FAYETTEVILLE — Watson Brown was one of the country’s top-rated quarterbacks at Cookeville (Tenn.) High School in 1967 when he committed to play at Alabama for Coach Bear “Bear” Bryant.
But Brown never made it to Alabama. He had a change of heart, turned down Bryant and signed with Vanderbilt.
Recalling that decision more than 40 years later, Brown said he convinced himself the Commodores could win and that he was excited about the prospect of helping transform Vanderbilt’s program as opposed to going to a proven winner in Alabama.
“And that’s kind of what I’ve done in my career all the way through,” Brown said. “That’s me.
“My wife says, ‘You’re an underdog. You like that, you embrace it, and that’s just what you do.’
“I’ve paid for it in a lot of ways. But hey, it’s been a fun career. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.
“Football is football. You go out and you compete, and the minute I don’t want to do that anymore, you won’t see me around. I’m still enjoying it at 60 years old.”
Brown, Tennessee Tech’s coach, will be in his familiar underdog role Saturday night when the Golden Eagles play No. 17 Arkansas at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
It’s the 27th season opener for Brown as a college head coach and his fourth at Tennessee Tech, located in his hometown of Cookeville.
Brown has compiled a 107-171-1 overall record, including previous stops at Austin Peay, Cincinnati, Rice, Vanderbilt and Alabama-Birmingham.
“I can take some of the jobs now,” Brown said with a laugh. “I always seem to take the jobs that other people say are tough and see what I can do with them.
“This one is no different. But I think we’re getting there.”
Tennessee Tech went 6-5 last season and tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference at 5-3. It was the Golden Eagles’ highest OVC finish since 1993, when they were second.
“When I was growing up, Tech won a lot of OVC championships,” Brown said. “I want to try and do something for my hometown in my latter years.”
Tennessee Tech won five OVC titles in 1952-1961 but hasn’t won any since 1972.
Brown aims to change that before he’s done coaching.
“It’s neat to come back home,” he said. “I got two years with my mom before she passed away. I’ve got a brother still here in town.
“This is where I played high school, in this stadium where I coach now. I have real ties here.”
Brown also has a brother, Mack, who lives in Austin, Texas.
Mack Brown, 59, has a 214-101-1 record as a college head coach, including 128-27 in 12 seasons at Texas, highlighted by the 2005 national championship when the Longhorns beat Southern California to finish 13-0.
Texas, a combined 25-2 the past two seasons, lost to Alabama in the BCS national title game last year.
“I’m very proud of Mack, and I don’t think he gets enough credit sometimes for everything he’s done at Texas,” Watson Brown said. “He’s won a national championship and played for another, and won at least 10 games I don’t know how many times in a row.”
Mack Brown’s Texas teams have won at least 10 games for nine consecutive years. Watson Brown never has won more than seven games as a head coach.
It makes you wonder: What if Watson Brown coached Texas?
“Everybody asks me that question,” he said. “And I think, of course, you’d love to have that kind of opportunity. But I don’t look at it that way.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done, too. I feel I’ve always made programs where I was better than what they were.
“It’s all relative. We all go in as coaches and take over what we have and see what you can do with it.”
As Alabama-Birmingham’s coach for 12 seasons in 1995-2006, Brown oversaw the program’s move from NCAA Division III to I-A (now Football Bowl Subdivision) status. Along the way, his Blazers beat LSU in 2000 and Mississippi State in 2004.
“We started scholarship football at UAB, and that was a blast,” Brown said. “We got the program nationally recognized.
“It got to the point where some people didn’t want to play us.”
As a Vanderbilt sophomore,Brown helped the Commodores beat Alabama 14-10 in 1969. The next season, he tore up his shoulder and knee and never played football again.
But Brown has gotten to coach football for 37 years, including nine as an assistant, and for that, he thanks Bear Bryant.
After Brown decided to sign with Vanderbilt instead of Alabama, he said Bryant “helped me get every coaching job I got until the day he passed away” in 1983.
“Even though I didn’t play for him, he still took me under his wing,” Brown said. “Coach Bryant was a great coach not just because he knew the game and was tough, but also because he was a people person.”
Brown said he’s tried to follow Bryant’s example throughout his coaching career.
“I’ve tried to do it right and treat the kids right and win games, too,” he said. “It’s been fun.
“I tell people all the time I’ve never worked a day in my life.”
Even though Brown always seems to take on the tough jobs.
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/01/2010