The curved street in front of Sweetwater (Tennessee) High School was renamed "Kippy Brown Way" in 2014. Brown, who quarterbacked the school's football team to state championships in 1971 and 1972, had just won another football championship — this time, the Super Bowl, as the Seattle Seahawks' wide receivers coach. Brown, who died Aug. 31 at age 71, made history as a college quarterback — and left an even longer legacy over parts of five decades as a coach in college and the NFL.
In 1974, Brown became the first Black quarterback in the history of Memphis State, now the University of Memphis. Playing for the Tigers until 1977, Brown helped establish himself as one of the most consequential players in the program's history. In 1975, Brown engineered a 31-20 upset of seventh-ranked Auburn in 1975.
He went 7-for--11 passing for 103 yards and two touchdowns, including a late touchdown pass that put the game beyond Auburn's reach. Brown graduated from Memphis in 1977 and quickly moved into coaching. He began with the Tigers before spending a season at Louisville and then returning to Tennessee, where he became one of the architects of the program's reputation as “Wide Receiver U.” His players included future NFL standouts such as Tim McGee, Anthony Miller, Alvin Harper and Carl Pickens.
More news: Syracuse Hall of Fame QB Who Played For Jets and Patriots Dies at 88 Brown later returned to Tennessee in the 1990s and again near the end of the decade, later serving briefly as interim head coach in 2010. Beginning with a stint as the New York Jets' running backs coach in 1990, Brown roamed NFL sidelines in a variety of roles until the end of the 2014 season in Seattle. In 1991, his running backs helped the Jets reach the playoffs for the first time since 1986; Blair Thomas rushed for 728 yards while fullback Brad Baxter scored 11 touchdowns.
More news: Former LSU Coach, College Hall of Famer Dies Before rejoining Pete Carroll on the Seahawks' staff in 2010, Brown's NFL coaching career included stops with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Miami Dolphins, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions. He was the Dolphins' offensive coordinator under Jimmie Johnson in 1998-99. Brown retired from coaching in 2015, one year after helping deliver Seattle's first Super Bowl championship, a 43-8 defeat of the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Brown is survived by his wife Deon and two children. He was inducted into the Memphis M Club Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2019.
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