Q&A: Danny Brown breaks his silence on his final days at Saddle River Day

Saddle River Day faces Teaneck for the Bergen County girls basketball title on Wednesday night.

The Rebels have a chance at a record eighth straight county title, but former Rebels coach/AD Danny Brown won’t be there. Brown turned Saddle River Day into the premier girls basketball program in North Jersey, but he left the school at the end of last year.

For the first time, Brown details some of the reasons for his departure to NorthJersey.com columnist Darren Cooper, plus discusses the controversial Twitter/X video that came out in 2022 and sparked an investigation and impacted his future as a coach.

Here's Darren's Q&A with Brown.

Where are you going to be Wednesday night?

Brown: Our Healing Through Sports Initiative this year was held at Downtown Sports [Brown’s youth sports facility], and when I found out about a young lady from Ramsey High School who had been in a horrible car accident and needed help, I reached out to my partner, Coach OC [Jeremy O’Connell] from Newtown, and we decided to support her. Mike Mitchell from Ridgewood and Danny Royce from Ramsey, myself, we all put our heads together and decided that the games at Downtown Sports − long story short − we will issue Cassandra Arcaro, Cassie, a $4,000 check from the money we raised over the weekend from the Healing through Sports initiative that started from Newtown [Connecticut].

So, you’re not going to the county final?

Brown: I am not going to the county final.

It’s Teaneck and Saddle River Day. Literally, your two schools.

Brown: I understand that (smiles). This is above and beyond basketball, and this is what I always taught every kid that worked and trained and played under us.

Who’s going to win?

Brown: I gotta go with Saddle River. Obviously, I left Saddle River in the last 18 months, and I left some very amazing players and athletes there, and I have full trust in them. I talk to them weekly, monthly… I am always in touch with them, and I think they are ready to win a championship.

How important was it to keep your Newtown connection, even after leaving Saddle River Day?

Brown: The Newtown connection is honestly the best thing I have ever done in my life. To have the opportunity to be part of a healing process with the Newtown community and bring it 180 degrees back to New Jersey and be able to help families and students struggling here. It absolutely means more than anything in the world to me.

So, where have you been the last 18 months?

Brown: A lot has been going on. ... Downtown Sports is alive and well. We’re still training and working with a lot of athletes. We are opening up AAU at Downtown Sports with me this spring, in two weeks, so make sure you’re on that for tryouts (smiles). Yeah, I can’t wait to tell you I am launching a new company as of March 1 in the sports arena with some very, very powerful people in the country.

Do you miss coaching?

Brown: I do not miss coaching. I miss the relationships with the families, and more, the relationships with the kids. I miss sharing their journey with them. That’s why I am announcing what I am doing moving ahead in the future.

Is it an NIL thing?

Brown: It’s not NIL. It’s close, but its not NIL. (laughs)

Do you talk to your former players a lot?

Brown: I do. Besides the kids at Saddle River now, I am in touch with Michelle Sidor, who is now at DePaul; Jaida Patrick, who is at Miami; Jordan Janowski, Jenna Jordan… it never stops. It’s like being a parent forever, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So, what happened? Were you dismissed? Did you want to leave? Was it a mutual decision?

Brown: So… (pause) Looking back at the direction of athletics, we were at the top of the chain in Bergen County for many years. I think, although it really helped the school turn some corners and helped out with exposure and enrollment, it also became a little bit of an issue that the athletics may have been overshadowing some of the other opportunities for students there.

It got to a point where I brought in an amazing coach in Derek Amalbert, and when things took a turn that he was uncomfortable [Amalbert resigned in Jan. 2023], that was a spotlight for me to take a look at where the direction of the school was going with athletics. The school and I met several times, and we decided that the direction of athletics was not in alignment with where I had taken them and certainly where I wanted to finish my career. I thought it was in the best interest for me and student families I had brought there and were enrolled there to step away and let the school figure out where they wanted to take the program.

Was it contentious?

Brown: No. There was no animosity. There was more of an understanding that the school wanted to take the academics to a much higher level, and athletics − although they had been so successful and no one can question that − we had really created a dream opportunity for students to play at a high level. The small classrooms and everything that a small school can offer a student-athlete was there, but it didn’t resonate with the future of the school and where the board wanted to take it.

Your last year of coaching, there was a social media post of you and a player in a hotel room that went viral. The school did an investigation and you were exonerated, but I have to ask if that had any bearing on your departure?

Brown: A couple of things I want to say that people are not putting out there. Yes, they are saying I was 100 percent exonerated with a private investigator review, but they never said what happened.

What happened was a water fight, and 8-10 girls that were in that room at the same time. It wasn’t me and one student-athlete in that room. There were 10-12 kids in there with coaches, and the video was manipulated to obviously hurt me, hurt my family… but what I don’t think people realize is that it hurt a lot more people than Danny Brown. It hurt all the kids that were at the school looking to get a future at another level. It hurt all the kids who thought about playing at Saddle. It hurt my family. It hurt me. What was the point?

We have it narrowed down, to some degree, who did it and why, and that’s the problem with what’s going on in cybersecurity, and I’ve taken it to a whole new level. I have done a deep dive into cybersecurity. I have first-hand knowledge of what happens to an adult when they are cyber-bullied. I can’t imagine what happens to a 15 and 16-year old person who gets bombed like this from people hiding from a curtain of anonymity.

It’s unbelievable to me. It’s very personal and very sad. I came out of it through the love and support of my family, but a 15-, 16-year-old kid may not have that. I want to keep helping kids. I want to get behind this, and then in front of it and stay in front of it.

Are you done coaching high school sports?

Brown: I will say there have been two opportunities that have approached me that are very interesting. I have looked into them, but I have other opportunities to be involved to help student-athletes get to the next level that I am pursuing that I am very excited about.

At this point, what do you want people to know?

Brown: I want people to know that I am very grateful and I am very thankful for the opportunity and the years I had at Saddle. I didn’t take anything for granted, and all the families and all the kids that came through that… I owe a debt of gratitude to the school for what the school offered them and the program that we built.

We, meaning me and the school, owe a debt of gratitude to the students and families that jumped on board early and helped us create the most amazing athletic programs, not just in basketball, but lacrosse and soccer, all these kids that went to the next level. It couldn’t have been done without the school, without the academics and the personal attention. It was a combined effort.

Gimme a score for Wednesday night….

Brown: I will give you a score… Saddle River wins by 19.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Danny Brown breaks silence on final days at Saddle River Day