Linebacker Kevin Bentley calls Jerry Brown a perfectionist – he’s one of the last coaches to leave the practice field and a late-night regular in the Northwestern football video room.
But the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator has another way of describing his work habits.
“I’m just a slow learner,” Brown says with a chuckle. “I am. So it takes me a little longer to absorb things.
“I want our guys to do right, and if it means I have to spend extra time here to make sure guys are where they need to be, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Brown has been working overtime in Evanston longer than any current NU coach, returning to his alma mater in 1993 to begin his tenure as defensive line coach. Since that time Brown has worked at three coaching positions, paced the sidelines with two head coaches and experienced the rise, fall and rebound of NU football.
Now entering his 29th season of coaching, Brown mans a Cats squad that placed 82nd out of 114 Division I-A teams in total defense and conceded 33.3 points per game. While he celebrated NU’s 8-4 season in 2000 with players and coaching colleagues, Brown does not hesitate to assess last season’s defensive performance.
“I’m not satisfied,” Brown says. “We can do better than that – a lot better than that. Right now we’re trying to seek out some chemistry and trying to build an attitude. Those are our two main objectives this spring.”
Brown’s displeasure spills over to players like Bentley, a senior who believes NU’s defense has a lot to prove to the Big Ten – and its coach.
“We had probably the best talent in the world, but we didn’t get it done,” Bentley says. “We made a lot of dumb mistakes. Guys were not being where they’re supposed to be – that just killed us every day.”
And as one of Brown’s recruits to NU, Bentley won’t let his mentor take the rap for last season’s spotty defensive play.
“It really made him look bad as a defensive coordinator, but the fact is we just didn’t execute what he called,” he says.
Brown, who heads NU’s recruiting in the Los Angeles area, found Bentley at Montclair Prep in suburban North Hills, Calif. After their initial talks, Brown brought Bentley to Evanston on a recruiting trip, where he “loved it” and committed soon after to the Cats.
Then at the end of Bentley’s freshman season – a 3-9 disaster -coach Gary Barnett decided to leave NU for the top job at Colorado. With the team in a major transition, Bentley began to doubt his college choice – until his thoughts turned to Brown.
“To be honest, he’s the reason I stayed when the new coaching staff switched over,” Bentley says.
Like Bentley, Brown was taken aback by Barnett’s departure, but wanted to remain at NU. He sat down for an extensive interview with new coach Randy Walker, who “went on good faith” and retained Brown, promoting him from co-defensive coordinator to defensive coordinator.
Brown says he was never concerned about job security and would have followed Barnett to Colorado if Walker had let him go. Running backs coach Jeff Genyk was the only other coach Walker decided to retain at NU.
And while he hates to compare the two coaches, Brown says they both “have strengths in different ways,” citing Barnett’s skills as a motivator and Walker’s toughness and attention to detail.
The coaching change was nothing new for Brown, who has had a multitude of bosses in his career, ranging from Gene Murphy at Cal-State Fullerton to Jerry Burns with the Minnesota Vikings. Brown rarely rehashes old stories for the current players, but will occasionally “throw in a jab here and there” to motivate the Cats through tough times.
“He’s a competitor,” linebacker Napoleon Harris says of Brown. “He’s a strategic mastermind, trying to outthink you on every play. That’s what he brings to the table – a competitive mindset.”
Brown’s main strategic move in spring practice was moving Harris from linebacker to defensive end on a trial basis. With NU’s four proven linebackers – Harris, Bentley, Billy Silva and Pat Durr – Brown has the freedom to move players and positions and put his best defense on the field.
After practicing several times at defensive end, Harris says he feels more comfortable with the position’s three-point stance and pass rushing emphasis.
“It has worked better in my favor because of the speed and agility I bring to the position,” Harris says. “It’s also helping the team because we’re getting a better pass rush.”
The Cats’ pass rush is only one of many items on Brown’s bulletin board of defensive areas to improve on before the 2001 season kicks off. With a Big Ten title to defend and his defense vying for respect, Brown could be spending many more nights cooped up in the video room – creating, reviewing and learning.
“He just worries about getting us to the right spot,” Bentley says. “He doesn’t harp on the past or look to the future – he’s just trying to get us one day better.”
