ABILENE – It's no stretch to say that no on-field area of ACU's football program has improved as much as the performance of the defense in head coach
Adam Dorrel's first two seasons.
It was a major factor in the Wildcats posting a four-win improvement in 2018 (going from 2-9 in 2017 to 6-5 in 2018) and recording the program's first winning season at the NCAA Division I FCS level. So when former defensive coordinator Tremaine Jackson resigned last month to accept a job as the defensive line coach at Texas State, Dorrel knew his task was to find a coach who could continue the Wildcats' upward trend on the defensive side of the ball.
Enter Clint Brown, the former defensive coordinator at perennial FCS playoff participant South Dakota State, who left Brookings, South Dakota, to move to Texas and take the job as ACU's defensive coordinator. Brown began his duties Monday, hitting the ground running with film study and staff meetings.
"We want to be a physical, aggressive defensive unit and we've been building that since we arrived here in December 2016," Dorrel said. "We've made tremendous strides in every phase of our defensive play and we obviously didn't want to lose that momentum. I wanted a coach that has had success at this level and Clint definitely fits the bill in that regard. I love everything he brings to the table in terms of his teaching and coaching ability, game-planning and how he adjusts and adapts depending on the flow of a game. He'll be a tremendous teacher for our players and his defensive staff and I'm looking forward to seeing him work on the field this spring and then in the fall."
Brown leaves South Dakota State after 10 years on the Jackrabbits' staff, the last six of which have been as the sole defensive coordinator after sharing that duty In each of his first four seasons.
"There's never really a right time to move anywhere," Brown said of his decision to leave South Dakota State for ACU. "That was a hard discussion with the players at South Dakota State. But I felt like this was the best move for me for where I was in my coaching life. I believe I need a new challenge and to learn under a new head coach, especially since my goal is to one day be a head coach. I loved my time at South Dakota State, but this was a good time to get a new perspective."
Brown said the family atmosphere on the football coaching staff caught his eye right away during a January visit to Abilene.
"I loved my time at South Dakota State and leaving there has been and will continue to be hard on me and my family," Brown said. "But when my wife and I came down to visit Abilene and interview for the job, we were really struck by the family feel here on campus and that was a big deal for both of us."
South Dakota State made the transition from NCAA Division II affiliation to NCAA Division I membership beginning in 2004 and moved to the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2007, the year before their four-year transition period was up. By the time the Jackrabbits were full-fledged members at the FCS level, they were ready to roll and Brown's defense was one of the main reasons.
Since 2009 when Brown joined South Dakota State as the co-defensive coordinator, the Jackrabbits are 83-44 overall, including a 54-25 mark in the toughest conference in FCS football. The Missouri Valley includes powerhouse North Dakota State, Youngstown State (Ohio) and Illinois State, along with the Jackrabbits. North Dakota State has won seven of the last eight FCS national championships and both Illinois State and Youngstown State have reached the national championship game in the last five years.
The Jackrabbits, meanwhile, have made the playoffs every year in 2009 and each year from 2012-18, going as far as the semifinals in both 2017 and 2018. They were knocked out of the playoffs by North Dakota State in 2012, 2014 and 2018, and each season the Bison went on to win the national championship.
In 2018, the Jackrabbits finished 25th in the nation in scoring defense (allowing just 22.3 points per game), 35th in passing defense (197.5 yards per game allowed), 60th in total defense (allowing 385.8 ypg) and 78th in rushing defense (188.2 ypg allowed). In a 2018 campaign that saw the Jackrabbits finish 10-3 overall and 6-2 in the conference, Brown's defense — which runs out of a 4-3 base alignment — allowed 17 points or less in six contests.
An opportunistic Jackrabbit defense forced at least one turnover in all 14 games during the 2017 season, including two or more in six of the last seven games as SDSU extended its playoff streak to six seasons in a row. The Jackrabbits held the opposition to 14 points or less in five contests en route to a school-record 11 wins against three losses.
In 2016, the Jackrabbits ranked in the upper half of nearly every defensive category during the Missouri Valley Football Conference season, including tying for second in sacks with 23 in eight league contests. SDSU also ranked among the nation's leaders with three interception returns for touchdowns.
With Brown directing the Jackrabbit defense, SDSU made its fourth consecutive postseason appearance in 2015 on the strength of a defensive unit that led the MVFC in league play by allowing only 15.8 points per game. The Jackrabbits went through a four-game stretch in October in which they allowed only two touchdowns and a total of 25 points. SDSU also ranked second in pass efficiency defense at 103.6.
The 2014 edition of the Jackrabbit defense ranked second in the MVFC for pass defense (192.1 ypg), while ranking fourth in total defense by allowing 375.9 yards per game as SDSU made its third consecutive appearance in the FCS playoffs.
In 2013, Brown directed an opportunistic Jackrabbit defense that improved steadily throughout the season as it played a key role in the team returning to the postseason. SDSU forced 33 turnovers — and at least one in each game — during the campaign, finishing fifth among FCS programs for turnover margin with an average of plus-1.1 per game. In a four-game span late in the season, which included a 26-7 playoff win at Northern Arizona, Brown's defense surrendered a total of 32 points.
SDSU made a return to the FCS playoffs in 2012 behind a defense that ranked in the top 10 nationally in three different categories: pass efficiency defense (fourth, 100.33); scoring defense (fifth, 16.38 points per game) and total defense (eighth, 305.31 yards per game).
During the 2010 campaign, the Jackrabbits posted 21 sacks in 11 games and continued to rank highly among MVFC squads for pass efficiency defense (second, 122.8) and scoring defense (third, 23.6 points per game).
In 2009, Brown helped direct a defense that played a prominent role in SDSU's first berth in the FCS playoffs. SDSU ranked among the national leaders in scoring defense for much of the season, before finishing the year ranked 16th after allowing an average of 17.4 points per game. Additionally, SDSU posted top-20 national rankings in three other defensive categories: pass efficiency defense (fourth, 99.55); rushing defense (14th, 104.33 yards per game) and total defense (17th, 289.5 yards per game).
"I want our defense to be aggressive, but not over the top," Brown said of the style he will incorporate at ACU. "I would think that 30-40 percent of our game plan each week will involve some sort of pressure on the quarterback. Spring ball will be big for me in terms of learning our personnel and what each of those players does best. I know this defense was really good last season and we've got a lot of those guys back so I'm looking forward to getting on the field with them."
Brown and his wife, Stephanie, have one daughter, Ava.
