University of North Carolina Athletics
New Challenge For Veteran Browning
August 7, 2007 | Football
Aug. 7, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
Of the assistant coaches remaining from the old staff, combining the overall coaching experience of Jeff Connors (27th season) and Tommy Thigpen (tenth season), would not equal the coaching experience of the longtime Carolina assistant Ken Browning (40th season). Of the new members of Butch Davis' coaching staff, only Davis himself and special teams coordinator John Lovett have more than 30 years of coaching experience.
Browning has worked at Carolina since 1994 and has coached three different positions under four different head coaches. He is now helming the running backs, one of the youngest personnel groups on the team.
"There is not any on-the-field experience in the whole group, so it's a work in progress a little bit, but their attitude has been good. We're trying to build a stronger work ethic and part of that is just part of maturation process of learning how to practice like a big-time player and study like a big-time player," Browning said. "They don't have a lot of experience to rely on, so a lot of times when something is happening, it's happening for the first time for them. I'm trying to make it hard for them because I know it's going to be hard."
Browning coached the tight ends from 2001-04, but most of his work at Carolina has been coaching the defense tackles, which he did from 1994-2000 and then 2005-06. Browning's defensive line anchored a defense that led the ACC in total defense from 1995-97 and finished No. 2 in the country in yards allowed in 1996-97, including ranking third in 1996 (73.9 yards per game) and fourth in 1997 (77.9) nationally in run defense. He served as defensive coordinator for one season in 2000, leading a unit that set a school record for sacks with 53.
But Browning has already proved that he can coach both sides of the ball very well. His work with former Tar Heel first-round draft picks on the defensive line like Vonnie Holliday and Ryan Sims is impressive, but perhaps more so was his grooming of lesser-known prospects at tight end like Zach Hilton, Bobby Blizzard and Jon Hamlett. Both Hilton and Blizzard are still on NFL rosters.
"Most of the credit I give to the players. That's got to be on them to a large degree. If they don't want to learn, if they don't want to compete, then I can't make them a good football player," Browning said. "The ones that I've had the privilege of coaching that have turned out to be great players is because of what they did. I'm just there to help them get there."
He doesn't prefer one side of the ball over the other, but he has a better understanding than one-dimensional coaches about what the group seeking to stop his young running backs will try to do.
Browning is leading a group of ten running backs, seven with a legitimate chance of seeing playing time. He faces the daunting task of trying to get everyone enough practice repetitions to filter out the best talent while also making sure that the main backs start to get enough playing time, and soon.
"You can't get four or five guys ready to play in that first game. If you try to get that many ready, you will probably wind up having nobody ready. You're trying to find out who's going to rise to the top a little bit and how can handle the mental part of it. Who is going to be physical enough? Who is going to be durable enough? You're trying to assess all of that, so you have to limit reps with some guys just to help the team get ready," Browning said.
Browning has a challenge ahead of him, but he has stayed in coaching as long as he has - and at Carolina, in particular - because of what he has seen both the school and the athletics do for young people. Unlike many in the sports world, he does not see athletics and academics as mutually exclusive. To Browning, an athlete who has to make the academic adjustment at place like Carolina is often helped rather than hindered by his athletic involvement.
"They start applying some of the lessons they learn through football, some of the things they learn in terms of their work ethic, and start applying it to their academics. Most of them get along with teammates, but they may be introverted outside of football so their social skills sometimes improve as they gain confidence that, `Hey, I am a little more than just an athlete.' That's probably the most rewarding part," Browning said.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
