Josh Brown joins the defensive staff room as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Brown spent the last four years as the Miners passing game coordinator while coaching the safeties.
Brown brings more than 20 years of coaching experience to Cowboy Country. Prior to his time at UTEP, he served as safeties coach at Nevada and helped lead the team to the 2019 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
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He's been affiliated with two conference championship team in his career (2011 Great West, 2012 Big Sky), four postseason teams (2006 Hawaii Bowl, 2012 and 2016 NCAA Playoffs, 2019 Potato Bowl), and three teams that finished the season ranked in the top 25 nationally (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016) during his career.
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Previously, he was defensive coordinator/linebackers coach at Cal Poly from 2012-19. Under Brown’s tutelage, the Mustangs rated top-three in the Big Sky Conference in points allowed and total defense in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Cal Poly ranked top-three in the league in rushing defense on four occasions (2012, 2013, 2016, 2017). His 2013 unit was among the national leaders in points allowed (19th) and rushing defense (25th), while his 2017 squad was also top-25 (19th) in red zone defense.
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In 2013, Brown coached the Big Sky Co-Defensive Player of the Year in defensive tackle Sullivan Grosz. He also coached Nick Dzubnar, who shattered the school record for tackles in a season in 2014 and currently plays for the San Diego Chargers. Brown spent the 2010 and 2011 campaigns at Cal Poly as special teams coordinator and linebackers coach, overseeing punt return, kickoff and kickoff return units that rated among the nation’s best.Â
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He also spent time at Foothill College as Special Teams Coordinator/PE Instructor (2000-05), Arizona State as Defensive Line Graduate Assistant (2006), Sacramento State as Recruiting Coordinator/Linebackers Coach (2007-08) and Kansas as Quality Control Coach/Linebackers (2009).
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He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from San Jose State in 2003, and added a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Education from Arizona State in 2007. Brown and his wife, Kasey, have a son, Ty, and a daughter, Tatum. He played his prep football at San Luis Obispo High School. Brown’s father-in-law is Mike Church, a former assistant coach at UTEP and a member of the staff on the 10-win, 1988 Miners.
