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  • Brown had "no choice" but to leave Kentucky

    By: LARRY VAUGHT



    Former Kentucky quarterback Freddie Maggard says offensive coordinator Neal Brown had no choice but to leave Kentucky to become the new head coach at Troy.

    “Any time a coordinator can become head coach, it's a positive. He's ready,” said Maggard.

    He said it was “not a surprise” that Brown, who came to UK two years ago after having one of the nation’s best offenses at Texas Tech, got a head coaching job at age 34.

    “He's proven himself as an offensive coordinator at Troy and Texas Tech. UK is trending that way and he's done a great job considering roster-talent he inherited,” Maggard said. “Neal's great off the field as well, family man and media savy.”

    Brown has been positioning himself to be a head coach since his playing days at Boyle County High School and then in college at Kentucky and Massachusetts. He coached at a variety of schools, but each move had a purpose and he got his break when Tony Franklin left Troy to become offensive coordinator at Auburn and Troy coach Larry Blakeney promoted Brown to offensive coordinator.

    Maggard thinks Brown did a good job piecing together an offense that last two years at UK considering what he inherited when coach Mark Stoops and the staff got to UK for the 2013 season.

    “He's taken an offense with talent problems and scored points and given team a chance. Let's be realistic, from start point the UK turnaround will take four or five years,” Maggard said. “Investments are being made now, but battling years of neglect. He did great.’

    Maggard recalls how the first game UK played when Brown came back to coach was a loss to Western Kentucky.

    “Western had four NFL players and Kentucky one in that game. That was the starting point for Stoops and Neal,” Maggard said. “That’s why I am not sure why people wanted such a quick turnaround in two years. I actually thought Kentucky played above its head at times this year. I think Kentucky was a five-win team at best with this roster and that was stretching it a bit. Tennessee was a bad game, but other than that if you had told me the results of the season before it even started I would have been more than happy.”

    Maggard believes UK fans should appreciate what Brown did.

    “He left it much better than when he took it. All you can ask from a coach,” Maggard said.

    The former quarterback said Brown always had the program’s best interests at heart.

    “Neal's approachable, not always the case with UK coaches. Sincerely cared about program. I admire his football knowledge and passion. I followed him at Troy, Texas Tech, UK and now back to Troy,” Maggard said.

    “For anybody that might be glad he is gone, I respectfully disagree. I think Kentucky was building around him. It just goes back to talent. I wish him nothing but the best at Troy. I thought Neal did as much, or maybe more, as he could given the talent he had. One thing he never did was blame the talent, and that was very classy.

    “I think Stoops will make a quick hire and whoever takes the position will find that Neal left an offense in much better position than what the offense was two years ago when Neal took over.”
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