Vincent Brown announced as North Carolina A&T football coach

Courtesy of North Carolina A&T Athletics

EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T Director of Athletics Earl M. Hilton III announced Friday that he has appointed Vincent Brown to lead the Aggies football program as its new head coach. Brown becomes the 22nd head coach in program history.

A&T will hold an introductory press conference for coach Brown at 1 p.m., Monday, January 9, at Deese Ballroom inside the campus Student Center.  

A native of Atlanta, Ga., who became a 1988 second-round draft pick of the New England Patriots and a three-time All-Pro linebacker, Brown has spent the past four seasons as William & Mary’s associate head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In 2022, the Tribe went 11-2 overall and 7-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). The Tribe won a share of the regular-season title and reached the NCAA Division I-FCS playoff quarterfinals. 

“When going down the list of things we were looking for in a head coach as North Carolina A&T football enters the Colonial Athletic Association, Vincent Brown checked all the boxes. He will be an excellent fit for our university, our athletics department and the young men he leads. Coach Brown has a significant familiarity and understanding of what it takes to win in the Colonial. He has an extensive and proud history with HBCUs and played and coached on the NFL level. 

North Carolina A&T football has always been about greatness and competing for championships. We expect that winning tradition will continue with Coach Brown’s experience.” 

Brown led an opportunistic defense last season. The Tribe led the nation in fumble recoveries (15) and ranked sixth nationally in turnovers gained (25). William & Mary also had the sixth-best third-down defense in the country, allowing opponents only to convert 31.5 percent of their third-down opportunities. The Tribe’s defense topped the CAA in third-down defense, fumbles recovered, red zone defense and turnovers gained.

In addition, William & Mary sophomore linebacker John Pius received CAA defensive player of the year honors, and defensive back Jalen Jones claimed defensive rookie of the year. Pius joined three other Trible players on the CAA’s first-team all-conference defense. Meanwhile, Jones joined two of his teammates as second-team all-conference members. 

“I am humbled and honored to be in this position to lead this program,” said Brown. “Thank you to Chancellor (Harold L. Martin) and athletics director Hilton and all those involved in the search process for entrusting the future of these young men into our hands. Thank you to my lovely wife, Chandra and our children; this would not be possible without you. I love you. Thank you to the wonderful coaches that have impacted my life over the years, especially Al Groh, Bill Parcells and Mike London. Thank you for your guidance. 

Our goal as a football program is to be excellent and operate within the core values of the university. We want to excel in the classroom, community and on the field, consistently competing for championships. The program will be run with passion, purpose and integrity so the faculty, staff, students and alumni can shout Aggie Pride and know that we will represent them well.”

Brown has also made Division I collegiate coaching stops at Howard University (2017-18), UConn (2014-16), the University of Virginia (2010-13) and the University of Richmond (2008-09). In addition, he served as a graduate assistant at UVa., in 2007 after serving as the Dallas Cowboys inside linebackers coach in 2006. His previous coaching experience includes a four-year stint as an assistant coach at Meadowcreek High School near Atlanta. At the same time, he was also the school’s assistant athletics director for one year.

Brown earned NFL All-Pro honors for three straight seasons from 1991-93 before retiring as a New England Patriot in 1995. Brown played collegiately at Mississippi Valley State, earning Kodak All-America honors as a senior in 1987. He was a second-team Associated Press All-American as a junior. A three-time all-conference pick, Brown set a school record for career tackles (570), leading the team in his final three seasons in that statistical category. He graduated with a degree in criminal justice.

 Brown and his wife, Chandra, have four children: Dane, Vincent II, Raven and Jorian.

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