“It’s a very complex conversation, something that has been a consistent dialogue almost every single year. To say it’s frustrating in some ways is probably an understatement,” Brown said.
Brown addressed the topic during an interview, pushing back on the idea that the league does not have enough strong candidates in the pipeline. His own coaching journey makes that point hard to dismiss. He has coached multiple offensive positions, called plays, worked as a coordinator, served as an assistant head coach, and handled an interim head-coaching assignment. He’s also coming off a season in which the Patriots won the AFC.
Challenging the NFL’s Pipeline Explanation
The timing gives Brown’s remarks additional weight. The NFL had a record-tying 10 head-coaching vacancies during the 2026 hiring cycle, and none went to a Black coach. The league will begin the season with three Black head coaches.
Brown was part of the candidate pool. The Arizona Cardinals requested an interview with Brown after the regular season. He had also interviewed for head-coaching jobs with the Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, and Chicago Bears during earlier hiring cycles. While these opportunities allowed him to sit in the room, they did not result in a permanent head-coaching position.
Brown told Reiss that he has worked alongside high-level communicators and leaders at each stop, which undercuts the notion that the pool of capable candidates is too small. His comments extended beyond his own candidacy and touched on how the NFL defines qualification and why that definition can shift from one hiring cycle to the next.
Coordinator experience matters, and so does play-calling experience, leadership, player development, and time spent around successful organizations. Brown has accumulated all of these qualifications.
Patriots Success Strengthens Brown’s Head-Coaching Case
Brown’s résumé has rarely followed a straight path. His varied coaching background includes developing future NFL running backs during college stints at Georgia, Wisconsin, and Miami. He was the Los Angeles Rams’ assistant head coach and running backs coach during their 2021 Super Bowl-winning season. He then became the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 2023, taking on play-calling duties during the season. He joined Chicago as passing game coordinator in 2024 and was promoted twice by year’s end, first to offensive coordinator and then to interim head coach. He inherited a struggling team and finished 1-4 over the final five games.
Brown later noted that the interim assignment increased his confidence that a future head-coaching opportunity would allow him to build a staff and establish the program from the ground up. Mike Vrabel brought Brown to New England in 2025, and the year that followed was strong, with the Patriots going 14-3, reaching a high level of play, and guiding a young quarterback to MVP-caliber development.
There is little left for him to add to the traditional checklist. The next hiring cycle will reveal whether NFL teams view his experience as aligning with their criteria for a head coach.
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