Neal Brown
Even though he did not know offensive coordinator Neal Brown personally, Kentucky tight ends coach Vince Marrow already knew about Brown before either one was hired by UK coach Mark Stoops.
Stoops had called Marrow, a childhood friend who was coaching at Nebraska, almost as soon as he got the head job at UK about working for him.
“But he told me he had to hire a coordinator and he wanted it to be the right fit for both of us,” said Marrow. “I heard of Neal when he was at Troy. I remember they almost upset Ohio State and, of course, I knew what he did with that offense at Texas Tech when he got there.”
For Marrow, a chance to work under Brown was a blessing
“He is an up and coming coach, the kind of guy you want to be around,” Marrow said. “He will be a head coach. He’s a sharp guy. I did my research on him, but I already knew how good he was. My buddies all told me he was a good young man, too.
“We were high tempo on offense at Nebraska, but his tempo is a whole different kind of fast. I am excited to be working with him. Once we talked — he had chances to be a head coach and we had to see how that went — and I am just glad it all worked out great. He’s fun to work with and is really good at what he does.”
Marrow thought Brown “talked real well” the first time they spoke.
“I actually thought he was a little older the way he talked,” Marrow said. “When I met him, he was kind of quiet but we quickly got used to each other. I was like, ‘Wow. This guy will soon be a head coach.’ I have been around a lot of coaches. He is the right type to know what buttons to push with players. I said to myself, ‘This guy can be good.’ You can see he’s going to be a head coach, and I don’t mean long down the line. I mean soon.
“I’ve been in the west coast offense. I have been in the no-huddle offense. I’ve been in the option offense. With him, his offense is where football is going. I think that is where the NFL is going in the next five to 10 years. They are going to want high tempo with a run offense with it. He has that.
“It has really been a pleasure listening to how he does his offense and how he teaches. I have been around a bunch of coaches, but he’s got to be one of the smartest dudes I’ve been around. He’s not a young dude, but he’s a young coach and he’s going to be doing this for a long, long time.”
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