Hunter Brown, a former Tiger quarterback who holds several school passing records, succeeds fellow Tiger alumnus Jake Russell as the sixth head coach in Tiger football history. Brown was formally introduced as head coach at a press conference on Feb. 16.
“This is a good day for Campbellsville University, as we invite one of our all-time greatest student athletes to lead, and once again from the head coaching position,” said Campbellsville University President Dr. Joseph Hopkins during the press conference.
Hopkins said a different culture has been built around Tiger football over the past few years.
“A culture produces wins, culture produces character, culture produces transformed lives and culture is what is leading this team right now,” Hopkins said.
Brown said the players are the heartbeat of the program. He became a coach in order to have the same impact on them that a coach once had on him.
“Being able to impact young lives, being able to develop their hearts and being able to change their lives and their souls, in general was really what impacted me and helped me figure out what I wanted to do in the next step of my life,” said Brown.
Brown was hired as an assistant coach for the first time in 2019, and has served multiple roles under former coaches Perry Thomas and Jake Russell.
As a former quarterback, Brown has certain traits that he looks for when finding the right guy under center. Brown joked about his lack of mobility but said that modern quarterbacks have to be able to move a little bit and be a leader for their teammates.
“We want to be able to find a guy that can not only throw, obviously he can extend and create plays with his legs as well,” said Brown, “but obviously the quarterback is the most unique position. It’s the ultimate competitor, has the ultimate passion, is willing to sacrifice for his teammates and is the ultimate selfless teammate and puts others before himself.”
Brown wants his quarterbacks to have a purpose every time they drop back to pass.
“When he throws the football, I don’t want him just to be accurate,” Brown said. “I want him to be surgical. When he makes a decision, I want it to be a decision that impacts the team and not just himself. Those are some features both physically and mentally that I’m looking for in the quarterback room.”
Accountability doesn’t just apply to the quarterback position under Brown’s leadership—it’s vital for the whole team to be disciplined.
“I want to make sure that all these young men in here instill discipline in who they become,” said Brown. “Discipline is not easy to have. The goal of discipline is not to punish–the goal of discipline is to teach accountability. Teaching accountability, doing things the right way and being an ultimate selfless teammate is really just going to equal a lot of success on and off the field in the classroom as well.”
While their terminology will stay the same offensively, one of the goals that Brown has for his team on the field is to be more explosive.
“Really what we want to do is create an exciting and explosive offense,” Brown said. “My philosophy is players first. We want to get the players the football, get them the best opportunity, get them the ball in many different ways, using motions, using formations, to be able to create a lot of excitement in the atmosphere and in the stands.”
Emotions overwhelmed Brown as he thanked his family for their support on this journey.
“To my family, I want to say thank you. To my grandparents, my mom, my brother, to my dad, thank you for believing in me,” said Brown, as his voice choked up, “and we made it.”
Brown said he wouldn’t be in the position he is today without his wife, Anna, who is the head coach of the men’s and women’s tennis teams at CU.
“They say behind every good man is an even better woman,” Brown said. “And the word ‘better’ doesn’t even do it justice to describe what my wife means to me. Her strength, her faith, her love and her daily sacrifices for me have allowed me to pursue this calling and this profession.”
Brown also thanked God, alumni and multiple faculty members who have helped him on his journey.
“This program first and foremost is a ministry,” said Brown. “It is about serving these young men, developing young men of faith and character. We as football coaches, it’s such a blessing and a calling to have this profession, and we have the opportunity to impact these young men as they prepare to transition from the game of football to the game of life.”
For Brown, success down the road isn’t measured by wins and losses, but by the character of his athletes.
“I think unfortunately…a lot of people look at success by the scoreboard,” Brown said. “I think for me what success looks like is…that we were able to have an impact on these young men’s faith and character. These student-athletes, all of these players in here come from different walks of life and backgrounds, and we want to make sure that we have a positive impact on their life.”
Brown believes that discipline will lead to growth.
“We’re going to take this program one day at a time,” said Brown. “There’s going to be a new standard. There’s going to be a new expectation each and every day. There’s going to be a lot of extreme discipline each and every day, which takes accountability and sacrifice within these young men, daily progress each and every day.”
Brown believes that winning every day will lead to wins on game day.
“I don’t have the magic wand to say, hey, we’re going to go 10-0 this fall, but I can tell you that we can start by going 1-0 today and we’ll go 1-0 tomorrow,” Brown said.
While Brown won’t promise a certain number of wins and losses, he made it clear that his goal is to win championships at CU.
“My goal here is to be able to build a consistent championship program, and that’s something that Campbellsville has had in the past and that’s something we want to continue to build on in these two past winning seasons and continue to elevate as well,” said Brown.
CU Athletic Director Adam Preston said this was an important hire due to the impact the football program has on the campus.
“This is a difficult job,” said Preston. “That size roster can impact not just the athletic area, but all of campus, and we know that we need a leader of men that will be Christ-centered and guide us forward. And we believe that Coach Hunter Brown is the man to take the reins and lead us going forward.”
Even with recent success on the field, Preston has high aspirations for the program’s future.
“This process started at the end of December, and we knew we had a job to do–a national search to find the right coach to lead us forward,” Preston said. “This is the number 11 ranked team in the nation, and we feel like we have an opportunity to create something really special going forward.”
The number of coaches from the previous staff that wanted to stay on really helped narrow down the search.
“That was the decision we made, to commit to that coaching staff that was going to stay on and lead our young people,” Preston said. “We knew what limitations that would put on the coaching search, but we also believed it framed it exceptionally well in the direction that God was going to guide us.”
Brown said the program will be competing at a championship level under his leadership.
“This program will relentlessly compete each and every day,” said Brown. “We will build a consistent championship program that our alumni, our community, our players and everyone involved will be proud to support.”
Brown believes he is the perfect person to be Campbellsville’s head coach.
“I’m very excited, I’m very blessed and I’m very humbled to have this opportunity,” Brown said. “I can promise you I’m the right man for the job and we will do a lot of great things in this process moving forward. Campbellsville University football isn’t rebuilding: we are reloading.”
