At some point you had to figure if the University of Georgia came calling, Wisconsin running back coach Thomas Brown was as good as gone. It’s akin to UW having an opening at the position and Ron Dayne coaching at some other major university — the move would be a no-brainer.
However, few saw the move coming so soon, especially after Paul Chryst kept him on staff after seeing his recruiting work in the 2015 cycle.
But, alas it appears to be Brown jumping ship quicker than expected as Georgia has an opening thanks to the growing (and disturbing) trend of coaching movement post-national signing day. FootballScoop.com is reporting that Brown will move to the Bulldogs after movement from and within the staff happened this weekend:
UGA “@CoachSamz: Per source, UGA plans to move RB coach Bryan McClendon to WRs and will hire Wisconsin's T Brown http://t.co/DG8oniSvuZ”
— FootballScoop (@FootballScoop) February 16, 2015
Of course, until anything is officially announced nothing is over. It’s very difficult to see the guy who was an All-American at the school and is a Georgia native not returning if offered.
That means the Badgers will be looking for a new running backs coach for the second year following national signing day. Last season UW hired Brown away from Marshall after Thomas Hammock left for a position with the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.
What will be big for Wisconsin is the ability to keep its only 2016 verbal commit, running back Antonio Brown, in the mix. He had a very good relationship with Brown and often cited that relationship along with UW’s running back tradition as the reason for his commitment.
This move is likely to make that commitment shaky at best, and the new hire will be most interesting indeed.
Let’s just hope the hire happens the right way, because these coaching changes after national signing day are tricky at best for players who have just signed national letters of intent and coaches who have built relationships on trust and are balancing trust with personal goals and needs.
Georgia is getting themselves a great recruiter and one of the biggest up-and-coming running back coaches in the country.
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