For Notre Dame football WR coach Mike Brown, 'The best pressure is peer pressure'

SOUTH BEND — Mike Brown wasn’t looking for a new job.

The well-regarded wide receivers coach was just finishing up his first season at Wisconsin and his fifth overall on Luke Fickell’s coaching staff.

However, the fact that it was Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman calling with a potential offer made all the difference.

“I was in a great place; I had a great job,” Brown said Saturday during an introductory news conference at Notre Dame Stadium. “There was probably one person in the entire country that could have picked up the phone and called me and I would have been the least bit interested in, and that’s Coach Freeman.”

Brown’s sense of loyalty to Fickell, his boss for four seasons at Cincinnati (2019-22) before the surprise move to the Big Ten a year ago, only added to the complexity of the gut-wrenching choice. Brown also would be giving up the “passing game coordinator” part of his job title after helping the Badgers go 7-5 and earn a ReliaQuest Bowl date against LSU on New Year’s Day.

“It was a really tough conversation, a tough decision, especially having just gotten there and building relationships and getting to know the kids in the room,” Brown said. “I had worked for Coach Fickell for five years and (was) very grateful for that and very appreciative of him taking a chance on me.”

A fast-rising star in the coaching ranks at 34, Brown spent two of those seasons with the Bearcats working alongside Freeman, the defensive coordinator. Although Brown had three seasons of NFL experience as a receiver (2012-14) and was just three years younger than Freeman, he gravitated to his charismatic colleague and took mental notes when it came to the subtleties of communication in a college football environment.

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“Just watching him on a daily basis,” Brown said. “How he carried himself, how he addressed the team when he had the opportunities to address the team, how he addressed his defense, the professionalism, the energy, the relationships that he built with those guys is something that I’ve always admired about him and always wanted to model my coaching after.”

Having worked at Cincinnati with current Irish quarterbacks coach Gino Guidugli and cornerbacks coach/pass-defense coordinator Mike Mickens increased Brown’s comfort level with the idea of jumping to South Bend after just one year in Madison.

Most of all, though, it was Freeman’s sincerity in the recruitment of his friend and former colleague.  Former Irish receivers coach Chansi Stuckey was dismissed on Nov. 28, three days after the regular season ended, but Brown didn’t want to overanalyze what he considered to be a dream job.

“To have the opportunity to work for a person like that, man, it doesn’t come by very often,” Brown said of Freeman. “And then obviously to do it at a place like this, it was a no-brainer for me.”

Mike Brown's history of development: Alex Pierce, Tre Tucker, Tyler Scott

Reports of Brown’s agreement with Notre Dame began to circulate on Selection Sunday, shortly after the Irish accepted a bid to the Dec. 29 Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

Freeman’s firsthand knowledge of Brown’s teaching style pushed that hiring process forward, as did Brown’s success in helping the likes of Alec Pierce (Indianapolis Colts), Tre Tucker (Las Vegas Raiders) and Tyler Scott (Chicago Bears) reach the NFL as second-, third- and fourth-round draft picks, respectively.

From Freeman’s perspective, the word he kept coming back to for Brown was “developer,” in addition to his proven skill as an evaluator and recruiter.

“I know people look at the draft picks that came out of that room, but to me, from top to bottom, it’s seeing him develop young people,” Freeman said. “And the energy he brings. He brings some of that energy to this coaching staff, to that wide receivers room.”

By the time Brown signed on, the transfer portal had already claimed four members of the underachieving position group he was inheriting: Chris Tyree, Tobias Merriweather, Rico Flores Jr., and Braylon James.

While Merriweather’s landing spot remains unknown, Tyree (Virginia), Flores (UCLA) and James (Texas Christian) have already committed to state schools back home.

With Notre Dame securing the final college seasons of experienced transfers Kris Mitchell (Florida International) and Beaux Collins (Clemson), plus incoming freshmen commits Cam Mitchell (Illinois), Logan Saldate (California) and Micah Gilbert (North Carolina), the Irish receiver room is about to be restocked.

A Liberty University product and Charlottesville, Va., native himself, Brown also has made coaching stops at Delaware, Liberty and Michigan since retiring as a player. Considering the geographical U-turns the receiver room experienced in this year’s portal cycle, Brown was asked about the importance of instilling a Midwest mentality in his wideouts.

“I think it’s a fair question,” Brown said. “It all boils down to the culture that you build. I think kids will adapt to that culture. It’s our job as coaches to help them to adapt to that culture.”

On the plus side, Jaden Greathouse, a Texan from famed Austin Westlake High School, stayed put after a strong freshman year.

“It could be a kid actually from the Midwest,” Brown said. “It may not have as much to do with weather at all, but now it’s just more of, ‘Hey, this program is run differently than the programs that I’m used to.’ Us helping them recognize that and giving them the tools to be able to succeed in those cultures is what’s important.”

Reading the room: 'I haven't felt the selfishness'

Injuries to third-year receivers such as Jayden Thomas (hamstring) and Deion Colzie (knee) and sixth-year graduate Matt Salerno (leg) may have created a leadership void at the position.

By the time freshman walk-on Jordan Faison, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., product better known for lacrosse, was thrust into the rotation at midseason, too much had already gone sideways for the group to recover.

Brown is admittedly just getting to know this new batch of personalities, but he likes what he’s seen and heard so far.

“That’s going to be a point of emphasis of mine over these next couple weeks — getting to know them, what gets them going, what makes them click,” Brown said. “I haven’t felt the selfishness, if there is any. We’ll continue to preach that. I know Coach Free does a great job of preaching being selfless.”

Then again, as Brown noted: “The best pressure is peer pressure.”

He smiled as he let one of his favorite sayings sink in.

“If you have a room that has some good leadership and you get some good leaders in there and they can bring the young guys along,” he said, “showing them the ropes and showing them the way that they’re supposed to do things, taking care of their bodies and all the little things that go into their success, it helps you and it helps build a culture and it builds some continuity throughout programs.”

A stickler for fundamentals and relentless effort, Brown was able to mesh four transfers into the Wisconsin receiver room last offseason. At this point, half of the 10 scholarship receivers projected for the 2024 roster played elsewhere this fall.

“Obviously the landscape of college football is a lot different now,” Brown said. “(Roster turnover) is becoming a much bigger part of it. But I think you do the best that you can to educate guys and then push the culture in the direction that you want it to be built.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mike Brown joins Notre Dame football as new wide receivers coach