Player-Led, Coach-Fed LBs part of Brown’s repertoire

As Nebraska rolled through 13 opponents en route to winning the 1994 national championship, head coach Tom Osborne’s locker room message hardly wavered.

Clint Brown, now in his second year as the Wildcats’ defensive coordinator, once had a front-row seat to Osborne’s speeches as a strong-side linebacker for the Cornhuskers.  

“I tell people this all the time and they think it's funny,” recalled Brown, “But we were basically given the same speech from our preseason games vs. Pacific and Wyoming through to the national championship. He treated every opponent the same. He never put anybody up on a pedestal and never put anybody down. He was more worried about how we played.”  

Brown started his Nebraska career as a walk-on in 1990 and went on to earn two varsity letters. He appeared in 11 games as a senior and went out on top as the Cornhuskers rallied past Miami in the Orange Bowl – giving the program its third NCAA championship and Osborne his first of three (1994, 1995, 1997) titles.

“It was kind of odd,” Brown added. “We’d be sitting in the locker room going, ‘okay coach, we’re playing for the championship, let's crank it up a little.’ But that just wasn't who was. That wasn't his nature. He let the (assistant) coaches do that. He let the captains do that."

Brown shifted from gridiron to sideline following graduation. He started as a graduate assistant coach at New Mexico State, and for four years afterward he was the defensive coordinator at Kansas’ Bethel College.

Brown returned to Las Cruces in February 2004 to assist his former Nebraska position coach Tony Samuel for one season, and then accepted the defensive coordinator job at Wayne State. He also spent a decade coaching the South Dakota State defense before heading to Abilene in early 2019.

And now, as Brown embarks on his 25th season coaching, Osborne’s words remain fresh and relevant.

“He never treated any opponent any differently no matter what their record,” said Brown, “and that’s the thing that always stuck with me. Playing your best was the most important game.

“We (in 1994) were a player-led team and that’s what we're trying to accomplish here right now. But there remains that fine line as coaches between, ‘we need to get the troops going’ and ‘these guys are fine.’” 

Brown’s first Wildcat defense, unfortunately, was a little less than fine. There were some key defensive moments in wins vs. McNeese, Stephen F. Austin and Nicholls, but Brown felt it was average. The defense didn’t finish games, panicked at times and allowed too many big plays.

ACU was fairly strong against the run, ranking 33rd in the FCS with 138.5 yards surrendered per game, but a 77th ranked pass defense resulted in a total defense (28.6 ppg) ranking of 69th (124 schools).

“We were too focused, especially early in the year, on winning a conference championship and not enough on the day-to-day process or what it was going to take us to win that game,” said Brown. “We gave up several crucial third downs at Central Arkansas that cost us the game. The offense scored enough points, and we needed to do our jobs and convert. I always felt like we just played not to lose instead of playing to win in those situations.”

So where does the defense go from here? They go back to basics. 

Thanks to quarantine, the coaches and players were given extra time to think critically and ask how everything needs fit together. This greater investment in knowledge has led to players being more comfortable with the system.

“This may sound strange but not having spring ball potentially helped us,” said Brown, “because we were able to go through all our defenses with everybody, reinstall it, and talk through the stuff that maybe you didn't see and hear in practice -- something formational -- because we’d always be watching the next plays.

“The guys now have a really good understanding of where they're supposed to be and how they're supposed to get there. They know that if they’re not focused on the details then we’re going to settle for being an average defense. We weren't not focused on details last year; the details of our positions.”

This building-block approach has been extremely beneficial to senior linebacker and First Team Academic All-America Jack Gibbens.

“On day one of the install, it was like we never heard of the defense before,” said the Bulverde, Texas native. “Coach Brown drew up where everyone's going to be, their fit and each person's responsibility. We got to see the way the entire defense is brought together from square one – how everyone's job ties together. It’s easier to do your assignment when you know what the guy next to you do is doing.”

There’s also been renewed emphasis on situational awareness to prevent third down conversions.

“We’re really working to improve our football knowledge to make sure we know what to expect from the offense on certain downs and distances and personnel.” said Gibbens, “We also have to know what we're trying to take away from them and what we're willing to give up in each coverage.”

Brown’s defensive coordinator responsibilities also includes coaching up the linebackers, a group that last year featured FCS All-America Jermiah Chambers.

Chambers led the team with 110 tackles in his final season and Gibbens was right behind him with 104 plus two interceptions and 14 additional passes defensed. The team also brings back Jairan Parker (30 tackles), Greg Green (24 tackles), Hunter Kier (12 tackles), and Abilene native Qua’Shawn Washington (24 tackles).

Overall, Brown is tasked with 15 linebackers, approximately half of whom are newcomers including FBS transfers Chike Nwankwo (Rutgers) and Abe Schwinn (Arizona State).

“I'm excited about the group as a whole,” said Brown. “I think their knowledge of the defense is allowing them to play faster and better. We’re seeing some good things out of them. I'm excited about where they've come from last fall to this year installing a new defense.”

Gibbens is not only a vocal leader for his position group, but for the entire defense, and Brown’s appreciation for him stems from the fact that Gibbens cares more for his team than his personal stats.

“It’s never been about him,” said Brown. “It’s about him doing his job for his teammates. All the good things he's done, he could very easily be a little selfish or be worried about his stats. But that’s the least of his concerns. He knows if we're good, then good things are going to come to him.”

But as good as Gibbens is though – made evident by his Southland Conference All-Preseason Team selection -- he knows the in-house competition is coming to give him their best shot.

“Nobody's job is secured anywhere,” he said. “Everybody's got to earn their spot coming into camp because we've got a lot of guys who have something to prove, myself included. We weren't what we wanted to be last year individually or as a team on defense, and so everybody is fighting for a spot. We've got a lot of guys competing really hard.” 

Green and Tory Hargrove are among those who have impressed Gibbens this summer, as have Parker and Kier.

"They’re taking more of a leadership role and accepting more responsibility because they know they're stepping into a way bigger role than they had last year,” he said. “They've all definitely answered the call and been playing at a really high level."

“We have a pretty good group of guys that coach each other,” added Brown, “so it's really not just one guy or coach. Jack's dominant because that's who he is on the team. But our guys do a really solid job of and supporting one other and trying to help each other through the stuff that they're struggling, whether it’s a scheme or personal stuff.”

Gibbens and his teammates have embraced Brown’s ‘player-led’ approach.

"All the guys on our team are really focused on being player led and coach fed,” he said. “The coaches are there guiding us along, but it's really the players that are setting the tone for how we work day in and day out at practice and workouts. We then hold people accountable to meet our standards (selfless, tough and disciplined), to make sure guys are doing the things that we’ve asked them to do.” 

By being a standard-driven team, Gibbens believes it’ll be easier for the team to reach its goals. Players can control how selfless, tough and disciplined they want to be from the start of each morning and every few weeks they’ll search for new ways to push those standards to a higher level.

“Doing the little things takes care of the big things,” said Gibbens, “and we’ll reach our goals if we meet our standards every day.”