Coaches / Head coach / Don Brown
Career
62
not coaching now
Rating54recent
Peak73best 5 yrs
Career62whole career
confidence
Don Brown
Head coach
Headline rating: as head coach. Every role he has been rated in is below.
Chemistry
60
continuity at Massachusetts · early
Seasons here—
Programs3
Stints3
Career path
Head-coaching stints since 1936; assistant roles since 2016
Chemistry
vs every head coach since 2016 · 62 = typical
Tenure here
Seasons as head coach at his current school
Staff continuity
Seasons he and his offensive coordinator have worked together
Player retention
Players kept vs. the league norm for similar rosters (fewer transfers out)
Followers
Players and staff who followed him from his previous job
QB & coordinator
How long his quarterbacks have played for the same coordinator
Roster continuity
Share of starters returning from one season to the next under him
Dashed gold ring on the radar = average (62). Chemistry scale: 62 is typical, 20-50 is a warning sign, under 10 is a collapse.
As head coach
Rating54Peak73Career62
1993–2024 · 15 seasonsRecord 101-73National titles 0Great seasons 0 (top ~7% of all teams that year)
- Rating 54: his whole career, recent seasons weighted most, measured as how far his teams stood above their era, crediting him with half of what each program already was when he arrived (about the share that, historically, follows a coach to his next job), fading as the program becomes his own.
- Peak 73: best five-season stretch, 1993–1995 at Plymouth State (25-6), taking over an average program.
- Career 62 (#307 since 1936): total accomplishment over 15 seasons (101-73), 0 national titles, 0 elite seasons; full credit for the program he inherited.
- Proven at 2 programs: Plymouth State · UMass.
Rating = who he is: his whole head-coaching career (since 1936), weighted toward recent years — how far his teams stood above their contemporaries, how much he lifted programs, his great seasons and titles. Form = the last two seasons. Career = the all-time ranking number.
| Season | Team | Record | Season rank | vs contemporaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Massachusetts | 2-8 | #127 | -1.56 SD |
| 2023 | Massachusetts | 3-9 | #123 | -1.38 SD |
| 2022 | Massachusetts | 1-11 | #131 | -2.25 SD |
Season rank = his team among all major-college teams that year; vs contemporaries = how far above the average team (in standard deviations).
As defensive coordinator
Rating67Peak87
His defense against its preseason projection (value over expectation) and the unit's opponent-adjusted quality.
| Season | Team | Unit (EPA/play) | Over expectation | Season score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Arizona | -0.04 | -0.04 | -0.62 |
| 2020 | Michigan | -0.05 | -0.17 | -1.73 |
| 2019 | Michigan | 0.11 | 0.01 | 0.67 |
| 2018 | Michigan | 0.15 | 0.06 | 1.31 |
| 2017 | Michigan | 0.14 | 0.04 | 1.13 |
| 2016 | Michigan | 0.17 | — | 0.90 |
Season score: 0 = an average season in this role; positive = better.