lit a candle 9 Sept 2026My dad played receiver at Memphis in the late 70s and always said Coach Brown changed how he saw the game. Heard he did that for hundreds of young men. A real builder.
Their story
Charles Henry "Kippy" Brown was born on 6 March 1955 in Sweetwater, Tennessee. At Sweetwater High School, under longtime coach King Berrong, he quarterbacked the team to Class A state championships in 1971 and 1972 and helped the program lead the state in scoring in 1972 and 1973. Those titles…
Charles Henry "Kippy" Brown was born on 6 March 1955 in Sweetwater, Tennessee. At Sweetwater High School, under longtime coach King Berrong, he quarterbacked the team to Class A state championships in 1971 and 1972 and helped the program lead the state in scoring in 1972 and 1973. Those titles made him a local legend long before national coaches knew his name. He enrolled at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis), where he became the first Black quarterback in the program's history and started for the Tigers through 1977. In September 1975 he engineered a 31-20 upset of seventh-ranked Auburn, completing 7 of 11 passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns, including a late strike to Keith Wright that sealed the win. Memphis never had a losing season during his four-year tenure. He graduated in 1977 with a B.A. in Communications and stepped straight into coaching.
Brown began on the Memphis State staff as running backs coach in 1978 and receivers coach from 1979 to 1980. He spent 1982 as wide receivers coach at Louisville, where Mark Clayton was among his pupils before Clayton's Pro Bowl years with Miami. He then joined Johnny Majors's Tennessee Volunteers staff from 1983 to 1989 and helped build the "Wide Receiver U." reputation, tutoring future NFL pass catchers including Tim McGee, Anthony Miller, Alvin Harper, and Carl Pickens. The New York Jets hired him as running backs coach for 1990-1992. In 1991 his backs ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing, Blair Thomas and Brad Baxter produced strong seasons, and the Jets returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1986. He rejoined Tennessee under Phillip Fulmer in 1993-1994 as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach while a young Peyton Manning began his collegiate career. The Vols went 18-6 across those two seasons. Then came Tampa Bay under Sam Wyche in 1995, Miami under Jimmy Johnson as running backs coach (1996-1997) and offensive coordinator (1998-1999), and Green Bay under Mike Sherman in 2000. In Miami he helped Karim Abdul-Jabbar reach 1,000 rushing yards and tie for the league lead with 15 rushing touchdowns in 1997.
In 2001 he became head coach of the XFL's Memphis Maniax, finishing 5-5, finishing second in the Western Division, and twice beating eventual champion Los Angeles Xtreme before the league folded. He then coached Houston Texans receivers from 2002 to 2005, developing Andre Johnson, the third overall pick in 2003, into the franchise's first Pro Bowl offensive player after a 79-catch, 1,129-yard 2004 season. Detroit followed from 2006 to 2008, including a 2008 role as associate head coach and passing game coordinator alongside familiar staff peers. Lane Kiffin brought him back to Tennessee in December 2009 as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator. After Kiffin left for USC within weeks, Brown briefly served as interim head coach and sought the permanent job; the university hired Derek Dooley instead. On 16 January 2010 he joined Pete Carroll's Seattle Seahawks as wide receivers coach.
Over five Seattle seasons he helped develop undrafted receivers Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse into starters and leaders, while also working with Golden Tate, Sidney Rice, and others in a room often overshadowed by Marshawn Lynch's run game and the Legion of Boom defense. Seattle defeated Denver 43-8 in Super Bowl XLVIII on 2 February 2014; Baldwin and Kearse both caught touchdowns. Brown retired after the 2014 season, with public accounts placing the retirement announcement in March 2015. Carroll later called him a great friend with a fun-loving spirit; Baldwin called him a great man and great mentor who stood up for players in roster fights and taught accountability with humor.
In June 2014, while still on the Seahawks staff, his hometown renamed the road circling Sweetwater High School "Kippy Brown Way." He entered the Memphis M Club Hall of Fame in 2016 (with Billy J. Murphy Award recognition) and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2019. He married Deon (Wilson) in Memphis in 1974; they had two children, Jerome (born 1975) and Jennifer (born 1980). Jerome later played basketball at Tennessee; Jennifer studied at Spelman College. His younger brother Gerald Brown also became an NFL assistant coach. Kippy Brown died on 31 August 2026 at age 71. Cause of death and exact place of death were not made public in the open obituaries used here. The Seahawks, University of Memphis, and Tennessee football community published tributes within a day. A Celebration of Life was announced for 18 September 2026 at Sweetwater Memorial Park, with Rev. Sam Brown set to officiate per the family funeral notice. This memorial is for Charles Henry "Kippy" Brown of Sweetwater only, not his brother Gerald Brown or Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald.
Biography adapted from EN Wikipedia; Seahawks.com 2026-09-01; Memphis athletics; Newsweek; Knoxville News Sentinel; Legacy/Kyker; PFR.
In their own words
“He was a great friend to everybody, because he had such a positive, good, fun-loving spirit.”
Pete Carroll phone interview after Brown's death. Seahawks.com, 1 September 2026.
“Everybody loved being around Kip. And he had a light about him, he wanted to have a good time and have fun and make things pleasant for everyone around him.”
Pete Carroll, same Seahawks.com interview, 1 September 2026.
“Kippy was the perfect person for us, for our group of guys who came in at that time.”
Doug Baldwin on Brown's early Seahawks WR room. Seahawks.com, 1 September 2026.
“For me as a young person to have him as my rookie coach, I know I would not have been the player I was if it wasn't for Kippy.”
Doug Baldwin. Seahawks.com, 1 September 2026.
“Kippy, more so than a great coach, he was just a great man and a great mentor.”
Doug Baldwin. Seahawks.com, 1 September 2026 (also used in Seahawks headline).
“If I tell you a duck can pull a truck, don't ask me how, just hook the truck up.”
Coaching trust metaphor recalled by Doug Baldwin (cleaned memorial wording of Seahawks.com quote).
“Getting Kippy is a major coup for us.”
Then-Buccaneers head coach Sam Wyche on hiring Brown in 1995 (cited via Wikipedia / All-XFL career bio).
Photos
1Kippy Brown as Seattle Seahawks wide receivers coach, 2013.
by People Forever
That's beautiful. He had that gift.