 2012.
Brown's rise to the NFL sideline followed his climb through the college ranks. He spent the 2008 season as running backs coach at Rutgers, which followed a two-year stint as offensive coordinator at Susquehanna University (2006-07) and his first college job, as running backs coach at Lycoming College (2003-05). Brown also helped coach running backs at New York Giants training camp in 2005, then worked with the Green Bay Packers (2006) and Carolina Panthers (2007) as part of the NFL's Minority Coaching Fellowship program.
Brown's first taste of coaching came as offensive coordinator for his former high school program in his hometown of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, from 2000-02.
After starring as a player at Williamsport, Brown went on to play at Penn State and led the Nittany Lions in rushing as a sophomore in 1988.
Selected by the Houston Oilers in the 1991 NFL Draft, Brown went on to an eight-year pro career that included a breakout season in 1993, when he rushed for 1,002 yards and six touchdowns in just eight games. After playing one season with the San Diego Chargers in 1997, he put together another 1,000-yard season with the Giants in 1998, running for 1,063 yards, before retiring following the 1999 campaign.
Brown and his wife, Kim, are the parents of daughters Malena and Dorianna and son Tre.
